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guard as Christ's treasures. Be long-suffering, so that you may be great in wisdom. Do not neglect the poor, with what you have in abundance; for by alms and faith sins are cleansed. Keep yourself pure as a dwelling-place of God; you are a temple of Christ, you are an instrument of the Spirit. You know how I have brought you up; though I am the least, become an emulator of me; imitate my conduct. I do not boast in the world, but in the Lord. To Hero my child I give this charge; But he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. May I have joy of you, my longed-for child, whose guardian may the only unbegotten God and the Lord Jesus Christ be. Do not trust everyone, do not be confident in everyone, not even if someone speaks to you with endearing words; for many are the servants of Satan, and he that is quick to trust is light-minded. Remember God, and you will never sin. Do not be double-minded in your prayer; for blessed is he who has not doubted. For I believe in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in His only-begotten Son, that God will show me Hero upon my throne; press on therefore in the race. I command you in the presence of the God of all and of Christ, in the presence also of the Holy Spirit and of the ministering ranks; guard my deposit, which I and Christ have committed to you, and do not judge yourself unworthy of those things which have been decreed concerning you by God. I entrust to you the church of the Antiochians. To Polycarp I entrusted you in the Lord Jesus Christ. The bishops Onesimus, Bitus, Damas, Polybius, and all those from Philippi in Christ greet you, whence also I have written to you. Greet the God-befitting presbytery, greet your holy fellow-deacons, of whom may I have joy in Christ, both in flesh and in spirit. Greet the people of the Lord from the least to the greatest by name, whom I entrust to you, as Moses did to Jesus the general after him. And may what has been said not seem grievous to you; for though we are not such as they were, yet we pray to become so, since we are also children of Abraham. Be strong therefore, O Hero, heroically and manfully; for you shall from now on lead in and lead out the people of the Lord who are in Antioch, and the congregation of the Lord shall not be as sheep which have no shepherd.Greet Cassian my host, and his most revered wife, and their most beloved children; to whom may God grant to find mercy from the Lord in that day, for their ministry to us; whom I also entrust to you in Christ. Greet all the faithful in Laodicea by name in Christ. Do not neglect those in Tarsus, but look after them more constantly, strengthening them in the Gospel. Marius the bishop in Neapolis near Zarbus I salute in the Lord. And greet also the most revered Maria my most learned daughter and the church in her house, for whom may I be a ransom, the exemplar of pious women. May the Father of Christ through His only-begotten Son keep you in good health and prospering in all things for the longest span of life for the benefit of the church of God. Farewell in the Lord, and pray that I may be made perfect.

TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to the church of God which has obtained mercy in faith and patience and unfeigned love, which is in Philippi, mercy, peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Remembering your love and zeal in Christ, which you have shown towards us, we have deemed it fitting to write to your brotherly love in God for souls, to remind you of your course in Christ, that you may all say the same thing, being of one soul, of one mind, walking by the same rule of faith, as Paul also exhorted you. For if there is one God of all, the Father of Christ, from whom

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φύλαττε ὡς Χριστοῦ κειμήλια. μακρόθυμος ἔσο, ἵνα ᾖς πολὺς ἐν φρονήσει. τῶν πενήτων μὴ ἀμέλει, ἐν οἷς ἂν εὐπορῇς· ἐλεημοσύναις γὰρ καὶ πίστεσιν ἀποκαθαίρονται ἁμαρτίαι. Σεαυτὸν ἁγνὸν τήρει ὡς θεοῦ οἰκητήριον· ναὸς Χριστοῦ ὑπάρχεις, ὄργανον εἶ τοῦ πνεύματος. οἶδας, ὅπως σε ἀνέθρεψα· εἰ καὶ ἐλάχιστός εἰμι, ζηλωτής μου γενοῦ· μίμησαί μου τὴν ἀναστροφήν. οὐ καυχῶμαι ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀλλ' ἐν κυρίῳ. Ἥρωνι τῷ ἐμῷ τέκνῳ παραινῶ· Ὁ δὲ καυχώμενος ἐν κυρίῳ καυχάσθω. ὀναίμην σου, παιδίον ποθεινόν, οὗ φύλαξ γένηται ὁ μόνος ἀγέννητος θεὸς καὶ ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. μὴ πᾶσιν πίστευε, μὴ πᾶσιν θάρρει, μηδ' ἐάν τις ὑποκορίζηταί σε· πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσιν ὑπηρέται τοῦ σατανᾶ, καὶ ὁ ταχὺ ἐμπιστεύων κοῦφος τῇ καρδίᾳ. Mέμνησο τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεις ποτέ. μὴ γίνου δίψυχος ἐν προσευχῇ σου· μακάριος γὰρ ὁ μὴ διστάσας. πιστεύω γὰρ εἰς τὸν πατέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ εἰς τὸν μονογενῆ αὐτοῦ υἱόν, ὅτι δείξει μοι ὁ θεὸς Ἥρωνα ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου μου· πρόσθες οὖν ἐπὶ τῷ δρόμῳ. παραγγέλλω σοι ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, παρόντος καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῶν λειτουργικῶν ταγμάτων· φύλαξόν μου τὴν παραθήκην, ἣν ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς παρεθέμεθά σοι, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτὸν ἀνάξιον κρίνῃς τῶν δοχθέντων περί σου θεῷ. παρατίθημί σοι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Ἀντιοχέων. Πολυκάρπῳ παρεθέμην ὑμᾶς ἐν κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ. Ἀσπάζονταί σε οἱ ἐπίσκοποι Ὀνήσιμος, Bίτος, ∆αμᾶς, Πολύβιος καὶ πάντες οἱ ἀπὸ Φιλίππων ἐν Χριστῷ, ὅθεν καὶ ἐπέστειλά σοι. ἄσπασαι τὸ θεοπρεπὲς πρεσβυτέριον, ἄσπασαι τοὺς ἁγίους συνδιακόνους σου, ὧν ἐγὼ ὀναίμην ἐν Χριστῷ σαρκί τε καὶ πνεύματι. ἄσπασαι τὸν λαὸν κυρίου ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου κατ' ὄνομα, οὓς παρατίθημί σοι, ὡς Mωσῆς Ἰησοῦ τῷ μετ' αὐτὸν στρατηγῷ. καὶ μή σοι φανῇ βαρὺ τὸ λεχθέν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ μή ἐσμεν τοιοῦτοι, οἷοι ἐκεῖνοι, ἀλλ' οὖν γε εὐχόμεθα γενέσθαι, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν παῖδες. ἴσχυε οὖν, ὦ Ἥρων, ἡρωϊκῶς καὶ ἀνδρικῶς· σὺ γὰρ εἰσάξεις ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἐξάξεις τὸν λαὸν κυρίου τὸν ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἡ συναγωγὴ κυρίου ὡς πρόβατα, οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν ποιμήν.Ἄσπασαι Kασσιανὸν τὸν ξένον μου καὶ τὴν σεμνοτάτην αὐτοῦ ὁμόζυγον καὶ τὰ φίλτατα αὐτῶν παιδία· οἷς δώσει ὁ θεὸς εὑρεῖν ἔλεον παρὰ κυρίου ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς διακονίας· οὓς καὶ παρατίθημί σοι ἐν Χριστῷ. ἄσπασαι τοὺς ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ πιστοὺς ἅπαντας κατ' ὄνομα ἐν Χριστῷ. τῶνἐν Tαρσῷ μὴ ἀμέλει, ἀλλὰ συνεχέστερον αὐτοὺς ἐπίβλεπε, ἐπιστηρίζων αὐτοὺς τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ. Mάριν τὸν ἐν Nεαπόλει τῇ πρὸς τῷ Zαρβῷ ἐπίσκοπον προσαγορεύω ἐν κυρίῳ. πρόσειπε δὲ καὶ τὴν σεμνοτάτην Mαρίαν τὴν θυγατέρα μου τὴν πολυμαθεστάτην καὶ τὴν κατ' οἶκον αὐτῆς ἐκκλησίαν, ἧς ἀντίψυχον γενοίμην, τὸ ἐξεμπλάριον τῶν εὐσεβῶν γυναικῶν. ὑγιαίνοντά σε καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν εὐδοκιμοῦντα ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ μονογενοῦς φυλάττοι ἐπὶ μήκιστον βίου χρόνον εἰς ὠφέλειαν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας. ἔρρωσο ἐν κυρίῳ καὶ προσεύχου, ἵνα τελειωθῶ.

ΠΡOΣ ΦIΛIΠΠHΣIOΥΣ.

Ἰγνάτιος, ὁ καὶ Θεοφόρος, ἐκκλησίᾳ θεοῦ ἠλεημένῃ ἐν πίστει καὶ ὑπομονῇ καὶ ἀγάπῃ ἀνυποκρίτῳ, τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Φιλίπποις, ἔλεος, εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστι σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, μάλιστα πιστῶν. Mεμνημένοι τῆς ἀγάπης ὑμῶν καὶ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ σπουδῆς, ἧς ἐνεδείξασθε εἰς ἡμᾶς, πρέπον ἡγησάμεθα γράψαι πρὸς τὴν φιλάδελφον ὑμῶν κατὰ θεὸν ψυχικὴν ἀγάπην, ὑπομιμνήσκειν ὑμᾶς τοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ ὑμῶν δρόμου, ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ λέγητε πάντες, σύμψυχοι, τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες, τῷ αὐτῷ κανόνι τῆς πίστεως στοιχοῦντες, ὡς καὶ Παῦλος ὑμᾶς ἐνουθέτει. εἰ γὰρ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐξ οὗ