MARY OF CASSOBELAE(1) TO
IGNATIUS
Maria, a proselyte of Jesus Christ, to Ignatius Theophorus, most blessed
bishop of the apostolic Church which is at Antioch, beloved in God the
Father, and Jesus: Happiness and safety. We all(2) beg for thee joy and
health in Him.
CHAP. I.--OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE.
Since Christ has, to our wonder,(3) been made known among us to be the Son
of the living God, and to have become man in these last times by means of
the Virgin Mary,(4) of the seed of David and Abraham, according to the
announcements previously made regarding Him and through Him by the company
of the prophets, we therefore beseech and entreat that, by thy wisdom, Maris
our friend, bishop of our native Neapolis,(5) which is near Zarbus,(6) and
Eulogius, and Sobelus the presbyter, be sent to us, that we be not destitute
of such as preside over the divine word as Moses also says, "Let the Lord
God look out a man who shall guide this people, and the congregation of the
Lord shall not be as sheep which have no shepherd."(7)
CHAP. II.--YOUTH MAY BE ALLIED WITH PIETY AND DISCRETION.
But as to those whom we have named being young men, do not, thou blessed
one, have any apprehension. For I would have you know that they are wise
about the flesh, and are insensible to its passions, they themselves glowing
with all the glory of a hoary head through their own s intrinsic merits, and
though but recently called as young men to the priesthood.(9) Now, call thou
into exercise(10) thy thoughts through the Spirit that God has given to thee
by Christ, and thou wilt remember(11) that Samuel, while yet a little child,
was called a seer, and was reckoned in the company of the prophets, that he
reproved the aged Eli for transgression, since he had honoured his
infatuated sons above God the author of all things, and bad allowed them to
go unpunished, when they turned the office of the priesthood into ridicule,
and acted violently towards thy people.
CHAP. III.--EXAMPLES OF YOUTHFUL DEVOTEDNESS.
Moreover, the wise Daniel, while he was a young man, passed judgment on
certain vigorous old men,(12) showing them that they were abandoned
wretches, and not [worthy to be reckoned] elders, and that, though Jews by
extraction, they were Canaanites in practice. And Jeremiah, when on account
of his youth he declined the office of a prophet entrusted to him by God,
was addressed in these words: "Say not, I am a youth; for thou shalt go to
all those to whom I send thee, and thou shalt speak according to all that I
command thee; because I am with thee."(13) And the wise Solomon, when only
in the twelfth year of his age,(14) had wisdom to decide the important
question concerning the children of the two women,(15) when it was unknown
to whom these respectively belonged; so that the whole people were
astonished at such wisdom in a child, and venerated him as being not a mere
youth, but a full-grown man. And he solved the hard questions of the queen
of the Ethiopians, which had profit in them as the streams of the Nile [have
fertility], in such a manner that that woman, though herself so wise, was
beyond measure astonished.(1)
CHAP. IV.--THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
Josiah also, beloved of God, when as yet he could scarcely speak
articulately, convicts those who were possessed of a wicked spirit as being
false in their speech, and deceivers of the people. He also reveals the
deceit of the demons, and openly exposes those that are no gods; yea, while
yet an infant he slays their priests, and overturns their altars, and
defiles the place where sacrifices were offered with dead bodies, and throws
down the temples, and cuts down the groves, and breaks in pieces the
pillars, and breaks open the tombs of the ungodly, that not a relic of the
wicked might any longer exist.(2) To such an extent did he display zeal in
the cause of godliness, and prove himself a punisher of the ungodly, while
he as yet faltered in speech like a child. David, too, who was at once a
prophet and a king, and the root of our Saviour according to the flesh,
while yet a youth is anointed by Samuel to be king.(3) For he himself says
in a certain place, "I was small among my brethren, and the youngest in the
house of my father."(4)
CHAP. V.--EXPRESSIONS OF RESPECT FOR IGNATIUS.
But time would fail me if I should endeavour to enumerate(5) all those that
pleased God in their youth, having been entrusted by God with either the
prophetical, the priestly, or the kingly office. And those which have been
mentioned may suffice, by way of bringing the subject to thy remembrance.
But I entreat thee not to reckon me presumptuous or ostentatious [in writing
as I have done]. For I have set forth these statements, not as instructing
thee, but simply as suggesting the matter to the remembrance of my father in
God. For I know my own place,(6) and do not compare myself with such as you.
I salute thy holy clergy, and thy Christ-loving people who are ruled under
thy care as their pastor. All the faithful with us salute thee. Pray,
blessed shepherd, that I may be in health as respects God.
