Feast Day: December 20th
The Life of Saint Ignatius: Thus, Saint Ignatius would be called the God-bearer because he was carried by the hands of the Incarnate God. But no less he would be called the God-bearer also because he carried God in his heart and in his mouth…
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Prayers
Apolytikion: Soaring with love for Him Who holds thee in His hands, thou wast shown to be a God-bearer, O Ignatius. Thou didst finish thy course in the West, and pitch thy dwelling in the unwaning day of the Heavens. O Venerable Father, entreat Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.
Kontakion: The Twentieth Day of thy glorious struggles, heralds the One to be born of a Virgin, for thirsting for His presence, thou didst hasten to be devoured by wild beasts. Therefore thou wast named God-bearer, O glorious Ignatius.
Saint Ignatius was the little child whom Christ took in His arms and told the Apostles “whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Having been carried by Our Lord as a young child, and calling himself the God-Bearer as an adult, Saint Ignatius indicated the connection we need between being carried by God and carrying God in our hearts.
“He who carries God in his heart, bears Heaven with him wherever he goes.”
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“Christianity is not a matter of persuading people of particular ideas. but of inviting them to share in the greatness of Christ”
“As God’s athlete, be sober: Eternal Life is at stake.”
“Be deaf, therefore, whenever anyone speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ.”
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“There is only one Physician, Who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in Man, True Life in death, born from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
“By His Baptism Jesus Sanctified the waters.”
“Let your Baptism be ever your shield, your faith a helmet, your charity a spear, your patience a panoply. Let your works be deposits, so that you may receive the sum that is due you.”
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“See that you all follow the Bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the Presbytery as you would the Apostles; and reverence the Deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the Bishop.”
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“Wherever the Bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
“I am the wheat of God and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.”


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“It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality. For it is not the being called so, but the being really so, that renders a man blessed.”
“We are not asked merely to call ourselves Christians; we are asked to be Christians through our deeds.”
“Those who profess to be Christ’s will be recognized by their actions. For what matters is not a momentary act of professing, but being persistently motivated by faith.”
“It is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name.”




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“Now I begin to be a disciple… let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment… come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ.”
“It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ, thank to reign over all the ends of the Earth.”














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“Our work is not in persuasion, for Christianity is most powerful when it is hated by the world.”
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