Remembering IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH BISHOP AND MARTYR (17 OCT 107), From the #Episcopal calendar. Commentary from EWTN: Ignatius of Antioch, surnamed Theophorus, which in Greek means God-Bearer, was probably a convert and disciple of St. John the Evangelist. We know nothing of his early life. The fourth-century Church historian, Eusebius, says that the Apostles Peter and Paul, who planted the faith in Antioch, left directions that Ignatius should succeed Evodius as bishop of that city; he states further that Ignatius retained the office for forty years, proving himself in every way an exemplary pastor. During the persecution of the emperor Domitian, whose reign covered the period of 81 to 96, Ignatius kept up the courage of his flock by daily preaching, by prayer and fasting. After Domitians death there was a cessation of the persecutions during the fifteen months of Nervas reign, then in Trajans reign we have records of a number of martyrs, though no general persecution. In an interesting letter to the younger Pliny, then governor of the Black Sea province of Bithynia, Trajan laid down the principle that Christians should be put to death if formally reported, but not otherwise sought out for punishment. The Emperor was a humane man, yet the gratitude which he felt he owed to his own pagan gods for his victories over the Dacians and the Scythians later led him to authorize the death penalty for those Christians who refused to acknowledge these divinities publicly. There is a legend that the emperor Trajan himself, who wintered in Antioch in the year 115, examined the aged Bishop Ignatius in the year 115, with questions such as these: Who are you, spirit of evil, who dare disobey my orders and goad others on to their destruction? No one calls Theophorus a spirit of evil, the bishop replied. Who is Theophorus? He who bears Christ within him. And do we not bear within ourselves the gods who help us against our enemies? You are mistaken when you call gods those who are no better than devils. There is but one God, who created heaven and earth and all that in them is; and one Jesus, made Christ, into whose kingdom I earnestly desire to be admitted. Do you mean Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate? Yes, the same, who by His death has crucified both sin and its author, and who has proclaimed that every malice of the devil shall be trodden underfoot by those who bear Him in their hearts. Do you then, asked the Emperor, bear Christ within you? Yes, said Ignatius, for it is written, I will dwell in them and will walk with them.’ According to the legend, Trajan ruled that Ignatius should die. He was bound and conveyed to Rome, to be devoured by wild beasts in the Colosseum. From this point on, we are on firm ground, historically speaking, with Ignatius own letters, seven of which are still extant, to tell us the story. At the seaport of Seleucia they boarded a ship that made many stops along the shores of Asia Minor, instead of proceeding directly to Rome. Some of Ignatius friends took the direct route west and, reaching Rome before him, awaited his arrival. For a great part of the journey he had as companions a deacon, Philo, and a friend, Agathopus, supposedly the authors of an account of his martyrdom. On shipboard Ignatius was guarded by ten soldiers so brutal that he speaks of them as ten leopards, and adds that they only grew worse when kindly treated. Wherever the ship put in, the local Christians sent bishops and priests to meet the venerable bishop, and crowds gathered to receive the benediction of one who was already revered as a martyr. At Smyrna he met his former fellow disciple, Bishop Polycarp, and delegations came from Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, three ancient cities of Asia Minor which had Christian colonies. Ignatius wrote letters to be carried back to these various churches, exhorting the members to keep in harmony with their bishops and other clergy, to assemble often in prayer, to be meek and humble, and to suffer injuries without protest. He praises them for their zeal against heresy and particularly warns them against the Docetic teaching. One of his seven extant letters was addressed to the Christians of Rome, whom he passionately entreats to do nothing to prevent his martyrdom. At this time Christianity had a number of influential converts, and some of these highly-placed persons might well have tried to have his sentence mitigated. The contemporary pagan satirist Lucian, who almost certainly was familiar with the life and letters of Ignatius, bears witness in his dialogue, The Death of Peregrinus, to the devotion of Christians one for another. This work of his is an interesting illustration of the attitude of a learned and skeptical Greek towards the new religion. The guards were anxious to reach Rome with their prisoner before the great public games were over, for victims of venerable appearance were always an attraction. At Troas, where the boat stopped, Ignatius wrote letters to the Philadelphians, to the Smyrneans, and to Polycarp. From Troas the ship sailed on to the Macedonian port of Neapolis, thence, we are told, to Philippi. The little party crossed Macedonia and Epirus on foot, and took ship for the trip around Italy. These details, along with the account of the arrival at Rome, are found in the , but are not altogether reliable. We are told that as the saint approached Rome, the faithful came out to meet him, rejoicing in his presence, but grieving that they were to lose him so soon. He prevented them from taking steps to obtain his release. According to tradition, he reached Rome on December 20, the last day of the games, and was brought at once before the prefect, to whom the Emperors letter was delivered. At the prefects command, the prisoner was hurried off to the Colosseum, where, we are told, two fierce lions were let out and Ignatius was at once killed. Thus his prayer for a martyrs death was answered. There is evidence that some fragments of the martyrs remains were taken to Antioch and venerated. St. Jerome, visiting Antioch nearly three hundred years later, tells us that these remains had been placed in a cemetery outside the Daphne gate. It is believed that they were brought back to Rome in 637 to rest in the church of San Clemente. From the ancient Syrian martyrology we learn that the martyrs feast was kept in the East on October 17. St. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople in the fourth century, preached a famous panegyric on Ignatius, but even then legend was beginning to play its part; he supposes that Ignatius was appointed to the see of Antioch by the Apostle Peter himself. Later a whole correspondence was fabricated, including letters purporting to have passed between Ignatius and the Blessed Virgin Mary, while she still dwelt on earth, after the Ascension of Jesus. In contrast to these legendary and fictitious elements, the seven letters described above as written by Ignatius on his way to Rome, which have come down to us in their entirety, are accepted as absolutely authentic by modern scholars. Their great importance is the light they throw on the organization, beliefs, and practices of the Christian Church, about eighty-five years after Christs death. Ignatius is the first, outside the New Testament writers, to lay stress on the Virgin Birth. To the Ephesians he writes: And from the prince of this world were hidden Marys virginity and her child-bearing, in like manner also the death of the Lord. The doctrine of the Trinity, too, he plainly takes for granted, and we detect an approach to later definitions of Christs nature when we read in the same letter: There is one Physician of flesh and spirit, begotten and unbegotten, God in man, true life in death, son of Mary and son of God, first suffering and then beyond suffering, Jesus Christ our Lord. No less remarkable are the phrases he uses to describe the Eucharist. It is the flesh of Christ, the gift of God, the medicine of immortality. Repeatedly he emphasizes the loyalty and obedience due the bishop as the transmitter of true apostolic tradition, and the necessity of unity and peace. Finally, it is in his letter to the church of Smyrna that for the first time in Christian literature the Catholic Church[6] is spoken of. Wheresoever, he writes, the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. Ignatius martyrdom and his important contribution to the development of Church doctrine make it fitting that his name should occur in the Canon of the Mass. ewtn/library/mary/ignatius.htm For more information, go to: satucket/lectionary/Ignatius_Antioch.htm From NNDB: nndb/people/718/000094436/ From OrthodoxWiki: orthodoxwiki.org/Ignatius_of_Antioch The works of Ignatius: earlychristianwritings/ignatius.html From Catholic Online: catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=677 From Christian History: christianitytoday/ch/131christians/martyrs/ignatiusantioch.html https://facebook/DailyOffice/photos/a.239917119384703.58203.170539296322486/262155263827555/?type=3&theater
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:10:02 +0000
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