You have Christ within you
From a letter to the Magnesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. c. 107)
You have Christ within you
Let us not be insensible of Christ’s loving kindness. For if he had acted as we do, we would have been lost indeed. Therefore let us become his disciples and learn to live in the Christian way; those who are called by any other name are not of God. Cast out the evil leaven that has become old and sour, and replace it with the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. He must be the salt of your lives, so that none of you may become corrupt, since it is by your wholesomeness that you will be judged. It is absurd to profess Christ with the lips and at the same time to practice Judaism; for Christianity did not develop into faith in Judaism, but Judaism into faith in Christianity. It was in this that men of every tongue believed and were brought together unto God.
I do not write this to you, my dear friends, because I have heard that any one of you is thus disaffected, but because, though I am a lesser man than yourselves, I would have you all guard against falling into the snares of false doctrine. Have a firm faith in the reality of the Lord’s birth, and passion and resurrection which took place when Pontius Pilate was procurator. All these deeds were truly and certainly accomplished by Jesus Christ, who is our hope; may none of you ever be turned away from him.
May you be my joy in all things, if I am worthy of it. For although I am in chains, I do not deserve to be compared with any of you who live in freedom. I know that you are not inflated with pride, for you have Jesus Christ within you. And I know that you blush when I praise you, as the Scripture says: The just man is his own accuser. Take care, then, to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and his apostles so that you may prosper in all your doings both in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in the Son, and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, along with your most worthy bishop and his spiritual crown, your presbyters, and with the deacons, who are men of God. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles to Christ and to the Father and to the Spirit, so that there may be unity in flesh and in spirit.
I have exhorted you only briefly, for I am aware that you are filled with God. Remember me in your prayers, that I may attain to God. And remember the church in Syria, from which I am unworthy to be called. How I need your united prayer and love in God! Remember, then, the Church in Syria, that it may be strengthened through your prayers.
The Ephesians at Smyrna, where I write these lines, send their greetings. They have come together here like yourselves for the glory of God; they have consoled me in every way and so has Polycarp, their bishop. The other churches, too greet you for the glory of Jesus Christ. Farewell; may you bide in God’s harmony, possessing that undivided spirit which is Jesus Christ.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Ignatius (d. c. 107) was consecrated a bishop by Saint Peter and appointed bishop of Antioch following the death of Evodius, first bishop of the see of Antioch. Ignatius governed for forty years but was arrested under the persecution of Emperor Trajan, condemned to death, and was sent under guard to Rome for execution. The ship he was on traveled along the coast of Asia Minor, then Greece, and finally reached Rome. Wherever the ship touched port, he was greeted by crowds of Christians, but he received ill-treatment by his captors.
He arrived in Rome on December 20, 107. the last day of the public games. He was escorted to the amphitheater and there was killed by lions in the arena. A detailed description of the trip to Rome is provided by Agathopus and a deacon named Philo, who were with him, and who also wrote at his dictation seven letters of instruction to different churches. Knowing he would soon be a martyr, he expresses his willingness to die for Christ. In all the letters, Ignatius gives insights to the structure of the Church, marriage, the Trinity, the Incarnation, Redemption, and the Eucharist, which are among the most important of the earliest Christian writings.