Various - "Notes and Queries, Number 184, May 7, 1853"

Ferdinand Raimund - "Der Alpenkonig und der Menschenfeind"

Alexis de Tocqueville - "American Institutions And Their Influence"

Fred M. White - "The Crimson Blind "

Editorial
This article examines the wide range of anonymous and pseudonymous naming practices to be found in West African newspapers between the 1880s and 1930s, and asks about the shape of a West African history of anonymity as compared with recent histories of anonymity in European literature. The article also discusses the ways in which colonial West African uses of anonymity and pseudonyms challenge postcolonial scholarship on agency, subjectivity, resistance, authenticity and identity.

The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints

A >> Alban Butler >> The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints




* * * * *

Charity towards all mankind was a distinguishing feature in the
character of the saints. This benevolent virtue so entirely possessed
their hearts, that they were constantly disposed to sacrifice even their
lives to the relief and assistance of others. Zealously employed in
removing their temporal necessities, they labored with redoubled vigor
to succor their spiritual wants, {317} by rooting out from their souls
the dominion of sin, and substituting in its room the kingdom of God's
grace. Ingratitude and ill-treatment, which was the return they
frequently met with for their charitable endeavors, were not able to
allay their ardent zeal: they considered men on these occasions as
patients under the pressure of diseases, more properly the object of
compassion than of resentment. They recommended them to God in their
private devotions, and earnestly besought his mercy in their favor. This
conduct of the saints, extraordinary as it is, ceases to appear
surprising when we recollect the powerful arguments our Blessed Saviour
made use of to excite us to the love of our neighbor. But how shall we
justify our unfeeling hard-heartedness, that seeks every trifling
pretence to exempt us from the duty of succoring the unfortunate? Have
we forgot that Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who alone hath bestowed on us
whatever we possess, hath made charity towards our fellow-creature, but
especially towards the needy, an indispensable precept? Do we not know
that he bids us consider the suffering poor as members of the same head,
heirs of the same promises, as our brethren and his children who
represent him on earth? He declares, that whatever we bestow upon them
he will esteem it as given to himself; and pledges his sacred word that
he will reward our alms with an eternity of bliss. Such motives, says
St. Chrysostom, would be sufficient to touch a heart of stone: but there
is something still more cogent, continues the same holy father, which
is, that the same Jesus Christ, whom we refuse to nourish in the persons
of the poor, feeds our souls with his precious body and blood. If such
considerations move not our hearts to commiserate and assist the
indigent, what share of mercy and relief can we hope for in the hour of
need? Oh, incomprehensible blindness! we perhaps prepare for ourselves
an eternal abyss, by those very means which, properly applied, would
secure as the conquest of a kingdom which will never have an end.[6]

Footnotes:
1. A century before, the counts of Barcelona were become kings of
Aragon by a female title, and had joined Catalonia to Aragon, making
Barcelona their chief residence and capital.
2. F. Tonron, in the life of St. Raymund, p. 20, quotes an original
letter of St. Raymund, which mentions this revelation. The
authenticity of this letter cannot be called in question, being
proved by F. Bremond, Bullar. Ord. Praed. t. 1, not. in Constit. 36,
Greg. X. The same revelation is inserted in the bull of the saint's
canonization, in the Histories of Zumel, Vargas, Penia, &c. Benedict
XIV. also mentions it, Canoniz. SS. l. 1, c. 41, and proves that it
cannot reasonably be contested.
3. This Order consisted at first of some knights, who were dressed like
seculars, wearing only a scarf or scapular; and of friars who were
in holy orders, and attended the choir. The knights were to guard
the coast against the Saracens, but were obliged to choir when not
on duty. St. Peter himself was never ordained priest; and the first
seven generals or commanders were chosen out of the knights, though
the friars were always more numerous. Raymond Albert, in 1317. was
the first priest who was raised to that dignity; and the popes
Clement V., and John XXII., ordered that the general should be
always a priest after which, the knight were incorporated into other
military Orders, or were rarely renewed. It is styled, "The royal
military religious Order of our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of
Captives." It is divided into commanderies, which in Spain are very
rich. It has eight provinces in America, three in Spain, and one,
the poorest, in the southern part of France, called the province of
Guienne. Whereas this Order is not bound to many extraordinary
domestic austerities, a reformation, obliging the members to go
barefoot, was established among them in the sixteenth century, and
approved by pope Clement VIII. It observes the strictest poverty,
recollection, solitude, and abstinence, and has two provinces in
Spain, and one in Sicily, besides several nunneries. It was erected
by F. John Baptist Gonzales, or of the holy sacrament, who died in
the year 1{}18, and is said to have been honored with miracles.
4. Podoniensis.
5. Ps. cx. 9.
6. S. Chrys. Hom. in illud: Vidua eligatur, &c. t. 3, p. 397. Ed. Ben.

ST. SERAPION, M.

HE was a zealous Englishman, whom St. Peter Nolasco received into his
Order at Barcelona. He made two journeys among the Moors for the ransom
of captives, in 1240. The first was to Murcia, in which he purchased the
liberty of ninety-eight slaves: the second to Algiers, in which he
redeemed eighty-seven, but remained himself a hostage for the full
payment of the money. He boldly preached Christ to the Mahometans, and
baptized several: for which he was cruelly tortured, scourged, cut and
mangled, at length fastened to a cross, and was thereon stabbed and
quartered alive in the same year, 1240. Pope Benedict XIII. declared him
a martyr, and proved his immemorial veneration in his Order, by a decree
in 1728, as Benedict XIV. relates. L. 2, de Canoniz. c. 24, p. 296.

SS. CYRUS AND JOHN, MM.

CYRUS, a physician of Alexandria, who by the opportunities which his
profession gave him, had converted many sick persons to the faith; and
John, an Arabian, hearing that a lady called Athanasia, and her three
daughters, of which the eldest was only fifteen years of age, suffered
torments for the name of Christ at Canope in Egypt, went thither to
encourage them. They were apprehended themselves, and cruelly beaten:
their sides {318} were burnt with torches, and salt and vinegar poured
into their wounds in the presence of Athanasia and her daughters, who
were also tortured after them. At length the four ladies, and a few days
after, Cyrus and John, were beheaded, the two latter on this day. The
Syrians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Latins, honor their memory. See their
acts[1] by St. Sophronius commended in the seventh general council, and
published with remarks by Bollandus.

Footnotes:
1. St. Cyrus is the same as Abba-Cher, mentioned in the Coptic calendar
on this day, which is the 8th of their month Mechir. He is called
Abbacyrus in the life of St. John the Almoner, written by Leontius,
in many ancient Martyrologies, and other monuments of antiquity.
Abbacyrus is a Chaldaic word, signifying the Father Cyr. As this
saint was an Egyptian, it is probable he was originally called
Pa-Cher, or Pa-Cyrus, the Egyptians having been accustomed to prefix
the article Pa to the names of men, as we see in Pa-chomis,
Pa-phantis, Pa-phantis, &c.

It is said in the acts of our two martyrs, that they were buried at
Canopus, twelve furlongs from Alexandria, and that their relics were
afterwards translated to Manutha, a village near Canopus, which was
celebrated for a great number of miracles wrought there. These
relies are now in a church at Rome called Sant' Apassara: this word
being corrupted by the Italians from Abbacyrus. Formerly there were
many churches in that city dedicated under the invocation of these
two holy martyrs. See Chatelain, notes on the Rom. Mart, p. 469, et
seq.

ST. MARCELLA, WIDOW.

SHE IS styled by St. Jerom the glory of the Roman ladies. Having lost
her husband in the seventh month of her marriage, she rejected the suit
of Cerealis the consul, uncle of Gallus Caesar, and resolved to imitate
the lives of the ascetics of the East. She abstained from wine and
flesh, employed all her time in pious reading, prayer, and visiting the
churches of the apostles and martyrs, and never spoke with any man
alone. Her example was followed by many virgins of the first quality,
who put themselves under her direction, and Rome was in a short time
filled with monasteries. We have eleven letters of St. Jerom to her in
answer to her religious queries. The Goths under Alaric plundered Rome
in 410. St. Marcella was scourged by them for the treasures which she
had long before distributed among the poor. All that time she trembled
only for her dear spiritual pupil, Principia (not her daughter, as some
have reputed her by mistake,) and falling at the feet of the cruel
soldiers, she begged, with many tears, that they would offer her no
insult. God moved them to compassion. They conducted them both to the
church of St. Paul, to which Alaric had granted the right of sanctuary
with that of St. Peter. St. Marcella, who survived this but a short
time, which she spent in tears, prayers, and thanksgiving, closed her
eyes by a happy death, in the arms of St. Principia, about the end of
August, in 410, but her name occurs in the Roman Martyrology on the 31st
of January. See St. Jerom, Ep. 96, ol. 16, ad Principiam, t. 4, p. 778.
Ed. Ben. Baronius ad ann. 410, and Bollandus, t. 2, p. 1105.

ST. MAIDOC, OR MAODHOG,

CALLED ALSO AIDAN AND MOGUE, BISHOP OF FERNS, IN IRELAND.

HE was born in Connaught, a province of Ireland, and seemed from his
infancy to be deeply impressed with the fear of God. He passed in his
early days into Wales, where he lived for a considerable time under the
direction of the holy abbot David. He returned afterwards to his own
country, accompanied with several monks of eminent piety, founded a
great number of churches and monasteries, and was made bishop of Ferns.
He {319} died in 632, according to Usher. His name is celebrated among
the Irish saints. It appears from Cambrensis that his festival was
observed in Wales in the twelfth century. He was also honored in
Scotland.[1] See Colgan, Jan. 31, pp. 208, 223. Chatelain, notes, p.
481.

Footnotes:
1. There is found in the chronicle of Scone, and in the Breviary of
Aberdeen, an ancient collect, in which the Divine mercy is implored
through his intercession. Chatelain tells us that in Lower Brittany
he is called St. De, (contracted from the Latin word Aideus, or
Aidanus,) and that the village and church which bear his name,
celebrate his festival on the 18th of March, the day perhaps on
which they received some portion of his relics.

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{321}

_Only Complete and Unabridged Edition with nearly 100 pages of
Chronological and General Index, Alphabetical and Centenary Table, etc._

THE
LIVES
OF
THE FATHERS, MARTYRS,
AND OTHER
PRINCIPAL SAINTS;
COMPILED FROM
ORIGINAL MONUMENTS, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC RECORDS;
ILLUSTRATED WITH THE
REMARKS OF JUDICIOUS MODERN CRITICS AND HISTORIANS,
BY THE REV. ALBAN BUTLER.
_With the approbation of
MOST REV. M. A. CORRIGAN, D.D.,
Archbishop of New York._

VOL. II.

NEW YORK:
P.J. KENEDY,
PUBLISHER TO THE HOLY SEE,
EXCELSIOR CATHOLIC PUBLISHING HOUSE,
5 BARCLAY STREET.
1903.

{322 blank page}
{323}
/*
CONTENTS.
FEBRUARY.

1. PAGE
St. IGNATIUS, Bishop of Antioch, Martyr........ 325
St. Pionius, Priest and Martyr................. 333
St. Bridget, Virgin and Abbess, Patroness of
Ireland...................................... 334
St Kinnia, Virgin, of Ireland.................. 334
St. Sigebert, King of Austrasia, Confessor..... 337

2.
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.... 337
St. Laurence, Archbishop of Canterbury......... 342

3.
St Blaze, Bishop and Martyr.................... 343
St. Anscharius, Archbishop of Hamburgh and
Bremen, Confessor............................ 344
St. Wereburge, Virgin and Abbess, in England,
Patroness of Chester......................... 345
St. Margaret, Virgin in England................ 348

4.
St. Andrew Corsini, Bishop and Confessor....... 349
St. Phileas and Philoromus, Bishop of Thmuis,
Martyrs...................................... 351
St. Gilbert, Abbot, Founder of the Gilbertins.. 353
St. Jean, or Joan, of Valois, Queen of France.. 353
St. Isidore of Pelusium, Priest................ 354
St Rembert, Archbishop of Bremen, Confessor.... 355
St. Modan, Abbot in Scotland, Confessor........ 355
St. Joseph of Leonissa, Confessor.............. 356

5.
St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr.................. 357
The Martyrs of Japan........................... 359
Appendix to the Martyrs of China............... 362
SS. Martyrs of Pontus, under Dioclesian........ 366
St. Avitus, Archbishop of Vienne, Confessor.... 366
St. Alice, or Adelaide, Virgin and Abbess...... 366
St. Abraamius, Bishop of Arbela, Martyr........ 367

6.
St. Dorothy, Virgin and Martyr................. 367
St. Vedast, Bishop of Arras, Confessor......... 368
St. Amandus, Bishop and Confessor.............. 369
St. Barsanuphius, Anchoret..................... 370

7.
St. Romuald, Abbot and Confessor, Founder of
the Order of Camaldoli....................... 370
St. Richard, King in England, and Confessor.... 377
St. Theodorus, of Heraclea, Martyr............. 377
St. Tresain, or Tresanus, Priest and Confessor. 378
St. Augulus, Bishop in England, and Martyr..... 379

8.
St. John of Matha, Confessor, Founder of the
Order of Trinitarians........................ 379
St. Stephen of Grandmont, Abbot................ 382
Appendix to the Life of St. Stephen............ 384
St. Paul, Bishop of Verdun, Confessor.......... 384
St. Cuthman, in England, Confessor............. 385

9.
St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr............... 388
St. Nicephorus, Martyr......................... 388
St. Theliau, Bishop in England, and Confessor.. 489
St. Ansbert, Archbishop of Rouen in 695,
Confessor.................................... 390
St. Attracta, or Tarahata, Virgin, in Ireland.. 390
St. Erhard, Abbot and Confessor, native of
Scotland..................................... 390

10.
St. Scholastica, Virgin........................ 391
St. Soteris, Virgin and Martyr................. 393
St. William of Maleval, Hermit, and Institutor
of the Order of Gulielmites.................. 393
St. Erlulph, Bishop and Martyr, native of
Scotland..................................... 305

11.
SS. Saturninus, Dativus, and others, Martyrs of
Africa....................................... 395
St. Severinus, Abbot of Agaunum................ 397
St. Theodora, Empress.......................... 398

12.
St. Benedict of Anian, Abbot................... 398
St. Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, Confessor.. 401
St. Eulalia, Virgin, of Barcelona, Martyr...... 405
St. Antony Cauleas, Patriarch of
Constantinople, Confessor.................... 405

13.
St. Catharine de Ricci, Virgin................. 406
St. Licinius, Bishop of Angers, Confessor...... 408
St. Polyeuctus, Martyr......................... 409
St. Gregory II., Pope and Confessor............ 410
St. Martinianus, Hermit at Athens.............. 412
St. Modomnoc, or Dominick, of Ossory, Bishop
and Confessor................................ 413
St. Stephen, Abbot............................. 413
B. Roger, Abbot and Confessor.................. 413

14.
St. Valentine, Priest and Martyr............... 413
St. Maro, Abbot................................ 414
St. Abraames, Bishop of Carres................. 415
St. Auxentius, Hermit.......................... 415
St. Conran, Bishop of Orkney, Confessor........ 416

15.
SS. Faustinus and Jovita, Martyrs.............. 416
St. Sigefride, or Sigfrid, Bishop. Apostle of
Sweden....................................... 417

16.
St. Onesimus, Disciple of St. Paul............. 418
SS. Elias, Jeremy, Isaias, Samuel, Daniel, and
other Holy Martyrs at Caesarea, in Palestine. 419
St. Juliana, Virgin and Martyr................. 420
St. Gregory X., Pope and Confessor............. 420
St. Tanco, or Tatta, Bishop and Martyr, native
of Scotland.................................. 422

{324}

17.
St. Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople,
Martyr....................................... 422
SS. Theodulus and Julian, Martyrs.............. 425
St. Silvin of Auchy, Bishop and Confessor...... 426
St. Loman, or Luman, Bishop in Ireland,
Confessor.................................... 426
St. Fintan, Abbot of Cluian-Ednech, in Ireland. 427

18.
St. Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, Martyr........ 427
SS. Leo and Paregorius, Martyrs................ 429

19.
St. Barbatus, or Barbas, Bishop of Benevento,
Confessor.................................... 431

20.
SS. Tyrannio, Bishop of Tyre, Zenobius, and
other Martyrs in Phoenicia................... 433
St. Sadoth, Bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon,
with 128 Companions, Martyrs................. 434
St. Eleutherius, Bishop of Tourney, Martyr..... 436
St. Mildred, Virgin and Abbess................. 436
St. Eucherius, Bishop of Orleans, Confessor.... 437
St. Ulrick, Recluse in England................. 438

21.
St. Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, Martyr.. 439
SS. German, Abbot of Granfel, and Randaut,
Martyrs...................................... 440
SS. Daniel, Priest, and Verde, Virgin, Martyrs. 441
B. Pepin of Landen, Mayor of the Palace........ 441

22.
The Chair of St. Peter, at Antioch............. 442
St. Margaret of Cortona, Penitent.............. 443
SS. Thalassius and Limneus, Confessors......... 444
St. Baradat, Confessor......................... 444

23.
St. Serenas, a Gardener, Martyr................ 445
St. Milburge, Virgin in England................ 447
St. Dositheus, Monk............................ 447
B. Peter Damian, Cardinal, Bishop of Ostia..... 448
St. Boisil, Prior of Melross, Confessor........ 431

24.
St. Matthias, Apostle.......................... 453
SS. Montanus, Lucius, Flavian, Julian,
Victoricus, Primolus, Rhenus, and Donatian,
Martyrs at Carthage.......................... 453
St. Lethard, Bishop of Senlis, Confessor....... 459
B. Robert, of Arbrissel, Priest................ 459
St. Pretextatus, or Prix, Archbishop of Rouen,
Martyr....................................... 460
St. Ethelbert, Confessor, First Christian King
among the English............................ 462

25.
St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople,
Confessor.................................... 463
St. Victorinus, and Six Companions, Martyrs.... 468
St. Walburge, Abbess in England................ 469
St. Caesarius, Physician, Confessor............. 470
St. Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria,
Confessor.................................... 470
St. Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza, Confessor...... 473
St. Victor, or Vittre, of Arcis in Champagne,
Anchoret and Confessor....................... 477

26.
St. Leander, Bishop of Seville, Confessor...... 478
SS. Julian, Chronion, and Besas, Martyrs ...... 480
St. Thalilaeus, a Cilician, Recluse in Syria.... 481
St. Galmier, of Lyons.......................... 481
St. Nestor, Bishop and Martyr.................. 481
St. Alnoth, Anchoret and Martyr................ 482

28.
Martyrs who died in the Great Pestilence in
Alexandria................................... 482
St. Proterius, Patriarch of Alexandria, Martyr. 482
SS. Romanus and Lupicinus, Abbots.............. 484

29.
St. Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, and
Archbishop of York........................... 484
*/
{325}


FEBRUARY I.

ST. IGNATIUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, M.

From his genuine epistles; also from the acts of his martyrdom, St.
Chrys. Hom. In St. Ignat. M. t. 3, p. {}{9}2. Ed. Nov. Eusebius. See
Tillemont, t. 2, p. 191. Cave, t. 1, p. 100. Dom Ceillier. Dom Marechal
Concordance des Peres Grecs et Latins, t. 1, p. 58.

A.D. 107.

ST. IGNATIUS, surnamed Theophorus,[1] a word implying a divine or
heavenly person, was a zealous convert and an intimate disciple of St.
John the Evangelist, as his acts assure us; also the apostles SS. Peter
and Paul, who united their labors in planting the faith at Antioch.[2]
It was by their direction that he succeeded Evodius in the government of
that important see, as we are told by St. Chrysostom,[3] who represents
him as a perfect model of virtue in that station, in which he continued
upwards of forty years. During the persecution of Domitian, St. Ignatius
defended his flock by prayer, fasting, and daily preaching the word of
God. He rejoiced to see peace restored to the church on the death of
that emperor, so far as this calm might be beneficial to those committed
to his charge: but was apprehensive that he had not attained to the
perfect love of Christ, nor the dignity of a true disciple, because he
had not as yet been called to seal the truth of his religion with his
blood, an honor he somewhat impatiently longed for. The peaceable reign
of Nerva lasted only fifteen months. The governors of several provinces
renewed the persecution under Trajan his successor: and it appears from
Trajan's letter to Pliny the younger, governor of Bithynia, that the
Christians were ordered to be put to death, if accused; but it was
forbid to make any inquiry after them. That emperor sullied his clemency
and bounty, and his other pagan virtues, by incest with his sister, by
an excessive vanity, which procured him the surname of Parietmus, (or
dauber of every wall with the inscriptions of his name and actions,) and
by blind superstition, which rendered him a persecutor of the true
followers of virtue, out of a notion of gratitude to his imaginary
deities, especially after his victories over the Daci and Scythians in
101 and 105. In the year 106, which was the ninth of his reign, he set
out for the East on an expedition {326} against the Parthians, and made
his entry into Antioch on the 7th of January, 107, with the pomp of a
triumph. His first concern was about the affair of religion and worship
of the gods, and for this reason he resolved to compel the Christians
either to acknowledge their divinity and sacrifice to them, or suffer
death in case of refusal.

Ignatius, as a courageous soldier, being concerned only for his flock,
willingly suffered himself to be taken, and carried before Trajan, who
thus accosted him: "Who art thou, wicked demon, that durst transgress my
commands, and persuade others to perish?" The saint answered: "No one
calls Theophorus a wicked demon." Trajan said: "Who is Theophorus?"
Ignatius answered: "He who carrieth Christ in his breast." Trajan
replied: "And do not we seem to thee to bear the gods in our breasts,
whom we have assisting us against our enemies?" Ignatius said: "You err
in calling those gods who are no better than devils: for there is only
one God, who made heaven and earth, and all things that are in them: and
one Jesus Christ his only Son, into whose kingdom I earnestly desire to
be admitted." Trajan said: "Do not you mean him that was crucified under
Pontius Pilate?" Ignatius answered: "The very same, who by his death
has crucified with sin its author, who overcame the malice of the
devils, and has enabled those, who bear him in their heart, to trample
on them." Trajan said: "Dost thou carry about Christ within thee?"
Ignatius replied, "Yes; for it is written: _I will dwell and walk in
them_."[4] Then Trajan dictated the following sentence: "It is our will
that Ignatius, who saith that he carrieth the crucified man within
himself, be bound and conducted to Rome, to be devoured there by wild
beasts, for the entertainment of the people." The holy martyr, hearing
this sentence, cried out with joy: "I thank thee, O Lord, for
vouchsafing to honor me with this token of perfect love for thee, and to
be bound with chains of iron, in imitation of thy apostle Paul, for thy
sake." Having said this, and prayed for the church, and recommended it
with tears to God, he joyfully put on the chains, and was hurried away
by a savage troop of soldiers to be conveyed to Rome. His inflamed
desire of laying down his life for Christ, made him embrace his
sufferings with great joy.

On his arrival at Seleucia, a sea-port, about sixteen miles from
Antioch, he was put on board a ship which was to coast the southern and
western parts of Asia Minor. Why this route was pitched upon, consisting
of so many windings, preferably to a more direct passage from Seleucia
to Rome, is not known; probably to render the terror of his punishment
the more extensive, and of the greater force, to deter men from
embracing and persevering in the faith: but providence seems to have
ordained it for the comfort and edification of many churches. Several
Christians of Antioch, taking a shorter way, got to Rome before him,
where they waited his arrival. He was accompanied thither from Syria by
Reus, Philo, a deacon, and Agathopodus, who seem to have written these
acts of his martyrdom. He was guarded night and day, both by sea and
land, by ten soldiers, whom he calls ten leopards, on account of their
inhumanity and merciless usage who, the kinder he was to them, were the
more fierce and cruel to him. This voyage, however, gave him the
opportunity of confirming in faith and piety the several churches he saw
on his route; giving them the strictest caution against heresies and
schism, and recommending to them an inviolable attachment to the
tradition of the apostles. St. Chrysostom adds, that he taught them
admirably to despise the present life, to love only the good things to
come, and never to fear any temporal evils whatever. The faithful {327}
flocked from the several churches he came near, to see him, and to
render him all the service in their power, hoping to receive benefit
from the plenitude of his benediction. The cities of Asia, besides
deputing to him their bishops and priests, to express their veneration
for him, sent also deputies in their name to bear him company the
remainder of his journey; so that he says he had many churches with him.
So great was his fervor and desire of suffering, that by the fatigues
and length of the voyage, which was a very bad one, he appeared the
stronger and more courageous. On their reaching Smyrna, he was suffered
to go ashore, which he did with great joy, to salute St. Polycarp, who
had been his fellow-disciple under St. John the Evangelist. Their
conversation was upon topics suitable to their character, and St.
Polycarp felicitated him on his chains and sufferings in so good a
cause. At Smyrna he was met by deputies of several churches, who were
sent to salute him. Those from Ephesus were Onesimus, the bishop;
Burrhus, the deacon; Crocus, Euplus, and Fronto. From Magnesia in Lydia,
Damas the bishop, Bassus and Apollo, priests, and Sotio, deacon. From
Tralles, also in Lydia, Polybius the bishop. From Smyrna, St. Ignatius
wrote four letters: in that to the church of Ephesus, he commends the
bishop Onesimus, and the piety and concord of the people, and their zeal
against all heresies, and exhorts them to glorify God all manner of
ways: to be subject, in unanimity, to their bishop and priests; to
assemble, as often as possible, with them in public prayer, by which the
power of Satan is weakened: to oppose only meekness to anger, humility
to boasting, prayers to curses and reproaches, and to suffer all
injuries without murmuring. He says, that because they are spiritual,
and perform all they do in a spiritual manner, that all, even their
ordinary actions, are spiritualized, because they do all in Jesus
Christ. That he ought to have been admonished by them, but his charity
would not suffer him to be silent: wherefore he prevents them, by
admonishing first, that both might meet in the will of God. He bids them
not be solicitous to speak, but to live well, and to edify others by
their actions; and recommends himself and his widow-church of Antioch to
their prayers. Himself he calls their outcast, yet declares that he is
ready to be immolated for their sake, and says they were persons who had
found mercy, but he a condemned man: they were strengthening in grace,
but he struggling in the midst of dangers. He calls them
fellow-travellers in the road to God, which is charity, and says they
bore God and Christ in their breasts, and were his temples, embellished
with all virtues, and that he exulted exceedingly for the honor of being
made worthy to write to them, and rejoice in God with them: for setting
a true value on the life to come, they loved nothing but God alone.
Speaking of heretics, he says, that he who corrupts the faith for which
Christ died, will go into unquenchable fire, and also he who heareth
him. It is observed by him, that God concealed from the devil three
mysteries: the virginity of Mary, her bringing forth, and the death of
the Lord: and he calls the Eucharist the medicine of immortality, the
antidote against death, by which we always live in Christ. "Remember me,
as I pray that Jesus Christ be mindful of you. Pray for the church of
Syria, from whence I am carried in chains to Rome, being the last of the
faithful who are there. Farewell in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ,
our common hope." The like instructions he repeats with a new and most
moving turn of thought, in his letters to the churches of Magnesia, and
of the Trallians; inculcates the greatest abhorrence of schism and
heresy, and begs their prayers for himself and his church in Syria, of
which he is not worthy to be called a member, being the last of them.[5]
His {328} fourth letter was written to the Christians of Rome. The saint
knew the all-powerful efficacy of the prayers of the saints, and feared
lest they should obtain of God his deliverance from death. He therefore
besought St. Polycarp and others at Smyrna, to join their prayers with
his, that the cruelty of the wild beasts might quickly rid the world of
him, that he might be presented before Jesus Christ. With this view he
wrote to the faithful at Rome, to beg that they would not endeavor to
obtain of God that the beasts might spare him, as they had several other
martyrs; which might induce the people to release him, and so disappoint
him of his crown.

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