Saint Ignatius was born in Antioch, the capital of Syria. Tradition says that he was the child whom Jesus Christ received into His most pure arms and to whom, pointing to His disciples, He said, " Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven ." And, " If he receives such a child in My name, he receives Me" ( Matt. 18:2-5 ; Mark 9:37 ). Saint Ignatius is called the God-Bearer because he was carried by the hands of the incarnate God, and even more so because, as he himself explains in his conversation with Emperor Trajan, he always carried God in his heart through his faith and love for Jesus Christ and through the grace of the Holy Spirit with which his heart was filled.
St. Ignatius was a longtime disciple of the Apostles Peter and John, for whom he had a particularly ardent love and respect. As an inseparable companion of the holy apostles, St. Ignatius undoubtedly participated in the spread of Christ's Church on earth and in the preaching of the Gospel among pagans and Jews.
Around 67 AD, the first bishop of the Church of Antioch, Eudocius, died in Antioch. The Council of the Apostles elected Ignatius to the episcopal see, and he was later consecrated by the Apostle Peter himself, as St. Chrysostom testifies. Consecrated bishop, Ignatius devoted himself entirely to pastoral ministry. He fulfilled all his duties with tireless zeal and diligence, sparing neither effort nor labor, displaying in his person all the virtues of a bishop.
But the success with which the Lord blessed His faithful servant's labors in converting the pagans repeatedly subjected his flock to severe persecution, especially under Domitian (in 81). Despite all his virtues, Ignatius considered himself unworthy even of the name of Christ's disciple. He believed the chief virtue of a follower of Jesus Christ and the highest perfection of love for Him to be martyrdom for the Savior's name. When the persecution of Christians under Domitian ended, Ignatius rejoiced at the peace found by the Church, but he himself grieved that he had not been deemed worthy to shed his blood for the name of Christ. He grieved that he had not yet attained perfect love for Christ, and he fervently desired to die a martyr's death for Him. The Lord heard the prayer of His faithful servant, and St. Ignatius was adorned with the glory not only of a preacher but also of a martyr for the name of Christ.
The Church of Christ did not enjoy peace for long. Emperor Trajan, dazzled by his victories over the Scythians, Dacians, and other peoples in 104 and 105, believed that all he needed now was a victory over the Christians. Trajan sought only a pretext for persecuting them. This pretext soon presented itself. Wishing to express gratitude to the supposed gods for his victories, he commanded all his subjects without exception to sacrifice to idols, threatening them with cruel death if they did not. Fearing that any of the Antiochian flock would renounce Christ in the face of the persecution that had broken out, Ignatius countered the unrest among Christians with his tireless teaching.
He visited the prisons, strengthening the faith of the suffering, encouraging the tormented, urging them to stand firm in their faith and, despite torture and even death, not to renounce the Lord or worship idols. The saint compared all the disadvantages of earthly life to heaven; he said that no suffering can overcome a true believer in Christ, that all these tortures, torments, and sufferings are insignificant compared to the life that awaits a martyr for Christ in heaven.
Word of the Antiochian bishop's activities soon reached Trajan. He became deeply indignant at Ignatius and, in early 107, arrived in Antioch, where he ordered the saint summoned to his court.
“Are you,” Trajan asked him, “who calls yourself the God-bearer and, contrary to our orders, are you trying to lead all of Antioch after Christ?”
“I,” the bishop answered firmly.
"What kind of name is this – God-Bearer?" asked the king.
“A God-bearer is one,” answered Ignatius, “who carries Christ God in his soul.”
"So you carry your Christ within yourself?" Trajan asked again.
“Truly, I do,” said the holy God-bearer, “for in the Word of God it is written: I will dwell in them and walk among them” ( 2 Cor. 6:16 ).
Trajan long tried to persuade Ignatius to renounce Christ, ridiculing his faith and promising honors and riches for his renunciation. But to all his admonitions, the God-bearer replied that it was better for him to suffer for Christ, who died on the cross, than to live in greatness and glory after denying Him. The judge, hoping to convict him with his own words, said to him:
"You yourself say your God is dead: can a dead person save and grant life? We consider our gods immortal."
"My Lord and my God became man for us," Ignatius replied, "and for our salvation, by His own good pleasure, He accepted the cross, death, and burial. Then He rose again on the third day, having cast down the power of the enemy, and ascended again to heaven, from whence He descended to restore us from our fall and to lead us back to paradise, from which we were so wretchedly cast out, and He granted us greater blessings than we had before. Which of your gods has created such a thing?"
St. Ignatius then began to reveal the absurdity of paganism from the very mythology of the gods. Trajan then condemned him to death. The bishop was taken to prison, intended to be devoured by wild beasts. However, reasoning that the steadfastness of martyrs amidst terrible suffering often led pagans to faith in Christ, they decided to send Ignatius to Rome for execution, where the people, unaware that he was dying for the faith, would see him as an ordinary criminal condemned to death for his crimes.
And so it was done. Trajan set out on his campaign, and Ignatius, bound in chains, was led to Rome for execution. But neither the fatigue of the long journey nor the nearness of death could overcome his fortitude. He joyfully went to execution for the sake of his beloved Christ, comforting and exhorting Christians who flocked to him weeping from the cities he passed through: Seleucia, Smyrna, and other cities of Asia Minor. In Smyrna, he spent some time with St. Polycarp, also a disciple of St. John the Theologian, and from there he wrote letters to the Churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome. These letters, which have come down to us, embody truly Christian teaching: they express a fervent love for God and neighbor.
Seeing the interest that Christians took in his fate and how upset they were by the death sentence, Ignatius began to fear that the Roman Christians might try to save him, so from Smyrna he wrote a letter in which he tried to convince them that he was dying willingly, and begged them not to hinder his execution in any way.
"In fulfillment of my prayer," he writes among other things, "the Lord grants me to see you, which I have long desired. A prisoner for Jesus Christ, I hope to greet you, if it pleases God that my intention be fulfilled to the end. A good beginning has been made, may God grant me the mercy to accept my lot to the end, but I fear your love, I fear that it might offend me... It is easy for me to go to God; do not hinder me with your love. Now is my opportunity to go to God, and if you do not hinder it, you cannot do a better deed: then I will be united with the Lord; but if you pity my body, then again I will have to work. Rather, let me be a sacrifice to God when the altar is already prepared, and sing praises to the Lord... Just pray for this, that the Lord will give me inner and outer strength, that I may not only call myself a Christian, but also prove myself one in deed... I write to all the churches and tell everyone that I voluntarily die for Christ, unless you hinder me. I beg you not to hold me back with untimely love: leave me to be eaten by wild beasts: through this I will attain to God. I am God's wheat, let me be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be pure bread for God... I am now a slave, but if I suffer, I will be a free man of Jesus Christ and will rise in Him free... Now I begin to be Christ's disciple, now that I desire nothing, either visible or invisible, but only to attain to Christ. Let fire, the cross, the gathering of wild beasts, dismemberment, ripping, crushing of bones, shattering of limbs, shaking of the whole body and all the devil's torments come upon me - if only I may receive Jesus Christ... I desire the Lord, the Son of the true God and Father, I seek Him, Who died and rose again for us... Forgive me, brethren, and do not hinder me from receiving life, for Jesus is Eternal Life, do not wish death for me, for life without Christ is death... Let me see the pure light, let me be an imitator of the sufferings of Christ my God... Whoever here has Christ should know what I want, and let him have mercy on me, knowing himself what possesses me. The prince of this world wants to tear me to pieces, and corrupt my soul and my desire for God. Do not help him, but be God's with me... Do not listen to me if, upon seeing you, I began to ask for something else (for my deliverance from death); Believe and obey what I now write to you. I write now, full of life, consumed by the desire to love and die for Christ. My love is nailed to the cross, and there is no fire of love for the world within me, but living water flows within me and says within me: Go to the Father. I do not delight in perishable food and the joys of this life; I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the body of Christ, the Son of God, born afterward of the seed of David and Abraham; I desire the drink of God—the blood of Him who is incorruptible love and eternal life… With this brief letter I beg you, do not hinder me, and believe that I love Jesus, who was given up for me… May God and the Father Himself, and the Lord Jesus Christ, reveal to you that I speak the truth. Pray with me that I may receive what I desire through the Holy Spirit.I write to you not according to the flesh, but according to God's will. If I suffer, love me; but if I am rejected, hate me. Remember in your prayers the Church of Smyrna, which has, besides me, another Shepherd, who said, "I am the good shepherd." He will take care of her.
Leaving Smyrna, Ignatius set out for Rome. On the way, he wrote three more letters, including one to Polycarp, instructing him on the duties of a bishop.
In sight of Pujiol, he wanted to disembark to follow the path of the holy Apostle Paul, but a strong wind prevented the ship from landing. After some time, they landed at Ostia and from there continued on to Rome. His companions mourned him, and the Roman Christians fervently desired to save him, but he repeated his request and was handed over to the eparch. The eparch, informed of the emperor's will, ordered the beasts to be prepared, and on a feast day, before a multitude of people, the saint was brought to execution. Christians accompanied him, and with them he prayed that the Lord would end the persecution, grant peace to His Church, and inspire all believers with mutual love.
Hearing him continually repeat the name of Jesus Christ, the pagans who were leading him asked why he repeated this name so often. St. Ignatius replied that the name of Jesus Christ was written in his heart, and therefore his lips confessed the One whom he always carried in his heart.
God granted Ignatius the courage to face his terrible death. Facing execution and addressing the people, he loudly declared, "Know, citizens of Rome, that I am not condemned to death for any crime or misdeed, but for my one God, Whom I am consumed by love and Whom I desire insatiably. I am His wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be pure bread for Him!" The saint had barely finished speaking when lions rushed upon him, tearing him to pieces and devouring him in a single moment, leaving only the fleshy parts of his body. Thus expired the true luminary of God, who had illuminated the Church of Antioch with the light of the Christian faith and Gospel teaching for forty years. This occurred on the 20th day of December in the year 107 AD.
After the execution of the holy martyr Ignatius, Christians gathered his remains in a cloth, as a priceless treasure bequeathed to the Holy Church. The saint's remains were subsequently reverently transferred from Rome to Antioch.
Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer left us seven of his epistles, of which six were written to the believing Churches, namely: to the Smyrnaeans, to the Ephesians, to the Magnesians, to the Philadelphians, and the seventh epistle was written by him to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna.
The memory of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer is celebrated twice a year: on January 29, the day of the transfer of his relics by his disciples from Rome to Antioch, and on December 20 (Julian calendar).