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 Hero, a Deacon of Antioch · Chapter VII
Solemn Charge to Hero, as Future Bishop of Antioch
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Keep God in remembrance, and thou shalt never sin. Be not double-minded1290 in thy prayers; for blessed is he who doubteth not. For I believe in the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His only-begotten Son, that God will show me, Hero, upon my throne. Add speed, therefore,1291 to thy course. I charge thee before the God of the universe, and before Christ, and in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and of the ministering ranks [of angels], keep in safety that deposit which I and Christ have committed to thee, and do not judge thyself unworthy of those things which have been shown by God [to me] concerning thee. I hand over to thee the Church of Antioch. I have commended you to Polycarp in the Lord Jesus Christ.