Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: St Ignatius of Antioch - teacher of the Christocentric and Eucharistic dimension of martyrdom

Monday, October 17, 2022

St Ignatius of Antioch - teacher of the Christocentric and Eucharistic dimension of martyrdom

Today the Church gives us the memorial of St Ignatius of Antioch. Apostolic Father & Martyr.

St Ignatius of Antioch is one of those early Church martyrs that many of us may not be aware of. He is also an Apostolic Father because he is one of the earliest Church Fathers directly after the Apostles themselves. Along with St Clement of Rome, his teaching and example was so influential in the early Church that his writings almost became part of the accepted Canon of Scripture in the New Testament.

St Ignatius had a burning love for Jesus and a very Eucharistic theology. He understood his martyrdom and suffering as a way of participating in the Eucharist to be a sacrifice to God. His teaching on the importance of Bishops for a valid Eucharist have also been fundamental in the Church’s understanding of ecclesiology.

He heavily focused on the relationship between correct doctrine (orthodoxy) and correct practice (orthopraxy). This is best expressed in his beautiful quote where he says that it’s more important to be a Christian through his way of life, rather than by claiming to be a Christian.

The early Church had a strong devotion to the martyrs because it was understood that by being witnesses of Christ (the original Greek meaning) that they were imitating Christ par excellence through their death, and also living the reality of the Paschal Mystery. This is why Martyrs are specifically mentioned in the Book of Revelation, the Te Deum mentions the martyrs, and the Church has reserved a special category of saints for martyrs.

The Church (following from the doctrine and example of St Ignatius himself) teaches that there is a fundamental link between the Christocentric and Eucharistic dimensions of martyrdom. This found its fullest expression in the practice of many Churches having altars built over the tombs or sites of martyrs - which later developed into the custom we still have today of having the relics of saints fixed into consecrated altars. So the martyrs teach us how to be faithful witnesses unto death of the love of Jesus, to the point that our very life becomes a living sacrifice to God as St Paul teaches us in the Letter to the Romans. The more we participate in the Eucharist, the more we become united to Jesus and our life is confirmed to him to the point of being Eucharistic - a living sacrifice.

Together with the Church, let us make this prayer today our own:

Almighty ever-living God,

who adorn the sacred body of your Church

with the confessions of holy Martyrs,

grant, we pray, that, just as the glorious passion of Saint Ignatius of Antioch,

which we celebrate today,

brought him eternal splendor,

so it may be for us unending protection.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

– Amen.

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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.