Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer of Antioch.
The holy hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer was Bishop of Antioch in the generation after the Apostles, a disciple of the apostolic age who shepherded one of the great churches of the early world. Condemned under the emperor Trajan, he was taken in bonds to Rome, and on the journey wrote seven epistles that remain among the treasures of the early Church, begging the faithful not to hinder his martyrdom; he was given to the wild beasts in the arena.
He called himself the wheat of God, ground by the teeth of beasts to become pure bread of Christ. He is commemorated on December 20.
Feast day
On the New Calendar, Ignatius the God-Bearer is commemorated on December 20. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on January 2 of the civil calendar.
Who celebrates a name day
People with these names keep their name day on this feast:
Also commemorated on December 20
Philogonius of Antioch
Hierarch, Φιλογόνιος
Philogonius, Bishop of Antioch, praised by Saint John Chrysostom.
John the Tailor of Thasos
Martyr, Ιωάννης ο ράφτης εκ Θάσου
New Martyr John the Tailor of Thasos, martyred in Constantinople.
John of Kronstadt
Saint, Ιωάννης της Κρονστάνδης
Righteous John of Kronstadt, wonderworker and pastor.
Ignatius of the Kiev Caves
Venerable, Ιγνάτιος της Λαύρας των Σπηλαίων
Venerable Ignatius, Archimandrite of the Kiev Caves Lavra.
Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.
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