Catholic Fire

By Jean M. Heimann St. Ignatius of Antioch ( c. 50 - c.107), whose feast we celebrate on October 17, was an early Church Father, bishop, and martyr.  Tradition tells us that he was a convert and a disciple of the Apostle Saint John. He is patron of the Church in eastern Mediterranean, the Church in North Africa and of throat diseases. Ignatius was born in Syria during the 1st century and was surnamed Theophorus, which means “the God-Bearer.” When he became the Bishop of Antioch around the year 70, he assumed authority of a local church, which was first led by Saint Peter prior to his move to Rome. Antioch was known as “the place where the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians” (St. Alphonsus Liguori in “Martyrs of the First Ages”). Ignatius served as the third Bishop of Antioch, where he led his flock for nearly forty years. Ignatius led the Christians of Antioch during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, the first of the emperors to declare his div...

The saint of the day for February 23rd is St. Polycarp (69 A.D. - 155 A.D.), a disciple of the apostles, bishop of Smyrna, and a friend of St Ignatius of Antioch. He is one of the earliest Christians whose writings still survive. St. Polycarp is the patron saint against ear aches and dysentery. St. Polycarp was one of the immediate disciples of the Apostles, in particular St. John the Evangelist. He embraced Christianity very young and was named bishop of Smyrna, a post which he held for 70 years. He was greatly respected by the faithful, wrote many letters and formed many holy disciples. His epistle to the Philippians - the only one to be preserved - demonstrates his apostolic spirit, his profound humility and meekness, and his great charity. St. Polycarp fought against heresy. He was a staunch defender of orthodoxy and an energetic opponent of heresy, especially Marcionism and Valentinianism (the most influential of the Gnostic sects). He also taught that Christians must ...

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor. He is regarded as one of the most important of the Western Fathers of the Church. St. Leo the Great (d. 461) was born in Rome of Italian nobility. As a deacon of the Church, he opposed the heresy of Pelagianism, which taught that grace was not necessary for salvation, but was rather a bonus that God granted to those who earned it by their good works. He was elevated to the office of Pope in 440 and reigned as pope for twenty-one years. As pope, St. Leo labored strenuously to safeguard the integrity of the faith and vigorously defended the unity of the Church. He affirmed the full divinity and humanity of Christ. His most famous writing, commonly known as the Tome of St. Leo (449), was the basis of the Council of Chalcedon's dogmatic definition of Christ as one Divine Person possessing two complete natures, human and divine. When Attila the Hun marched on Rome, Leo went out to meet him and pleade...

September 3 is the memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great (540 - 604), Father and Doctor of the Church. St. Gregory was born in Rome, the son of a wealthy Roman Senator. His mother was St. Sylvia. He followed the career of public service that was usual for the son of an aristocratic family, becoming Prefect of the City of Rome, but resigned within a year to pursue monastic life. He founded with the help of his vast financial holdings seven monasteries, six of which were on family estates in Sicily. A seventh, which he placed under the patronage of St. Andrew and which he himself joined, was erected on the Clivus Scauri in Rome. For several years, he lived as a good and holy Benedictine monk. Then Pope Pelagius made him one of the seven deacons of Rome. For six years, he served as permanent ambassador to the Court of Byzantium. In the year 586, he was recalled to Rome, and with great joy returned to St. Andrew's Monastery. He became abbot soon afterwards and the monastery ...

Today, May 2, is the memorial of St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church. St. Athanasius (295 - 373) was the Church's greatest hero in the battle against Arianism (a heresy that denied Christ's divinity),which, in his lifetime, earned him the title "Father of Orthodoxy". Athanasius was born into a Christian family in Alexandria, Egypt, where he received a classical education. He was ordained a deacon and later became a priest. Athanasius served as secretary to Bishop Alexander and accompanied him to the Council of Nicea, which officially condemned Arianism. When Bishop Alexander died, Athanasius succeeded him. The next 46 years were filled with constant conflict. Anthanasius was exiled on five different occasions under five different emperors. However, his loyalty to the Church never wavered, his courage never weakened even in the face of cruel persecution. For five years he hid in a deep, dry cistern to be safe from their wrath of the Arians and their...

By Jean M. Heimann St. Ignatius of Antioch ( c. 50 - c.107), whose feast we celebrate today, was an early Church Father, bishop, and martyr.  Tradition tells us that he was a convert and a disciple of the Apostle Saint John. Ignatius was born in Syria during the 1st century and was surnamed Theophorus, which means “the God-Bearer.” When he became the Bishop of Antioch around the year 70, he assumed authority of a local church, which was first led by Saint Peter prior to his move to Rome. Antioch was known as “the place where the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians” (St. Alphonsus Liguori in “Martyrs of the First Ages”). Ignatius served as the third Bishop of Antioch, where he led his flock for nearly forty years. Ignatius led the Christians of Antioch during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, the first of the emperors to declare his divinity by assuming the title “Lord and God.” Citizens who refused to pay him homage under this title were subject ...

St. Gregory of Nyssa (circa 330 -- 395 A.D.) was an early Church Father, who created a rich legacy of theology, liturgy, and spiritual literature. Gregory was born in Cappadocia, Asia Minor into a deeply religious family and was raised piously. His mother, Emmelia, was a martyr's daughter; two of his brothers, Basil of Cæsarea and Peter of Sebaste, became bishops like himself; his oldest sister, Macrina, is a saint. The younger brother of St. Basil the Great, he was educated by Basil and Macrina, which suggests that their parents died when he was young. He was married according to his own testimony in his work On Virginity . There exists a letter addressed to him by Gregory of Nazianzen condoling with him on the loss of one Theosebeia, who was most likely his wife. (Historians have differing opinions on this.) He studied rhetoric, became a professor, and was elected Bishop of Nyssa in 372. He was falsely accused of embezzling church funds and was arrested by the governor ...

Today, October. 17, the Roman Catholic Church remembers the early Church Father, bishop, and martyr Saint Ignatius of Antioch , whose writings attest to the sacramental and hierarchical nature of the Church from its earliest days. Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate his memory on Dec. 20. In a 2007 general audience on St. Ignatius of Antioch, Pope Benedict XVI observed that “no Church Father has expressed the longing for union with Christ and for life in him with the intensity of Ignatius.” In his letters, the Pope said, “one feels the freshness of the faith of the generation which had still known the Apostles. In these letters, the ardent love of a saint can also be felt.” Born in Syria in the middle of the first century A.D., Ignatius is said to have been personally instructed – along with another future martyr, Saint Polycarp – by the Apostle Saint John. When Ignatius became the Bishop of Antioch around the year 70, he assumed leadership of a local ch...

The early life of St. Gaudentius is unknown and most of the information about him comes from his own writings. He was probably born in the second half of the 4th century and apparently was educated under St. Philastrius the Bishop of Brescia, Italy and had a very deep knowledge and understanding of theology. While on pilgrimage to Jerusalem St. Philastrius died and Gaudentius was coerced into accepting the bishopric which he felt himself totally unworthy of. He was consecrated bishop by St. Ambrose and his reputation for holiness and pastoral greatness soon became known. Twenty-one of his sermons still exist today and show his uncanny ability to explain the mysteries of the faith in such a way as to inspire people of all backgrounds and abilities. In 405 Gaudentius was sent by Pope Innocent I and Emperor Honorius to Constantinople to plead with Emperor Arcadius for the release of St. John Chrysostom. Gaudentius and his two companions were arrested and put in prison. Attempts were made ...