Ambrose was attracted by Origen's fame as a teacher, and visited the Catechetical School of Alexandria in 212.
[2][3] He plied Origen with questions, and urged him to write his Commentaries (treating him as "ἐργοδιώκτης" in Commentary on John V,1) on the books of the Bible, and, as a wealthy nobleman and courtier,[4] he provided his teacher with books for his studies and secretaries to lighten the labor of composition.
Origen often speaks of Ambrose affectionately as a man of education with excellent literary and scholarly tastes.
All of Origen's works written after 218 are dedicated to Ambrose, including his On Martyrdom, Contra Celsum, Commentary on St. John's Gospel, and On Prayer.
[4] Ambrose's letters to Origen (praised by Jerome) are lost, although part of one exists.