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tyr is their “new birth,” and the death of the martyr is celebrated as their true
birthday.12

Similarly with Ignatius of Antioch. He was taken underfoot and under
guard from Antioch to Rome, to be martyred there. On his journey he wrote a
letter to the Roman Christians imploring them not to interfere with his com-
ing trials or, for instance, not to try to keep him alive by bribing the authori-
ties. While journeying slowly but surely towards a gruesome martyrdom, he
nevertheless embraces his fate with joy, exclaiming:

It is better for me to die in Christ Jesus than to be king over the
ends of the earth. I seek him who died for our sake. I desire him
who rose for us. Birth-pangs are upon me. Su?er me, my breth-
ren; hinder me not from living, do not wish me to die. … Su?er
me to receive the pure light; when I shall have arrived there, I
shall become a human being (?νθρωπος). Su?er me to follow the
example of the passion of my God. (Rom. 6)

Life and death are again reversed. Ignatius says that has not yet been born. He,
as us all, has merely come into existence, involuntarily, without any choice on
his part; but through his martyrdom, his voluntary death in conformity to
Christ, he will be born, freely, into life and as a human being. He becomes hu-
man by giving his ?at to God’s purpose, by voluntarily following Christ, so giv-
ing “?at” for God’s own purpose to be accomplished.

We must be clear on the fact that the Church has always taught that we
must not seek death in martyrdom; Ignatius’ enthusiastic language is expressed
based on the given fact that he is already on his way to martyrdom. The model
to be followed here is surely Paul’s recognition that while “my desire is to de-
part and be with Christ, for that is far better” nevertheless “to remain in the
?esh is more necessary on your account” (Phil 1:22-3): in other words, our life is
to be one of loving self-sacri?cial service, taking up the cross in this manner.
Likewise the Church has (at least for the most part) never counselled avoiding
the medical resources of the day. Yet, while seeking out medical assistance
(which in our day are in?nitely greater—and therefore o?er an in?nitely greater
seduction), the Fathers, following the pattern of healings in the Gospels, in-

12 cf. Henry, I am the Truth, 59-60: “To be born is not to come into the world. To be born is to come
into life. … To come into life here means that it is in life and from out of it alone that this coming
is capable of being produced. To come into life means to come from life, starting from it, in such a
way that it is not birth’s point of arrival, as it were, but its point of departure.”

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