The Letters of Ignatius · §4.9 · Ignatius of Antioch

Remember the Syrian church in prayer

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Ignatius is closing his letter to the Ephesians, asking them to pray for the church in Syria and reflecting on his own unworthiness.

Remember in your prayers the church in Syria, which now has God as its shepherd in my place. Jesus Christ alone will be its bishop, and your love will watch over it.

As for me, I am ashamed to be counted among them, for I am not worthy. I am the last of them and an untimely birth, as Paul said of himself. 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 welcomed me in the name of Jesus Christ, not as one merely passing through. Even the churches that were not on my route according to the flesh escorted me ahead from city to city.

Greek

Μνημονεύετε ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ ὑμῶν τῆς ἐν Συρίᾳ ἐκκλησίας, ἥτις ἀντὶ ἐμοῦ ποιμένι τῷ θεῷ χρῆται. μόνος αὐτὴν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐπισκοπήσει καὶ ἡ ὑμῶν ἀγάπη.

ἐγὼ δὲ αἰσχύνομαι ἐξ αὐτῶν λέγεσθαι: οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄξιός εἰμι, ὣν ἔσχατος αὐτῶν καὶ ἔκτρωμα: ἀλλ’ ἠλέημαί τις εἶναι, ἐὰν θεοῦ ἐπιτύχω.

ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς τὸ ἐμὸν πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τῶν δεξαμένων με εἰς ὄνομα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὐχ ὡς παροδεύοντα. καὶ γὰρ αἱ μὴ προσήκουσαί μοι τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ κατὰ σάρκα, κατὰ πόλιν με προῆγον.

About this text

The seven letters Ignatius of Antioch wrote on his way to martyrdom in Rome, urging each church to stand united with its bishop.

Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 110) was the bishop of Antioch in Syria. He wrote these letters while being taken under guard from Syria to Rome, where he expected to be executed for his Christian faith during the reign of Emperor Trajan.

The letters were written in great haste, modelled after the biblical epistles of Paul, Peter, and John. Ignatius wrote to the churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome from Smyrna, and to Philadelphia, Smyrna, and Polycarp the bishop of Smyrna from Troas. In them he urges each church to unite around its bishop, the council of elders, and the deacons as the visible order willed by God. He warns against teachers who deny the real flesh, suffering, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and against any return to Judaism.

A reader will meet bishops such as Onesimus of Ephesus, Damas of Magnesia, Polybius of Tralles, and Polycarp of Smyrna, along with deacons and companions who visited Ignatius. , and he reports words of the Spirit. He presents his own coming death by wild beasts as the completion of his discipleship.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Ignatius of Antioch The Apostolic Fathers Kirsopp Lake Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press London William Heinemann 1912 1 Loeb Classical Library (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.