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to send one of your own people with a letter, so that he may join in glorifying the fair weather that has come to them according to God, and that I have reached a safe harbor in Christ through your prayers. Since you are perfect, you should also set your minds on perfect things; for when you desire to do well, God is also ready to grant it.

The love of your brothers in Troas greets you, from where I also write to you through Burrhus, whom you sent with me along with the Ephesians your fellow brothers, who has refreshed me in every way. And would that all imitated him, being an example of God's ministry. The grace of the Lord will reward him in every way. I greet your God-worthy bishop Polycarp and the God-befitting presbytery and the Christ-bearing deacons my fellow servants and all of them individually and together in the name of Jesus Christ and in his flesh and blood, in his passion and resurrection, both fleshly and spiritual in the unity of God and of you. Grace to you, mercy, peace, endurance always in Christ. I greet the households of my brothers with their wives and children and the perpetual virgins and the widows. Fare you well in the power of the spirit. Philo the fellow deacon, who is with me, greets you. I greet the household of Gavia, whom I pray to be firm in faith and love, both fleshly and spiritual. I greet Alce, a name desired by me, and Daphnus the incomparable and Eutecnus and all by name. Fare you well in the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and with divine and sacred wisdom.

TO POLYCARP, BISHOP OF SMYRNA.

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who is also a martyr of Jesus Christ, to Polycarp, bishop of the church of the Smyrnaeans, or rather, one overseen by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, very many greetings. Acknowledging your mind in God, fixed as on an immovable rock, I give exceeding glory for being counted worthy of your blameless face, in which may I have joy in God. I exhort you in the grace with which you are clothed, to press on in your course and to exhort all, so that they may be saved. Vindicate your office with all diligence, both of the flesh and of the spirit. Be concerned for unity, than which nothing is better. Bear with all, as the Lord also does with you. Endure all in love, just as you also do. Be devoted to unceasing prayers, ask for more understanding than you have. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless spirit. Speak to each one according to the manner of God. Bear the illnesses of all as a perfect athlete, as also the Lord of all; for he himself, it says, took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. Where the labor is greater, the gain is much.

If you love good disciples, you have no credit; rather, subdue the more troublesome ones in gentleness. Not every wound is healed by the same plaster; soothe sharp pains with fomentations. Be wise as the serpent in all things and innocent always as the dove. For this reason you are of soul and body, of flesh and of spirit, so that you may set right the things that appear before your face; but ask that the unseen things may be revealed to you, so that you may lack nothing, and may abound in every gift. The time requires you to pray. For just as the wind helps a pilot and as suitable harbors help a storm-tossed ship for salvation, so also for you to attain to God. Be sober as an athlete of God, whose will is incorruption and eternal life, concerning which you also are persuaded. In every way I am a ransom for you and my bonds, which you have loved. Let not those who seem worthy of belief and teach other doctrines startle you; but stand firm as an anvil when it is struck. It is the mark of a great athlete to be struck and to conquer. But especially for the sake of God we ought to endure all things, so that He also may await for the kingdom. more

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πέμψαι τινὰ τῶν ὑμετέρων μετ' ἐπιστολῆς, ἵνα συνδοξάσῃ τὴν κατὰ θεὸν αὐτοῖς γενομένην εὐδίαν, καὶ ὅτι λιμένος εὐόρμου τετύχηκα Χριστοῦ διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν ὑμῶν. τέλειοι ὄντες τέλεια καὶ φρονεῖτε· θέλουσι γὰρ ὑμῖν εὖ πράττειν καὶ θεὸς ἕτοιμος εἰς τὸ παρασχεῖν.

Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν τῶν ἐν Tρωάδι, ὅθεν καὶ γράφω ὑμῖν διὰ Bούργου, ὃν ἀπεστείλατε μετ' ἐμοῦ ἅμα Ἐφεσίοις τοῖς συναδέλφοις ὑμῶν, ὃς κατὰ πάντα με ἀνέπαυσεν. καὶ ὄφελον πάντες αὐτὸν ἐμιμοῦντο, ὄντα ἐξεμπλάριον θεοῦ διακονίας. ἐμείψεται αὐτὸν ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου κατὰ πάντα. ἀσπάζομαι τὸν ἀξιόθεον ἐπίσκοπον ὑμῶν Πολύκαρπον καὶ τὸ θεοπρεπὲς πρεσβυτέριον καὶ τοὺς χριστοφόρους διακόνους τοὺς συνδούλους μου καὶ τοὺς κατὰ ἄνδρα καὶ κοινῇ πάντας ἐν ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ αἵματι, πάθει τε καὶ ἀναστάσει, σαρκικῇ τε καὶ πνευματικῇ ἐν ἑνότητι θεοῦ καὶ ὑμῶν. χάρις ὑμῖν, ἔλεος, εἰρήνη, ὑπομονὴ διὰ παντὸς ἐν Χριστῷ. Ἀσπάζομαι τοὺς οἴκους τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου σὺν γυναιξὶν καὶ τέκνοις καὶ ἀειπαρθένοις καὶ τὰς χήρας. ἔρρωσθέ μοι ἐν δυνάμει πνεύματος. ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Φίλων ὁ συνδιάκονος, ὁ ὢν σὺν ἐμοί. ἀσπάζομαι τὸν οἶκον Γαυΐας, ἣν εὔχομαι ἡδρᾶσθαι πίστει καὶ ἀγάπῃ σαρκικῇ τε καὶ πνευματικῇ. ἀσπάζομαι Ἄλκην, τὸ ποθητόν μοι ὄνομα, καὶ ∆άφνον τὸν ἀσύγκριτον καὶ Eὔτεκνον καὶ πάντας κατ' ὄνομα. ἔρρωσθε ἐν χάριτι θεοῦ καὶ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πεπληρωμένοι πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ σοφίας θείας καὶ ἱερᾶς.

ΠΡOΣ ΠOΛΥKAΡΠON EΠIΣKOΠON ΣMΥΡNHΣ.

Ἰγνάτιος, ἐπίσκοπος Ἀντιοχείας, ὁ καὶ μάρτυς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, Πολυκάρπῳ ἐπισκόπῳ ἐκκλησίας Σμυρναίων, μᾶλλον ἐπισκοπημένῳ ὑπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πλεῖστα χαίρειν. Ἀποδεχόμενος τὴν ἐν θεῷ σου γνώμην ἡδρασμένην ὡς ἐπὶ πέτραν ἀκίνητον, ὑπερδοξάζω καταξιωθεὶς τοῦ προσώπου σου τοῦ ἀμώμου, οὖ ὀναίμην ἐν θεῷ. παρακαλῶ σε ἐν χάριτι, ᾗ ἐνδέδυσαι, προσθεῖναι τῷ δρόμῳ σου καὶ πάντας παρακαλεῖν, ἵνα σώζωνται. ἐκδίκει σου τὸν τόπον ἐν πάσῃ ἐπιμελείᾳ σαρκικῇ τε καὶ πνευματικῇ. τῆς ἑνώσεως φρόντιζε, ἧς οὐδὲν ἄμεινον. πάντας βάσταζε, ὡς καὶ σὲ ὁ κύριος. πάντων ἀνέχου ἐν ἀγάπῃ, ὥσπερ καὶ ποιεῖς. προσευχαῖς σχόλαζε ἀδιαλείπτοις, αἰτοῦ σύνεσιν πλείονα ἧς ἔχεις. γρηγόρει ἀκοίμητον πνεῦμα κεκτημένος. τοῖς κατὰ ἄνδρα κατὰ ὁμοήθειαν λάλει θεοῦ. πάντων τὰς νόσους βάσταζε ὡς τέλειος ἀθλητής, ὡς καὶ ὁ κύριος πάντων· αὐτὸς γάρ, φησί, τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβεν καὶ τὰς νόσους ἡμῶν ἐβάστασεν. ὅπου πλείων κόπος, πολὺ κέρδος.

Kαλοὺς μαθητὰς ἐὰν φιλῇς, χάρις σοι οὐκ ἔστιν· μᾶλλον δὲ τοὺς λοιμοτέρους ἐν πραΰτητι ὑπότασσε. οὐ πᾶν τραῦμα τῇ αὐτῇ ἐμπλάστρῳ θεραπεύεται· τοὺς παροξυσμοὺς ἐμβροχαῖς παῦε. φρόνιμος γίνου ὡς ὁ ὄφις ἐν πᾶσιν καὶ ἀκέραιος εἰσαεὶ ὡς ἡ περιστερά. διὰ τοῦτο ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος εἶ, σαρκικὸς καὶ πνευματικός, ἵνα τὰ φαινόμενά σοι εἰς πρόσωπον ἐπανορθώσῃς· τὰ δὲ ἀόρατα αἴτει ἵνα σοι φανερωθῇ, ἵνα μηδέν σοι λείπῃ, καὶ παντὸς χαρίσματος περισσεύῃς. ὁ καιρὸς ἀπαιτεῖ σε εὔχεσθαι. ὥσπερ γὰρ κυβερνήτῃ ἄνεμος συμβάλλεται καὶ ὡς νηῒ χειμαζομένῃ λιμένες εὔθετοι εἰς σωτηρίαν, οὕτω καὶ σοὶ τὸ ἐπιτυχεῖν θεοῦ. νῆφε ὡς θεοῦ ἀθλητής, οὗ τὸ θέλημα ἀφθαρσία καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος, περὶ ἧς καὶ σὺ πέπεισαι. κατὰ πάντα σου ἀντίψυχος ἐγὼ τὰ δεσμά μου, ἃ ἠγάπησας. Oἱ δοκοῦντες ἀξιόπιστοι εἶναι καὶ ἑτεροδιδασκαλοῦντες μή σε καταπλησσέτωσαν· στῆθι δὲ ἑδραῖος ὡς ἄκμων τυπτόμενος. μεγάλου ἐστὶν ἀθλητοῦ δέρεσθαι καὶ νικᾶν. μάλιστα δὲ ἕνεκεν θεοῦ πάντα ὑπομένειν ἡμᾶς δεῖ, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς ἀναμείνῃ εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν. πλεῖον