The Great Doctor of the Church had been imparting his blessing AMBROSE’S AMBROSES to passersby since 1895 when the Rev. Edmund Hayes, the pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Imogene, Iowa donated the statue. It was Welcome to “Ambrose’s Ambroses,” a self-guided tour of our placed on a pedestal donated by Fr. James Davis who would later campus’s images of its patron saint. Fr. George McDaniel, become Bishop of Davenport and for whom Davis Hall is named. Professor Emeritus of the SAU History Department and author of The statue showed Ambrose with a book in his left hand and holding “A Great and Lasting Beginning: The First 125 Years of St. Ambrose a crozier in his right hand. He was wearing a cope and his miter University” (2006) has provided eloquent historical narratives which were painted a darker color but since no color photograph ex- to offer here a short campus history through these unique monu- ists we don’t know what color it was. The face was heavily bearded ments. This project was created along with the Morrissey Gallery and had a benign, pastoral look. The Catholic Messenger described exhibition “An Iconic Ambrosian: Fr. Edward Catich” (March/ it “a masterpiece of art.” April 2018) for the international conference, “Ambrose of Milan: (Re-) Constructing Community” (April 6-8, 2018) held on the SAU By the mid-1930s it became impossible for St. Ambrose to impart campus and hosted by the Academy for the Study of Saint Ambrose his blessings on passersby because his right hand had mysteriously of Milan (ASSAM). This tour shows the varied appearances of Am- disappeared. The crozier it held had long since been gone and now brose in our campus’ history and represents the many faces of the the hand. For years it was rumored that one alumnus or another Ambrosian community, of the past and the present. While one will had the hand hidden away but no one ever came forth with the appear different than another, at the heart of it, all who stand, live, artifact. By the mid-1980s the statue looked worse for the wear of and work within the ever-expanding walls of SAU are Ambrosian. years. The original paint was gone and any number of coats of white paint had been put on it. Then one November evening in 1985, a Ambrose in front of visitor to campus jumped up to greet the saint with a high-five and Ambrose Hall (first sculpture, accidentally pushed the statue off its pedestal to the sidewalk below. 1895; second and current sculp- As people gathered to look at the statue lying supine on the side- ture, date unknown; plaques by walk, Fr. Drake Shafer, the college chaplain commented, ‘It seems James Anderson, 1986) much like a death in the family. It was part of college life.” In 1963 David Klise, a 1913 St. The head was badly damaged although the face was intact, but it Ambrose Academy graduate, appeared that it could not be repaired. Nevertheless, James Ander- wrote an essay about his student son, a part-time art instructor, took up the task of trying to repair it. days for the alumni publication. Anderson worked through the spring and summer, rebuilt the head, He described a college that was fashioned a right hand to replace the one that had been missing for a small world unto itself. He decades, and bronzed the entire statue. He also made two plaques wrote: “Sandy haired Tom illustrating incidents from the life of St. Ambrose and another of Mitchell kept on mowing the the college seal for the base. The restored statue was put in place grass under the majestic oaks and dedicated at homecoming 1986. In spite of Anderson’s work on the front lawn, stopping the the refurbished statue began to deteriorate and in 1992, it had to be while to light the stub of a pipe. removed. The great Doctor of the Church, St. Ambrose, from his pedestal The replacement was a statue of St. Ambrose that had stood in on the front walk was impart- the chapel since 1976. This one had come from a church in Cleve- ing his blessing to passersby. land, Ohio. According to one story the statue had been offered to Jim Gaffney was hurling curve St. Ambrose as a gift provided we paid the shipping costs. When it balls down on the diamond. arrived, however, grumbling was heard from certain administrators Luigi Ligutti was practicing the when they saw the rather considerable amount the shipper charged English language. Groups sat on to transport the heavy, stone statue. Nevertheless, in 1992 it was benches on the hill. The bell in moved from the entryway of the chapel and put on Fr. Davis’s base. the tower rang out the Angelus. It was slightly shorter than the original and portrayed a different Young men stopped and blessed Ambrose. The original had been pastoral, with Ambrose holding a themselves. And evening came bishop’s crozier in the right and a book in the left. In the new statue, to a spring day at St. Ambrose in Ambrose held a sheaf of papers in his right hand and a book in the Nineteen Hundred Thirteen” left, and instead of imparting a blessing to passersby, he looks out at them with a stern stare. Sharp eyed Ambrosians will notice that this statue has a flat back. Clearly it was meant to be mounted against a wall, not seen in the round as it does on its pedestal in front of This new library was built in Ambrose Hall. 1996. The architect of the library wanted to suggest an Nevertheless, the statue is still a focal point for campus visitors and Italian building as might be seen each spring on graduation day new alumni come to the statue with in Ambrose’s city of Milan. A their families to have one more picture taken to remember their picture was produced of the St. days under the oaks. And surely, as they gather around the statue, Ambrose Basilica in Milan, which the saint it represents blesses them and wishes them well. has an arcaded portico in front of it. It was shown to the architect Ambrose stained glass and the design was changed to inside Lewis Boardroom better reflect the connection (former campus chapel, 1902) between Milan and St. Ambrose University. The latest design The Lewis Boardroom in Am- even incorporated a required, brose Hall, built in 1902, served practical feature for the building. at the outset and for decades The tower on the south side of thereafter as the college chapel. the building is not, as it seems, The stained glass windows were a campanile with bells to call part of the original construction students to study, but rather is a and each was a gift from donors fire escape. commemorating early Ambrosians. (In fact, many parts of the chapel, such as the altars, pews, and more were acquired through The watercolor seen here was produced by SAU’s Fr. Edward donations.). The St. Ambrose window, rendered in opalescent Catich in 1936. It shows the Saint Ambrose Basilica in Milan, glass as was popular at the time, is located on the right side of the which was originally a church built by Ambrose himself and con- south wall. It was given by Mrs. Mary McDonough, the mother of secrated in 386. This 11th/12th century construction stands on the Reverend William McDonough, an 1889 graduate who had died the foundations of the original church. It was this church which in 1899, the first priest alumnus to die. At the time of his death he Ambrose had named for his own internment after death. He got was pastor of the parish in Valley Junction, Iowa, now West Des his wish. His remains, along with those of the two martyrs which Moines. Mrs. McDonough was the first housekeeper at St. Am- he discovered in Milan, Gervasius and Protasius, can be seen today brose and was well-known among the early alumni of St. Ambrose. in the crypt below the altar. On the day of the chapel’s dedication, April 30, Archbishop Although the library does not Joseph Keane of Dubuque preached the sermon, using the rela- have relics of SAU’s patron saint tionship between Ambrose and Augustine, teacher and student, like the basilica in Milan, it does to address the congregation. His words, recorded in the Catholic house historical remnants of the Messenger, pair well with the Ambrose in stained glass, with his Ambrosian past. On the third soft features, book and crozier, and gesture of blessing. Archbish- floor, overlooking the campus, are op Keane explained that Ambrose had taught Augustine, as the the SAU Archives. Next to the Ar- Archbishop was teaching his present congregation, that one must chives is the office of the Academy listen to one’s intellect and to one’s heart, through both of which for the Study of Saint Ambrose one finds wisdom, “Him whom you love, Light of love and Power of of Milan, which contains early Love.” Thus, in that chapel, the students can: printed editions of Ambrose’s works, ancient artifacts, and modern artworks inspired by Ambrose, such as Donna Young’s medallion of “hold silent conversation with God…and ask for the light of love Ambrose holding SAU’s Christ the King chapel, Patricia Beréskin’s and beg St. Ambrose to teach [them] the lesson he taught to Ambrose print, or Chris Mandle’s ASSAM icon, a collage of Catich’s St.