Saint Ignatius the Godbearer and Hieromartyr
Date of celebration: 20/12
The birth time and nationality of Saint Ignatius are unclear. Ignatius ascended the throne of Antioch between 68-70 AD. He shepherded like an apostolic teacher and stood guard over the souls of his flock.
When Trajan ordered a persecution against the Christians, courageously Ignatius, while the king was passing through Antioch, appeared before him and defended the rights of the Church and the truth of the Christian faith. Then Trajan ordered the arrest of Ignatius and his transfer to Rome. The Christians of Rome intended to spare him from martyrdom, but Ignatius, with a burning thirst for martyrdom, wrote to them to let God’s will be done. So, on the 20th of December in the year 107 AD, he was thrown into the amphitheater, where hungry beasts devoured him. Only the largest of his bones were saved, which were transported and buried with honors in Antioch.
Later they moved to Rome (2nd collection in 540 AD and deposited in the Holy Church of Agios Clements). Thus, Ignatius remained faithful to the teaching of Christ until the end, and “he who abides in the teaching of Christ, he has both the father and the son” (2nd letter of John, 9). That is, he who abides in the teaching of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son, because he has become the temple of God and therefore carries God within him. That is why Ignatius was called Theophoros.
