The writings of St. Augustine of Hippo and of Paulinus the Deacon shed some light on Ambrose's influence on the liturgy. Augustine tells us that Ambrose made changes to the Divine Office and that he introduced antiphons and hymns to the Milanese service.
We have relatively little information about the development of the Ambrosian rite between the time of Ambrose and the reign of Charlemagne in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. It appears that there was a significant Roman influence during this time; however, there is no external evidence to substantiate this.
By the eleventh century, there were significant attempts to abolish the Ambrosian rite by Pope Nicholas III. He was unsuccessful and the Ambrosian rite continued to be used until the late fifteenth century, when there was yet another attempt to abolish it. This attempt, too, failed, and the Ambrosian rite continued to be used until the council of Trent in the mid-sixteenth century.
There are several substantial differences between the Roman rite and the Ambrosian rite, particularly in the church calendar. The liturgical year begins, according to the Ambrosian rite, with St. Martin's Day on November 11th, rather than with St. Andrew's Day on November 30th. There is no Ash Wednesday in the Ambrosian liturgical calendar, and several saint's days differ as well.
For more information on the Ambrosian rite, please see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01394a.h... http://www.kellerbook.com/7AMBRO~1.HTM
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