Wednesday, December 20 : Saint Ignatius of Antioch

I write to all the churches and charge them all to know that I die willingly for God provided you do not hinder me. I entreat you, spare me from importunate good will. Allow me to belong to the wild beasts through whom I may attain God. I am God’s grain and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may become pure bread… The furthest bound of the universe and the kingdoms of this world will profit me nothing. It is better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ than to reign over the boundaries of the earth. Him I seek who died for us; him I desire who rose for our sakes. My labor pains draw near. Forgive me, brethren: do not hinder me from entering into life… Allow me to receive the light that is pure. When I have won through, then shall I truly be a man. Suffer me to be an imitator of the Passion of my God… My Love has been crucified and there is not within me any fire of earthly desire, but only water that lives and speaks in me and says from within me: ‘Come to the Father.’ I have no pleasure in the food of corruption nor in the pleasures of this material life. I desire God’s bread, which is the flesh of Christ, who is of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible.
maronite readings – rosary,team