Ignatius of antioch

I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David, and for drink I desire His Blood,...

I have many deep thoughts in God, but I take my own measure, lest I perish by boasting... For I myself, though I am in chains and can comprehend heavenly things, the ranks of the angels and the...

I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.

Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when you assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at...

From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated.

Reverence the deacons as you would the command of God.

Even the heavenly powers and the angels in their splendor and the principalities, both visible and invisible, must either believe in the Blood of Christ, or else face damnation.

Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ Jesus is, there is the catholic church.

Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.

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.