Chapter VIII. I Salute Him Who Is Reckoned Worthy to Go to Antioch in My Stead, as I Commanded Thee · The Epistle of Ignatius to the Antiochians · Chapter XII

Salutations

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I salute the holy presbytery. I salute the sacred deacons, and that person most dear to me,¹²⁵⁸ whom may I behold, through the Holy Spirit, occupying my place when I shall attain to Christ. My soul be in place of his. I salute the sub-deacons, the readers, the singers, the doorkeepers, the labourers,¹²⁵⁹ the exorcists, the confessors.¹²⁶⁰ I salute the keepers of the holy gates, the deaconesses in Christ. I salute the virgins betrothed to Christ, of whom may I have joy in the Lord Jesus.¹²⁶¹ I salute the people of the Lord, from the smallest to the greatest, and all my sisters in the Lord.

Notes

1258
Literally, "the name desirable to me," referring to Hero the deacon.
1259
A class of persons connected with the Church, whose duty it was to bury the bodies of the martyrs and others.
1260
Such as voluntarily confessed Christ before Gentile rulers.
1261
Some insert here a clause referring to widows.