Commemorated on December 20th
Tradition holds that Saint Ignatius was the child that Christ gathered to his lap when He said: “Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Saint Ignatius was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian, and a successor of the Apostles. He became the second Bishop of Antioch. He wrote many epistles to the faithful, strengthening them in their confession, and preserving for us the teachings of the holy Apostles. Brought to Rome under Trajan, he was surrendered to lions to be eaten, and so finished the course of martyrdom about the year 107. The remnants of his bones were carefully gathered by the faithful and brought to Antioch. He is called God-bearer, as one who bore God within himself and was aflame in heart with love for Him. Therefore, in his Epistle to the Romans (ch. 4), imploring their love not to attempt to deliver him from his longed-for martyrdom, he said, “I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found to be the pure bread of God.”
