Chapter 1
Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans
Salutation
Ignatius, also called God-bearer, to the Church that has received mercy in the greatness of the Most High God the Father and of Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son, sanctified and illumined in the will of God who made all things that exist, according to the faith and love of Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour; which also presides in the region of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of purity, and presiding in love, bearing the name of Christ, bearing the name of the Father, bearing the Spirit—which Church I also greet in the name of God Almighty and of Jesus Christ his Son; to those united in flesh and Spirit to every commandment of his, filled with the grace of God without wavering and strained clear from every alien taint, most abundant greetings blamelessly in God and the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
1
1 Since by praying to God I succeeded in seeing your God-worthy faces, and even received more than I asked for—for bound in Christ Jesus I hope to greet you, if indeed it is the will of God that I be counted worthy to reach the end. The beginning is indeed well ordered, if only I may obtain the grace to receive my lot to the end without hindrance.
2 For I fear your love, lest it do me wrong. For it’s easy for you to do what you want, but it’s hard for me to reach God if you don’t spare me under the pretext of fleshly friendship.
2
1 For I don’t want you to please men, but to please God, just as you do. I will never have another opportunity like this to reach God, and you, if you remain silent, will have your name inscribed on a greater work.
2 For if you remain silent about me, I will become God’s; but if you love my flesh, I will be running again. Grant me nothing more than to be poured out as a libation to God while the altar is still ready, so that, becoming a chorus in love, you may sing to the Father in Christ Jesus, because God has deemed the bishop of Syria worthy to be found in the west, having summoned him from the east as a witness of his own passions. It is good to depart from the world to God, so that I may rise to him.
3
1 You have never envied anyone; you have taught others. But I want those things you command as disciples to remain firm.
2 Only ask for power for me, both inwardly and outwardly, so that I may not only speak but also will, so that I may not only be called a Christian but also be found to be one. For if I am found to be one, I can also be called one and then be faithful when I am no longer visible to the world.
3 Nothing visible is eternal. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Christianity is not a matter of persuasion but of greatness, when it is hated by the world.
4 is loved by God. For if you were of this world,’ he says, ‘the world would love its own; but now you are not of this world, but I have chosen you—remain with me.
4
1 I am writing to all the Churches and I charge everyone that I am willingly dying for God, if only you don’t hinder me. I urge you, don’t become an untimely kindness to me.
2 Let me be food for the wild beasts, through whom I can reach God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may be found pure bread of God.
3 Rather, coax the wild beasts so that they may become a tomb for me and leave nothing of my body behind, so that when I fall asleep I won’t be a burden to anyone. Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world won’t even see my body.
4 Entreat the Lord for me, so that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. I’m not giving you orders like Peter and Paul; they were apostles of Jesus Christ, but I am the least. They were free as servants of God, but I am still a servant. But if I suffer, I will become a freedman of Jesus Christ and will rise in him free. Now, bound in him, I am learning to desire nothing worldly or vain.
5
1 From Syria all the way to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, night and day, bound to ten leopards—that is, a company of soldiers—who only become worse when they are treated well. But through their wrongdoings I am becoming more of a disciple, yet I am not thereby justified. May I have joy of the beasts that are prepared for me, and I pray they may be found ready for me. I will even coax them to devour me quickly, not as they have been afraid to touch some.
2 And even if they are unwilling of their own accord, I will force them. Bear with me—I know what is good for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple.
3 May nothing visible or invisible envy me, so that I may attain to Jesus Christ. Fire and cross, packs of wild beasts, cuttings and manglings, scatterings of bones, hackings of limbs, crushings of my whole body, evil punishments of the devil—let them come upon me, only so that I may attain to Jesus Christ.
6
1 The ends of the world will profit me nothing, nor the kingdoms of this age. It is better for me to die for Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth.
2 For what does it profit a human being if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? I long for the Lord, the Son of the true God and Father, Jesus Christ. I seek him who died for us and rose again. Bear with me, brothers.
3 Don’t hinder me from reaching life, for Jesus is the life of the faithful. Don’t wish me to die, for life without Christ is death.
4 Don’t hand me over to the world when I want to belong to God. Let me receive the pure light; when I arrive there I will be a human being of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God, Christ.
5 If anyone has him in himself, let him understand what I want, and let him sympathize with me, knowing the things that constrain me.
7
1 The ruler of this age wants to snatch me away and corrupt my resolve toward my God. So let none of you who are present help him; rather, be on my side—that is, on God’s side.
2 Don’t speak of Jesus Christ while preferring the world. Let no envy dwell among you. And even if I urge you in person, don’t be persuaded—rather, trust what I’m writing to you. For I write to you as one who is alive, longing to die for Christ.
3 My love has been crucified, and there is no fire in me that loves matter; but living water, springing up within me, says to me inwardly:
4 Come to the Father. I take no pleasure in corruptible food or in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the bread of heaven, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who in the last times came from the seed of David and Abraham; and for drink I desire his blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.
8
1 I no longer want to live according to human standards. This will be so if you are willing. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, since Christ lives in me.
2 In a few lines I beg you: don’t refuse me. Believe me, because I love Jesus, who was delivered up for me.
3 What shall I give back to the Lord for all that he has given back to me? God himself, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will make these things clear to you—that I speak truly.
4 And you, pray together with me, so that I may reach the goal in the Holy Spirit. I did not write to you according to the flesh, but according to the mind of God. If I suffer, you have loved me; if I am rejected, you have hated me.
9
1 Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which has the Lord as its shepherd in my place—the one who said, I am the good shepherd. He alone will oversee it, along with your love for him. But I’m even ashamed to be counted as one of them, for I am not worthy, being the least of them and an untimely birth.
2 But I have been shown mercy to be someone, if I attain to God. My spirit greets you, and so does the love of the churches that received me in the name of Jesus Christ—not as someone just passing through. For even the churches that were not on my route escorted me from city to city.
10
1 I am writing these things to you from Smyrna through the worthy-of-blessing Ephesians. With me also are many others, and Crocos, a name much desired.
2 Concerning those who have come from Syria to Rome for the glory of God, I am confident that you have come to know them. You will also make clear to them that I am near. For all of them are worthy of God and of you.
3 It is fitting for you to refresh them in every way. I have written these things to you on the ninth day before the Kalends of September.
4 Be strong to the end in the endurance of Jesus Christ.