Damp hung in the air and a cold drizzle stuck to the face of worshippers as they walked to the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio. Every year on October sixteenth there was a Mass to honour Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan and his victory over the Roman General Magnus Clemens Maximus. In 383AD, the General had usurped power from Rome in Britain and Gaul and his army advanced into Italy. Without a single person being killed, Milan was saved by the bravery of its Bishop, who brokered a deal between General Maximus and Emperor Valentinian II.
Since arriving in Milan, Alessandro had heard the story of St Ambrose many times, when as a babe asleep in his cradle, bees had landed on his face and, rather than sting the sleeping baby, they left behind on his cheek a droplet of honey to indicate the
