The Epistle of Ignatius to Mary at Neapolis, Near Zarbus.
Chapter I.—Acknowledgment of her excellence and wisdom.
Chapter II.—His own condition.
Chapter III.—He had complied with her request.
But I, O thou blessed woman, not being now so much my own master as in the power of others, am driven along by the varying wills of many adversaries,3 Literally, “by the many wills of the adversaries.” being in one sense in exile, in another in prison, and in a third in bonds. But I pay no regard to these things. Yea, by the injuries inflicted on me through them, I acquire all the more the character of a disciple, that I may attain to Jesus Christ. May I enjoy the torments which are prepared for me, seeing that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”4 Rom. viii. 18.