Ordinary Time: October 17th Memorial of Saint Ignatius of
Antioch, bishop and martyr Old Calendar: St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque, virgin St. Ignatius is one of the great bishops of the
early Church. He was the successor of St. Peter as Bishop of
Antioch. He was condemned to death by wild beasts during the
Emperor Trajan's persecution. On his way to Rome, he wrote seven
magnificent letters, which we still have today, concerning the
Person of Christ, his love for Christ, his desire for martyrdom
and on the constitution of the Church and Christian life. His
sentiments before his approaching martyrdom are summed in his
word in the Communion antiphon, "I am the wheat of Christ,
ground by the teeth of beasts to become pure bread."Before the
reform of the Roman Calendar in 1969, this was the memorial of
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin. In the present calendar, her
feast is an optional memorial celebrated on October 16. St.
Ignatius feast was celebrated on February 1. St. Ignatius of
Antioch In the Martyrology we rea