St. Ignatius of Antioch and the early church Eucharist

Church History

Ignatius of Antioch is an important early church figure for a number of reasons. His surname was Theophorus meaning "God-bearer" (EWTN, 2011). Many believe that he was most likely to converted by St. John who was known as the Evangelist. Not much is known of his early life, however (EWTN, 2011). In fact, since Peter as well as Paul planted the church in Antioch, one can believe that Ignatius was to succeed that of Evodius who was the bishop of that particular city at that time in history (EWTN, 2011). Furthermore, "Ignatius retained the office for forty years, proving himself in every way an exemplary pastor" (EWTN, 2011).

When Domitian reigned from 81-96, Ignatius was courageous by constantly preaching, fasting and praying with those in his congregation (EWTN, 2011). Once Domitian died, persecution ceased for at least 15 months during the reign of Nerva (EWTN, 2011). Furthermore, many were martyred when Trajan came to power (EWTN, 2011). He believed that Christians should die and to not endure punishment. One of them that died during this time was St. Ignatius (EWTN, 2011). This was because many refused to worship pagan gods that Trajan enforced to those in his country at that time (EWTN, 2011).

One needs to discuss why St. Ignatius believed that the Eucharist is so important to the Christian faith. When he said that it is the "medicine of immortality," this is worth noting. For example, the Eucharist is considered sacred because of it representing Christ's death, burial and resurrection, which a person is to take seriously. However, anyone who does not take part in it that is a believer, he or she will face death eternally, rather than experience live everlasting with Christ. Someone who later learns of this, the individual will face a terrible time by not having Jesus in one's life as well as the possibility not having a good time in eternity. This is significant because no one wants to live this way no matter what choices were made while alive on the earth (Romanides, 2011).

For example, the medicine aspect is the unleavened bread and the juice or wine is the blood that Christ shed for all mankind. These are healing aspects to a person's soul. Many use the Bible text that "by his stripes we are healed" to prove this point, which is demonstrated in Isaiah 53:5 (NIV). This gives a person hope that if this text is taken literal, then an individual can get healed of physical ailments while alive on the earth; however, many can concur that this may refer to psychological and spiritual aspect. These are possible reasons as to why St. Ignatius believed the way he did and wanted his followers to do the same from then to the present. Without the Eucharist, one has no hope because of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago; however, with the Eucharist a person's outlook changes and one day that individual who comes to know Jesus as Lord will have the opportunity to take part in this sacred tradition that has occurred for thousands of years (Romanides, 2011).