January: Day 29: Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer

 

January: Day 29:
Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer
 
(On the Benefits and Saving Power of Invoking the Name of the Savior)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer.

Once the secular authorities reported him to Emperor Trajan that he did not allow Christians to participate in pagan celebrations on the occasion of Trajan's victories. Trajan, having arrived in Antioch, called for him. "Are you called a God-bearer?" he asked him. "And what kind of a name is that?" - "A God-bearer is one who bears Christ God in his soul," said Saint Ignatius.

Trajan tried for a long time to persuade Ignatius to renounce Christ, promising honors and riches for his renunciation. The God-bearer replied that it was better for him to suffer for Christ than to live, having renounced Him, in greatness and glory. Then the emperor condemned Ignatius to be devoured by wild beasts. And so Ignatius, bound with heavy bonds, was led to Rome for execution. He joyfully went to execution for his beloved Christ and consoled the Christians who came out to him weeping from the cities he passed by. He even had the fortitude to write several letters to the Christians on the way.

When they brought him to execution, he prayed with the Christians who were there. The pagans, hearing that he was constantly repeating the name of Jesus Christ, asked why he repeated this name so often. Saint Ignatius answered that the name of Jesus Christ was written in his heart and therefore his lips confessed the One Whom he always carried in his heart. He had hardly said a few more words before his death, when the lions rushed upon him and tore him to pieces. The Christians gathered up his bones and carried them to Antioch. They wept and grieved for him for a long time, and the Saint appeared to some of them, comforting them in their sorrow. Others saw him praying for the people.

II. What does Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer teach us by his example?

a) He teaches us to keep God in our minds and hearts, to call upon and repeat the saving name of Christ the Savior as often as possible. To whom is Christ dearer than to us who believe in Him, who unite with Him in baptism, who mysteriously unite with Him in the Mystery of Communion? To whom is He closer, dearer, than to us, His servants, who are called by His name, who are marked with His cross, who wear His cross on our chests, and who especially honor those seven days of the week on which He suffered and rose again? We are united with Him as a branch of a tree with its tree. “I am the vine, you are the branches.” We live by Him here, with Him, by Him we will live after death – shall we forget Him? We serve Him, we sin before Him, we repent before Him, and from Him we await mercy. To whom then should we most often ascend with our mind and heart, to whom should we most often turn with fervent and tender prayer, to whom, if not to Him – our Master and Lord?

b) The Holy Fathers, the true servants of Christ, did just that. They never pronounced any name so often, nor held it in their minds and hearts with such love as the sweetest name of Christ. The Jesus Prayer, given by an angel to the Venerable Pachomios: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" - this prayer was the inseparable companion of all their deeds, outside the temple and in public services. Saying this prayer themselves, they commanded that laymen do it too, and especially those seeking success in the spiritual life. According to their teaching, this prayer can even replace church services if for some reason someone cannot sometimes be at them. And they appointed how many times it should be read with prostrations for each service separately, how many for vespers, compline, midnight office, matins, and so on. All this is indicated in the Psalter.

c) It is sweet and comforting for the heart of a believer and one who loves the Lord to often pronounce His sweetest name. But how soul-saving and how effective is the invocation of this great name!

From the lives of the saints one can point to countless examples of the extraordinary power of the name of the Savior.

During the reign of the Greek Emperor Justinian the Great, there was a terrible earthquake in Antioch, which threatened to turn the entire city with its magnificent buildings into ruins. Then one pious man advised to inscribe the saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ on all the houses. When everyone did this, the earthquake ended.

One of the disciples of the Venerable Paphnutios had an eye disease that tormented him terribly. The monk gave him his prayer rope and told him to say the prayer a thousand times: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The disciple barely managed to say half the number before the disease passed.

The Venerable Moses the Black was haunted by evil dreams at night, and having exhausted all his efforts at vigil, fasting and prayer, he found no peace for himself, then he came to the priest Theodore. He, taking pity on him, called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and freed him from these dreams, saying: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ this will no longer happen to you.” And indeed, his evil dreams left him.

And how many saints have healed the possessed in the name of Jesus Christ! How many people have been healed from illnesses by the apostles and other saints in this name!

III. Let us, brethren, pronounce this saving name more and more often. Thus, if you sit at work, rather than sing empty and often sinful songs, keep the name of Christ and prayer to Him on your lips and in your heart. You will sin less, and your deeds will be more successful. And most importantly, through prayer you will draw closer and closer to Christ. Do this when you take advantage of rest, when you are on the way. Is it really better to give in to the scattering of thoughts and especially to vile dreams? Do this when you wake up at night, and when you leave the house, and when you begin any work.

May the Almighty Lord, by His grace, through the prayers of the Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius, direct your steps to the fulfillment of His commandments. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.