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St. Ignatius of Antioch—Letter to Polycarp

By James T. Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 04, 2019 | In Catholic Culture Audiobooks (Podcast)

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Copy the ways of God in speaking to each as an individual person... Not every wound is healed by the same salve.”

Coming off our celebration of All Saints’ Day, today’s reading is of a letter written from one saint to another: St. Ignatius’ Letter to St. Polycarp.

Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna, and alongside Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome, he is regarded as one of the chief figures among the Apostolic Fathers.

What distinguishes this from other letters by Ignatius is that, as opposed to having been sent to an entire Church community, this letter represents a personal correspondence from one early bishop to another. Polycarp so valued this letter, in fact, that he would later send it in its entirety to the Philippians.

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

Mike Aquilina on St. Polycarp: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-polycarp-and-social-network/

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=1634

Other 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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