Catholic Culture Overview
Catholic Culture Overview

St. Ignatius of Antioch—Letter to the Smyrnaeans

By James T. Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 03, 2019 | In Catholic Culture Audiobooks (Podcast)

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“Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”

In a previous episode, we heard St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the bishop of Smyrna. Today, we hear his letter to the Church in Smyrna.

In the most recent episode of Way of the Fathers, host Mike Aquilina detailed St. Ignatius of Antioch and his letters: “the letters give witness to many of the early Church’s beliefs and practices: Jesus’ true humanity and true divinity; his real presence in the Eucharist; and the universal hierarchy of bishop, priest, and deacon.”

You’ll hear each of those themes echoed in today’s letter, and you’ll also hear the very first instance of the expression Catholic Church in Christian literature.

Mike Aquilina on St. Ignatius: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1633

Previous readings of Ignatius’ Letters: https://www.catholicculture.org/search/search.cfm?searchgoals=6&andsearch=Ignatius%20audiobooks

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

James T. Majewski is Director of Customer Relations for CatholicCulture.org, the “voice” of Catholic Culture Audiobooks, and co-host of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Based in New York City, he holds both a BA in Philosophy and an MFA in Acting. See full bio.

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