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Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

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THE FIRST AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.219tinctive mark <strong>of</strong> the Christian religion, that fromwhich it springs, that which it is, that which itpoints to, and in which it will be consummated.When, then, S. Ignatius said <strong>of</strong> the Roman Church "using1 o the same word in one sentence,41 " that as shepresided over the country <strong>of</strong> the Romans, so shepresided over charity, does he not with equal delicacyand emphasis indicate her primacy ? she presidesover that in which the Unity <strong>of</strong> the Churchconsists, in which its truth, its grace, and its holinesscoinhere.<strong>The</strong> desire <strong>of</strong> the martyr was accomplished :he reached Rome on the last day <strong>of</strong> the great:ames, and was thrown in the Colosseum beforethe beasts, which, " according to his repeatedprayers, so entirely devoured him that only thegreater bones remained. <strong>The</strong>se, says the contemporaryaccount, " a priceless treasure," werecarried back to Antioch. Somewhat less thanthree hundred years afterwards S. Chrysosting on his day in his city, thus speaks chim : "It was a divine benefaction to bring' himback again to us, and to distribute the martyr t(the cit ome received his dripping bloodt you are honoured with his relics. - From thattime he enriches your city, and like a erettreasure, drawn upon every day and never fail, es s ount t ppy41 'EKKAfjcriq- '-ffris Kal 7rpo/ca07/Tat eV T(hra> x«"ptou 'Pw/xauw/-iroKaO^fjif** * tT7)S

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