Born around the year 50 in Syria, Ignatius was an Apostolic Father of the Church, a disciple, with St. Polycarp, of St. John the Evangelist, and the third bishop of Antioch, the former See of Peter before he went to Rome.
In 117 he was sentenced to death by the Emperor Trajan and arrested in Antioch. He was brought, on a slow journey that lasted months, to the circus in Rome to be devoured by lions. The Roman emperor hoped to make an example of Ignatius and discourage the spread of Christianity.
During his months of captivity he wrote seven letters to Christian congregations in the Mediterranean, who he referred to generally as the "Catholic" (universal) Church – thus coining the term for the first time. His letters included ones to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Philadelphians, Smyrneans and Romans, as well as a letter to Polycarp, who was bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of St. John the Evangelist.
These letters proved to be influential in the development of Christian theology, since there are few extant writings from this period of Church history. They bear signs of being written in great haste and without a proper plan, such as run-on sentences and an unsystematic succession of thought. Ignatius is the first known Christian writer to put great stress on loyalty to a single bishop in each city, who is assisted by both presbyters (priests) and deacons. Earlier writings only mention either bishops or presbyters, and give the impression that there was usually more than one bishop per congregation. Ignatius also stresses the value of the Eucharist, calling it "a medicine to immortality."
His letters show him to have been a zealous bishop, with a fierce love for his flock and the universal Church, and he had no fear of martyrdom; rather, he welcomed it. His letter to the Romans is a jewel of Christian literature:
"I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God's wheat and bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.
"The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God's side.
"Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in me for any earthly thing.
"Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: 'Come to the Father.' I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world. I want only God's bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed from the seed of David, and for drink I crave His blood, which is love that cannot perish.
"Pray for me that I may obtain my desire. I have not written to you as a mere man would, but as one who knows the mind of God."
— Catholic News Agency
'No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. 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.' — St. Ignatius of Antioch
On Oct. 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the life of St. John of Capistrano, a Franciscan priest whose life included a political career, extensive missionary journeys, efforts to reunite separated Eastern Christians with Rome and a historically important turn at military leadership.
Invoked as a patron of military chaplains, St. John of Capistrano was praised by St. John Paul II in a 2002 general audience for his "glorious evangelical witness," as a priest who "gave himself with great generosity for the salvation of souls."
Born in Italy during 1385, John lost his father – a French or possibly German knight who had settled in Capistrano – at a young age. John's mother took care to have him educated, and after learning Latin he went to study both civil law and Church law in Perugia. An outstanding student, he soon became a prominent public figure and was appointed governor of the city at age 26.
John showed high standards of integrity in his civic career, and in 1416 he labored to end a war that had erupted between Perugia and the prominent House of Malatesta. But when the nobles had John imprisoned, he began to question his life's direction. Encountering St. Francis of Assisi in a dream, he resolved to embrace poverty, chastity and obedience with the Franciscans.
Abandoning his possessions and social status, John joined the religious order in October 1416. He found a mentor in St. Bernardine of Siena, known for his bold preaching and his method of prayer focused on the invocation of the name of Jesus. Taking after his teacher in these respects, John began preaching as a deacon in 1420 and was ordained a priest in 1425.
John successfully defended his mentor from a charge of heresy made against his way of devotion, though he found less success in his efforts to resolve internal controversy among the followers of St. Francis. A succession of popes entrusted important matters to John, including the effort to reunite Eastern and Western Christendom at the Ecumenical Council of Florence.
Drawing immense crowds in his missionary travels throughout Italy, John also found success as a preacher in Central Europe, where he opposed the Hussites' error regarding the nature and administration of the Eucharist. After Constantinople fell to Turkish invaders in 1453, Pope Nicholas V sent John on a mission to rally other European leaders in defense of their lands.
Nicholas' successor Pope Callixtus III was even more eager to see the Christian world defend itself against the invading forces. When the Sultan Mehmet II sought to extend his territorial gains into Serbia and Hungary, John joined the celebrated general Janos Hunyadi in his defense of Belgrade. The priest personally led a section of the army in its historic victory on Aug. 6, 1456.
Neither John nor the general, however, would survive long past the battle.
Weakened by the campaign against the Turks, Hunyadi became sick and died soon after the victory at Belgrade. John survived to preach Janos Hunyadi's funeral sermon, but his own extraordinary life came to an end on Oct. 23, 1456, after a painful illness. He was buried in the nearby town of Ilok, Croatia.
St. John of Capistrano was canonized in 1724. Known as the "soldier saint," he is the patron of military chaplains and jurists.
— Catholic News Agency