SAINT POLYCARP

Ignatius wrote anxiously to his followers, begging them not to use any influence they might have to reverse his sentence: “Let me be the food of wild beasts, through which I may attain to God. I am God’s wheat, and am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ. Let fire and cross battling with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, crushing my whole body, cruel tortures of the devil-only let me get to Jesus Christ. I seek Him who died for us; I long for Him who rose for our sake.”

"Let us not, then, be insensible to His loving kindness. Certainly, if He were to imitate our way of acting, we should be done for instantly. We must, therefore, prove ourselves His disciples and learn to live like Christians. Assuredly, whoever is called by a name other than this, is not of God. Hence, put away the deteriorated leaven, a leaven stale and sour, and turn to the new leaven, that is, Jesus Christ. Be salted in Him to keep any among you from being spoiled, for by your odor you will be tested. It is absurd to have Jesus Christ on the lips, and at the same time live like a Jew. No; Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism believed in Christianity, and in its bosom was assembled `everyone professing' faith in God."
St. Ignatius of Antioch.

“Scripture has it, ‘My house is meant for a house of prayer’”

I beg you to walk according to God’s thinking. For Jesus Christ, the unshakeable principle of our life, is the Father’s thinking. In the same way the bishops, who have been established to the ends of the earth, are in the thinking of Jesus Christ. So it is also right to walk according to the thinking of your bishop. And moreover, that is what you do. The body of your priests who are truly worthy of God is attached to the bishop like the strings are to the zither. Thus, with the concord of your sentiments and the harmony of your charity, you sing of Jesus Christ. May each of you become a member of this choir, so that in the harmony of your concord and with God’s tone, you might sing in the unity of a single voice the Father’s praises through Jesus Christ…

You are the stones of the Father’s temple, cut for the edifice that God the Father is building, raised to the summit through Jesus Christ’s utensil, which is his cross, using the Holy Spirit as your cable. Your faith draws you on high, and charity is the path that raises you unto God. You are also all companions on the road, bearers of God and of his temple, bearers of Christ, carrying the most sacred objects, in everything decorated with the precepts of Jesus Christ. With you, I rejoice …; I rejoice with you because, living a new life, you love nothing but God alone.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (? – around 110), Bishop and Martyr
Letter to the Ephesians, 3 - 4,9

"Now, as all things have an end, and those two issues, death and life, are set before us at one and the same time, so each man is bound to go to his own place. It is the same as with two coins, the one of God, the other of the world, and each of them has its own stamp impressed upon it: the unbelievers bear the stamp of this world, while the believers, animated by love, bear the stamp of God the Father through Jesus Christ, whose life is not in us unless we are ready of our own accord to die in order to share in His Passion." St. Ignatius of Antioch.

"Men that seem worthy of confidence, yet teach strange doctrines, must not upset you. Stand firm, like an anvil under the hammer. It is like a great athlete to take blows and yet win the fight. For God's sake above all we must endure everything, so that God, in turn, may endure us. Increase your zeal. Read the signs of the times. Look for Him Who is above all time - the Timeless, the Invisible, Who for our sake became visible, the Impassible, Who became subject to suffering on our account and for our sake endured everything."
St. Ignatius of Antioch.