My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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ON THE 20TH OF DECEMBER, THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY HIEROMARTYR IGNATIOS THE GOD-BEARER
Ignatios, our divine and God-bearing Father, was Bishop of Antioch during the reign of Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.). He was known as Theophoros, that is, "God-bearer" or "God-borne." This Saint is said to have been the small child taken into the holy hands of the Master Christ and set in the midst of His disciples. Jesus then said, "If anyone doth wish to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." And He took a little child and set him in their midst. And after He took him into His arms, He said to them, "whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receiveth me; and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but the One Who sent Me forth" (Mark 9:35-37). Holy Tradition maintains that the Master most clearly manifested the seven-year-old lad's future progress and proficiency in the Apostolic Teaching.
The blessed Ignatios became a disciple of the divine Evangelist John. Together with the sacred Polycarpos, commemorated by the Holy Church on the 23rd of February, who became Bishop of Smyrna. Ignatios was ordained to the Priesthood by the Holy Apostles. Thereafter, he was voted by them to become Bishop of Antioch. The divine Ignatios was instructed in all knowledge of the Faith and in every virtue by the Sacred Apostles. As zealous disciple of the Apostles, he underwent much suffering and persecution while heralding the word of the Faith. He ever showed himself to be a minister (diakonos) of Christ's mysteries and teacher to the nations.
The Saint loved the spiritual gatherings, when the faithful came together to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. He especially took spiritual delight in the chanting of psalms and hymns by the congregation. Saint Ignatios, third bishop of Antioch in Syria from the Apostle Peter, saw a vision of Angels hymning the Holy Trinity in alternate chants. Accordingly, he introduced the mode of chanting he had observed in the vision into the Antiochian Church; whence it was transmitted by tradition to all the other Churches...
"...During his reign, Trajan the pagan emperor engaged in a fierce war against the Christians. He attempted to compel them to pay homage to his pagan gods whom he believed has assisted him in gaining significant military victories. Epistles were dispatched to all the cities of the empire stating that, if the Christians refused to offer sacrifice to the idols, they were to suffer bitter punishment and then a pitiless death...
"...It was at this time that Saint Ignatius, engaged in his Pastoral duties, was reported to Emperor Trajan. The emperor was informed that the bishop was teaching the people to venerate the God Who of late had been crucified and suffered an evil death. Trajan also learned that Ignatios was exhorting the people to preserve their virginity (chastity) and to despise ease, comfort, and every sweet delight of this life. He received intelligence that the worst crime of Ignatius was his contempt for the deities and imperial ordinances. Trajan immediately sent to have Ignatius brought before him. Trajan, as seen on his commemorative column memorializing his victory in the Dacian Wars, was a tall and distinctive figure. He was energetic for a sixty-year-old man and was accustomed to suffering hardship and danger with the men under his command. As for Saint Ignatius, he was a man of Apostolic character in every way. He had been governing the Church of the Antiochenes during the storm of persecutions, even from the time of Domitian (81-96 A.D.). As a good pilot, he held the helm of the Church by means of prayer, fasting, assiduous teaching, and spiritual earnestness. He withstood the enemy's surge to gain the faithful, lest the helm lose any of the fainthearted or over-simple. Though there was a period of tranquility for the Church and the persecution abated somewhat, Saint Ignatius still thought to himself that since he had not suffered martyrdom, he had not yet attained to the complete rank of a disciple or shown true love toward Christ. He believed that martyrdom should attach him more closely to His Lord. God dispensed otherwise all those years, so that the holy Bishop should remain with the flock, as a lamp illuminating the minds of the faithful by his exposition of the sacred scriptures. Nevertheless, it was the Saint's ardent prayer that he make his confession by martyrdom. Now Trajan, being full of himself after gaining the military victory over the Dacians, was put out that the Christians were the only people not in complete subjection (a contemporary attitude of the secular state), unless they submitted to the service of the idols (currently i.e., wealth and pleasure), or more correctly, the devils. Therefore, the pious were constrained either to offer sacrifice or to die. Saint Ignatius, refusing such vile homage, therefore came forth of his own free will before Trajan.
As the two stood face to face, Trajan asked, "Who art thou, thou wretch of a devil, that art so ready to disobey our royal orders, whilst thou seduces others also, that they may come to an equally bad end?" Saint Ignatios answered, "No one who bears God can be called a wretch of a devil. I say this, on the one hand, because the devils stand aloof from the slaves of God, but, on the other hand, if thou sayest this because I am troublesome to the devils, then I concur. For since I have the heavenly King Christ, I confound the devices of the devils." Trajan said, "And who is he that bearest God?" Saint Ignatios answered "The one who has Christ in his heart." Trajan asked, "Dost thou not think then that we too have gods in our hearts, since we have them as allies against our enemies?" Saint Ignatios replied, "Thou art deceived when thou callest the demons of the nations gods. There is one God Who created the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things that are therein, and one Christ Jesus, the Only-begotten Son of the God and Father, Whose friendship I would be prepared to take risks to enjoy...
"...At a pagan holiday, the people assembled from all over. They converged in the Capital not only for the festival but also for a look at the holy man whose fame had spread abroad in every place. All knew that the Christian Archbishop of Antioch was to be shown and devoured by wild beasts. The crowds that attended to witness the spectacle were without number. The holy man of God was often escorted into the theater. The Saint then turned without hesitation to the multitude of spectators. Possessed of a valiant and fearless mind, he addressed them: "Men of Rome, witnesses of my contest: you need to know that neither have I committed a criminal act, nor have I transgressed in anything that is deserving of death. I, however, receive this sentence today voluntarily, gladly, and with rejoicing, that I might attain to the True God for Whom I thirst and yearn to enjoy; inasmuch as I am God's wheat, ground fine by the teeth of wild beasts that I might become pure and unblemished bread."
After the Saint addressed the crowd, the executioners released the lions. Even as Saint Ignatios had desired and entreated God, the lions caught sight of him, sprang upon him, and devoured the holy bishop. The creatures left only his large bones; therefore the bellies of the wild animals became his tomb. After the crowds dispersed from the theater and departed, the Christians remained behind that they might take up and bury the holy man's relics with honor and reverence. The holy relics were interred in a distinguished place on the 20th day of December. With the passage of time, the holy relics of Saint Ignatius were returned to Antioch. In the Synaxaristes of the Russians, from the codices at the Vatican Library in Rome, it is written that the lions left the heart of the Saint. The soldiers observing that the bishop's heart remained unharmed, cut open that organ, then--o the wonder!--they found an inscription of God written within, showing the name "Jesus Christ." Thus, we see that the Saint was true to his name God-bearer, in both the passive and active sense. The translation (anakomide) of the holy relics of Saint Ignatios is commemorated by the Holy Church on the 29th of January. He was buried in Daphne, and later, having been wrapped in linen removed to Antioch by Emperor Theodosios II (408-450 A.D.). Thus, an inestimable treasure was left to the Holy Church. When the Moslems captured the city of Antioch in 637 A.D., the holy relics of Saint Ignatios were moved to several places for safekeeping.
It is remarked upon that, at his martyric repose, the faithful wept at their loss of him. Their wailing was inconsolable as they devoted their time about his tomb, keeping vigil and chanting continually at the site. Now Saint Ignatios appeared to them in a vision. He embraced them and encouraged them, saying, "Cease lamenting, but rather rejoice." In this manner, he softened their pain and suffering. On other occasions, the faithful beheld him perspiring, even as he had undergoing the struggle of his martyric contest, and offering prayer for the salvation of the city and for all the Christians. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Incarnation,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George