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Icons of
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Martyr of Old Rome, "the God-bearer"
Feast: Dec.
20 (in Eastern rite), Feb. 1 (in Western rite)
Successor
of Holy Apostle Peter at the Apostolic See of St. Peter at Antioch, St.
Ignatius was sent to Rome and martyred there. He wrote to his
Christian friends as he was being sent to death, "I must be ground by
the teeth of wild beasts that I may be the pure bread of Christ."
The translation of his Relics to Antioch affords the first documented
example of veneration of Holy Relics in the Orthodox Church. By
tradition, he was the same little child whom Jesus the Lord placed in
the midst of the disciples when He said, "Unless ye become as little
children..."
Top Icon:
from Holy Dormition Orthodox Church, Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Next
Icon: by Monk Michael of Mt. Athos (late 20th c.).
Final
Icon: available from http://www.ermey.ru/.
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