Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop & Martyr
S. Ignatii Episcopi et Martyris
Bishop of Antioch and one of the Apostolic Fathers, Saint Ignatius was condemned to the beasts at Rome around the year 107. On his journey to martyrdom he wrote seven letters that are among the most precious treasures of the early Church.
Saint Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch in Syria, the third to hold that see, and according to ancient tradition a disciple of the Apostles, perhaps of Saint John himself. He governed the Church of Antioch — the city where the disciples were first called Christians — during the difficult years at the turn of the first century. In the persecution under the Emperor Trajan he was arrested for the faith and sent under guard to Rome to be thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre.
The Letters of the Way
It is the journey itself that has made Ignatius forever loved. As he was led across Asia Minor in chains, the Christians of the cities along the road came out to meet and console him, and he wrote in return seven letters — to the churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna, and to Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. These letters, written about the year 107, are among the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament. In them Ignatius pleads for unity around the bishop, warns against error, bears clear witness to the reality of Christ’s flesh and to the Holy Eucharist, and speaks of the Church for the first time by the name “Catholic.”
Wheat of Christ
Above all, the letters reveal a man burning with longing to give his life for the Lord. Writing ahead to the Christians at Rome, he begged them not to use their influence to spare him: “I am the wheat of God, and I am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ.” His desire was granted; he was martyred in the Roman amphitheatre, traditionally in the year 107. The Church has honoured him from the earliest times as a model of the bishop, the witness, and the lover of Christ.
The Collect
O Almighty and everlasting God, who dost adorn the sacred body of Thy Church with the confessions of holy Martyrs: grant, we beseech Thee, that, as the glorious passion of blessed Ignatius, Thy Martyr and Bishop, which we this day celebrate, brought to him eternal glory, so it may afford us unfailing protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui sacrum corpus Ecclesiae tuae sanctorum Martyrum confessionibus adornas: concede, quaesumus; ut, sicut gloriosa beati Ignatii Martyris tui atque Pontificis, quam hodie recensemus, passio temporalem ei contulit gloriam, ita nobis perpetuam tribuat defensionem. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Patronage
He is invoked as a patron of the Church in Antioch and of the Eastern Mediterranean churches, and is honoured among the Apostolic Fathers.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 17 October, closer to the traditional date of his martyrdom.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Ignatius of Antioch?
In the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 1 February as a Third Class feast. In the modern Roman calendar his obligatory memorial is observed on 17 October.
Who was Saint Ignatius of Antioch?
He was the third Bishop of Antioch in Syria and, according to ancient tradition, a disciple of the Apostles. He was condemned to be killed by wild beasts at Rome around the year 107, and on the way wrote seven famous letters to the early churches.
Why are his letters important?
Written about the year 107, his seven letters are among the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament. They bear clear, early witness to the Holy Eucharist, to the office of the bishop, and to the unity of the Church — which he is the first known writer to call “Catholic.”
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