The Epistle Of Ignatius To The Virgin Mary

[MorphRC]

[b]THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE VIRGIN MARY[/b]

Her friend(1) Ignatius to the Christ-bearing Mary.

THOU oughtest to have comforted and consoled me who am a neophyte, and a disciple of thy [beloved] John. For I have heard things wonderful to tell respecting thy [son] Jesus, and I am astonished by such a report. But I desire with my whole heart to obtain information concerning the things which I have heard from thee, who wast always intimate and allied with Him, and who wast acquainted with [all] His secrets. I have also written to thee at another time, and have asked thee concerning the same things. Fare thou well; and let the neophytes who are with me be comforted of thee, and by thee, and in thee. Amen.

---

[b]REPLY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO THIS LETTER[/b]

The lowly handmaid of Christ Jesus to Ignatius, her beloved fellow-disciple.

THE things which thou hast heard and learned from John concerning Jesus are true. Believe them, cling to them, and hold fast the profession of that Christianity which thou hast embraced, and conform thy habits and life to thy profession. Now I will come in company with John to visit thee, and those that are with thee. Stand fast in the faith,(2) and show thyself a man; nor let the fierceness of persecution move thee, but let thy spirit be strong and rejoice in God thy Saviour.(3) Amen.

Are these trustworthy?

[Guest JeffCR07]

I do not think so, merely by virtue of the fact that they would probably be more well known if they were legitimate. But it wouldnt hurt to double check.

[phatcatholic]

morphRC,

the dialogue between Ignatius and the Virgin Mary is not trustworthy, for it belongs to an appendix of the Latin version of the "long recension"--an ancient collection of both genuine and spurious letters by Ignatius.

the genuine letters were addressed to the Christians:
1. of Ephesus (Pros Ephesious);
2. of Magnesia (Magnesieusin);
3. of Tralles (Trallianois);
4. of Rome (Pros Romaious);
5. of Philadelphia (Philadelpheusin);
6. of Smyrna (Smyrnaiois); and
7. to Polycarp (Pros Polykarpon).

We find these seven mentioned not only by Eusebius ("Hist. eccl.", III, xxxvi) but also by St. Jerome (De viris illust., c. xvi).

the spurious letters are those that purport to be from Ignatius:
1. to Mary of Cassobola (Pros Marian Kassoboliten);
2. to the Tarsians (Pros tous en tarso);
3. to the Philippians (Pros Philippesious);
4. to the Antiochenes (Pros Antiocheis);
5. to Hero a deacon of Antioch (Pros Erona diakonon Antiocheias). Associated with the foregoing is
6. a letter from Mary of Cassobola to Ignatius.

also, see this:
[quote]The two letters to the Apostle St. John and the one to the Blessed Virgin, which exist only in Latin, are unanimously admitted to be spurious. The great body of critics who acknowledge the authenticity of the Ignatian letters restrict their approval to those mentioned by Eusebius and St. Jerome. The six others are not defended by any of the early Fathers. The majority of those who acknowledge the Ignatian authorship of the seven letters do so conditionally, rejecting what they consider the obvious interpolations in these letters.[/quote]

for more on this, see the following articles:
--[url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07644a.htm"][b]St. Ignatius of Antioch[/b][/url]
--[url="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius-intro.html"][b]The Epistles of Ignatius[/b][/url]

pax christi,
phatcatholic

[MorphRC]

Awww Ok. Cool. Thx for the Info bro.