Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/715

 IGNATIUS 645 Smyrna, where Polycarp, his fellow-disciple in the school of St. John, was bishop. The stay at Smyrna, which was a protracted one, gave the representatives of the various Christian communities in Asia Minor an opportunity of greeting the illustrious prisoner, and offering him the homage of the Churches they repre- sented. From the congregations of Ephesus, Mag- nesia, and Tralles, deputations came to comfort him. To each of these Christian communities he addressed letters from Smyrna, exhorting them to obedience to their respective bishops, and warning them to avoid the contamination of heresy. These letters are redo- lent with the spirit of Christian charity, apostolic zeal, and pastoral solicitude. While still there he wrote also to the Christians of Rome, begging them to do nothing to deprive him of the opportunity of mar- tyrdom. From Smyrna his captors took him to Troas, from which place he dispatched letters to the Christians of Philadelphia and Smyrna, and to Polycarp. Besides these letters, Ignatius had intended to address others to the Christian communities of Asia Minor, inviting them to give public expression to their sympathy with the brethren in Antioch, but the altered plans of his guards, necessitating a hurried departure from Troas, defeated his purpose, and he was obliged to content himself with delegating this office to his friend Poly- carp. At Troas they took ship for Neapolis. From this place their journey led them overland through Macedonia and Illyria. The next port of embarka- tion was probably Dyrrhachium (Durazzo). Whether, having arrived at the shores of the Adriatic, he com- pleted his journey by land or sea, it is impossible to determine. Not long after his arrival in Rome he won his long-coveted crown of martyrdom in the Flavian amphitheatre. The relics of the holy martyr were borne back to Antioch by the deacon Philo of Cilicia, and Rheus Agathopus, a Syrian, and were interred outside the gates not far from the beautiful suburb of Daphne. They were afterwards removed by the Emperor Theodosius II to the Tychæum, or Temple of Fortune, which was then converted into a Christian church under the patronage of the martyr whose relics it sheltered. In 637 they were translated to St. Clem- ent's at Rome, where they now rest. The Church celebrates the feast of St. Ignatius on 1 February. The character of St. Ignatius, as deduced from his own and the extant writings of his contemporaries, is that of a true athlete of Christ. The triple honour of apostle, bishop, and martyr was well merited by this energetic soldier of the Faith. An enthusiastic devo- tion to duty, a passionate love of sacrifice, and an utter fearlessness in the defence of Christian truth, were his chief characteristics. Zeal for the spiritual well-being of those under his charge breathes from every line of his writings. Ever vigilant lest they be infected by the rampant heresies of those early days; praying for them, that their faith and courage may not be wanting in the hour of persecution; constantly exhorting them to unfailing obedience to their bishops; teaching them all Catholic truth; eagerly sighing for the crown of martyrdom, that his own blood may fructify in added graces in the souls of his flock, he proves himself in every sense a true pastor of souls, the good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep. COLLECTIONS.-The oldest collection of the writings of St. Ignatius known to have existed was that made use of by the historian Eusebius in the first half of the fourth century, but which unfortunately is no longer extant. It was made up of the seven letters written by Ignatius whilst on his way to Rome. These letters were addressed to the Christians (1) of Ephesus (IIpds 'Eperlous); (2) of Magnesia (May vnotevov); (3) of Tralles (Tpaavoîs); (4) of Rome (Ilpos 'Pwpalovs); (5) of Philadelphia (λadeλpeûov); (6) of Smyrna (Suvpvalois); (7) and to Polyearp (Ilpos Iloλúкаprov). We find these seven mentioned not only by Eusebius IGNATIUS ("Hist. eccl.”, III, xxxvi) but also by St. Jerome (De viris illust., c. xvi). Of later collections of Ignatian letters which have been preserved, the oldest is known as the "long recension This collection, the author of which is unknown, dates from the latter part of the fourth century. It contains the seven genuine and six spurious letters, but even the genuine cpistles were greatly interpolated to lend weight to the personal views of its author. For this reason they are incapable of bearing witness to the original form. The spurious letters in this recension are those that purport to be from Ignatius (1) to Mary of Cassobola (Ilpos Maplar Kagooßolirnv); (2) to the Tarsians (IIpos Toús év Tapo); (3) to the Philippians (Ilpòs Þidiñanolovs); (4) to the Antiochenes (Ilpos 'Avrioxeïs); (5) to Hero, a deacon of Antioch (Ilpos "Hpwva diákovov 'AVTOxelas). Associated with the foregoing is (6) a letter from Mary of Casso- bola to Ignatius. It is extremely probable that the interpolation of the genuine, the addition of the spuri- ous letters, and the union of both in the long recension was the work of an Apollonarist of Syria or Egypt, who wrote towards the beginning of the fifth century. Funk identifies him with the compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions, which came out of Syria in the early part of the same century. Subsequently there was added to this collection a panegyric on St. Ignatius entitled, "Laus Heronis". Though in the original it was probably written in Greek, it is now extant only in Latin and Coptic texts. There is also a third re- cension, designated by Funk as the "mixed collec- tion". The time of its origin can be only vaguely determined as being between that of the collection known to Eusebius and the long recension. Besides the seven genuine letters of Ignatius in their original form, it also contains the six spurious ones, with the exception of that to the Philippians. In this collection is also to be found the "Mar- tyrium Colbertinum". The Greek original of this re- cension is contained in a single codex, the famous Mediceo-Laurentianus MS. at Florence. This codex is incomplete, wanting the letter to the Romans, which, however, is to be found associated with the 'Martyrium Colbertinum" in the Codex Colbertinus, at Paris. The mixed collection is regarded as the most reliable of all in determining what was the au- thentic text of the genuine Ignatian letters. There is also an ancient Latin version which is an unusually exact rendering of the Greek. Critics are generally inclined to look upon this version as a translation of some Greek MS. of the same type as that of the Medi- cean Codex. This version owes its discovery to Arch- bishop Ussher, of Ireland, who found it in two MSS. in English libraries and published it in 1644. It was the work of Robert Grosseteste, a Franciscan friar and Bishop of Lincoln (c. 1250). The original Syriac ver- sion has come down to us in its entirety only in an Armenian translation. It also contains the seven genuine and six spurious letters. This collection in the original Syriac would be invaluable in determining the exact text of Ignatius, were it in existence, for the reason that it could not have been later than the fourth or fifth century. The deficiencies of the Ar- menian version are in part supplied by the abridged recension in the original Syriac. This abridgment contains the three genuine letters to the Ephesians, the Romans, and to Polycarp. The MS. was discovered by Cureton in a collection of Syriac MSS. obtained in 1843 from the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Desert of Nitria. Also there are three letters extant only in Latin. Two of the three purport to be from Ignatius to St. John the Apostle, and one to the Blessed Virgin, with her reply to the same. These are probably of Western origin, dating no further back than the twelfth century. 66 THE CONTROVERSY.-At intervals during the last several centuries a warm controversy has been carried on by patrologists concerning the authenticity of the