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Pure bread3/23/2023 Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch, the place where the followers of Jesus were called Christians for the first time (Acts 11:26 Eusebius Eccl. Ignatius of Antioch, click here.īanner/featured image by an unknown artist. Ignatius on October 17.įor a more extensive introduction to St. It appears in the Roman liturgy on the Feast of St. 4:1-2 and 6:1-8:3) by Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch and martyr, was written during his forced march to Rome where he was to be martyred and became God’s wheat, food for the wild beasts, as a sacrifice pleasing to God in Jesus Christ. This excerpt from a letter to the Romans (Cap. If my case is postponed, I can only think that you wish me harm. If I am condemned to suffer, I will take it that you wish me well. I have not written to you as a mere man would, but as one who knows the mind of God. Only truth can come from that mouth by which the Father has truly spoken. Jesus Christ himself will make it clear to you that I am saying the truth. Put briefly, this is my request: believe what I am saying to you. Please, then, do me this favor, so that you in turn may meet with equal kindness. I am no longer willing to live a merely human life, and you can bring about my wish if you will. I want only God’s bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed of the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood, which is love that cannot perish. I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: “Come to the Father”. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in me for any earthly thing. Believe instead what I am now writing to you.įor though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. And supposing I should see you, if then I should beg you to intervene on my behalf, do not believe what I say. Do not talk about Jesus Christ as long as you love this world. Let none of you here help him instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God’s side. The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. You will sympathize with me because you will know what urges me on. If you have him in your heart, you will understand what I wish. Give me the privilege of imitating the passion of my God. Only on my arrival there can I be fully a human being. Do not try to tempt me with material things. Do not stand in the way of my birth to real life do not wish me stillborn. Imitating the Passion of My God Jesus Christ He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God. I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. An excerpt from the Letter of Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans, written while on his way to Rome to be martyred in the arena where he expects to become God’s wheat, food for the wild beasts, a willing sacrifice with and for Jesus Christ.
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