St. Ignatius is the most prominent of the early Church fathers to suffer martyrdom—the account of his trial and death have encouraged Christians for thousands of years.

He converted to faith in Christ through following St. John the Evangelist, and Sts. Peter and Paul named him bishop of Antioch (in present-day Turkey). He served the people there as bishop for 40 years.

Christians faced persecution from the Roman empire under the reign of Domitian and found reprieve after his death in 96 AD. A little more than a year later, the emperor Trajan came to power.

Trajan won several major battles and attributed the victories to benevolence from the gods. He could not understand why Christians would refuse to honor the gods that brought success to the kingdom—their refusal, in his understanding, put the empire in danger. He renewed the persecution of Christians, and Ignatius was among those arrested and tried during this period.

Tradition holds that Trajan himself cross-examined Ignatius and sentenced him to death. When he heard he was to be chained and sent to Rome to be fed to lions for the entertainment of the public, Ignatius said, “I thank you, O Lord, for putting within my reach this pledge of perfect love for you, and for allowing me to be bound for your sake with chains, after the example of your holy apostle, Paul.”

He was placed on a ship that was headed to Rome after making numerous stops along the south and west coast of the Mediterranean. The trip was difficult—he had mean guards, whom he described as “ten leopards.” In his words, “they only grow worse when they are kindly treated.”

The prolonged journey gave Ignatius time to address the growing Church in the small sea communities they passed through. He had several followers with him who composed letters to each community. Wherever the ship landed, Christians flocked to the port to hear his greeting and receive his blessing.

His letters survive and give scholars an excellent window into the state of those early communities, and the shape of the Church’s understanding of important tenets of faith such as the Trinity, the Eucharist, and the Incarnation.

Because the ship carrying him was making its way to Rome so slowly, his followers arrived there ahead of time. Several had friends in high places, and he asked them to not intervene in his case to save him from martyrdom. He wrote:

“I shall never again have such an opportunity to win my way to God… Only pray for me that God may give me grace within as well as without, not only to say it but to desire it, that I may not only be called but be found a Christian… Allow me to be the food of wild beasts that I might come to God. I am God’s grain and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become Christ’s pure bread. Rather entice the beasts to become my tomb, and leave no scrap of me behind, that when I am dead I may not be a burden to anyone. I shall be a true disciple of Christ when the world no longer sees my body. Pray to Christ for me so that by these means I may become a sacrifice to God… Now I begin to be a disciple. May nothing visible or invisible begrudge me that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire and cross, gashes and rendings, breaking of bones and mangling of limbs, the shattering into pieces of my whole body and all the wicked torments of the devil—come what may, if only I may gain Jesus Christ.”

Eventually, the ship arrived at Rome—he was hurried to the amphitheater and two lions were set upon him. They killed and consumed him immediately. Only his larger bones remained.

The reliquary chapel in the Basilica contains relics of St. Ignatius (perhaps not first degree—actual parts of these bones—but maybe of a lesser degree—an item he used in life, or something touched to his body).

St. Ignatius of Antioch, who encouraged the early Church with your self-sacrifice for Christ—pray for us!

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Image Credit: (1) Our featured image of St. Ignatius is in the public domain. Last accessed October 4, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons. (2) The image of St. Ignatius’ martyrdom is also in the public domain and was last accessed October 4, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.