St. Ignatius the God-Bearer icon (2)

Orthodox icon of Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer (Theophoros) (2).

Commemorated December 20.

The Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer, was a disciple of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, as was also of St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (February 23). St Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch, and successor to Bishop Euodius, Apostle of the Seventy. According to Tradition, when St Ignatius was a little boy, Jesus held him and said: "Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven "(Mt. 18:3). The Saint was called God-Bearer (Theophoros), because he bore God in his heart and prayed unceasingly to Him and because he was held in the arms of Christ. 

THE TEXT ON THE SCROLL: "What I want is God’s bread, which is the flesh of Christ, who came from David’s line; and for drink I want his blood: an immortal love feast indeed!" (Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Romans)