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The saints

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Marched in chains from Syria to Rome, he wrote seven letters on the way.

Feast: 17 October · died between 98 and 117 · The early Church · Antioch, Syria, and Rome, Italy

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The interior of the Colosseum in Rome, its tiers of broken arches open to the sky.

Colin, 2012. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Home / The saints / St. Ignatius of Antioch

On the road from Antioch to Rome, early 2nd century

The bishop of Antioch is being taken to Rome in chains, to be given to wild beasts as a spectacle for the people.1

“From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers”

Ignatius, Letter to the Romans1

His guards meant it as a humiliation. Ignatius wrote letters that the Church still reads today.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church remembers him as bishop of Antioch and a martyr.

01St. Ignatius of Antioch

Seven letters

From Smyrna and then from Troas he wrote to the churches along his way, urging them to obey their bishops and avoid heresy.1

Seven of his letters survive.2

Even so, the trip turned into something like a victory parade.1

02St. Ignatius of Antioch

Rome

He died at Rome between 98 and 117.1

The interior of the Colosseum in Rome, its tiers of broken arches open to the sky.
The Colosseum, Rome. Ignatius was taken to the city to die in the arena. Colin, 2012. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

He asked the Roman Christians not to save him. He wanted to reach God.

Live it this week

Write a letter from where you are

Ignatius wrote seven letters while being marched in chains, and they still encourage the Church. Wherever you feel stuck this week, write one handwritten note of encouragement to someone in your parish or family, and mail it.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Ignatius of Antioch”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  2. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Polycarp”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.