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it is written, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them.’ ”930 Then Trajan pronounced sentence
as follows: “We command that Ignatius, who affirms that he carries about within him Him
that was crucified, be bound by soldiers, and carried to the great [city] Rome, there to be
devoured by the beasts, for the gratification of the people.” When the holy martyr heard
this sentence, he cried out with joy, “I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to
honour me with a perfect love towards Thee, and hast made me to be bound with iron
chains, like931 Thy Apostle Paul.” Having spoken thus, he then, with delight, clasped the
chains about him; and when he had first prayed for the Church, and commended it with
tears to the Lord, he was hurried away by the savage cruelty932 of the soldiers, like a distin-
guished ram933 the leader of a goodly flock, that he might be carried to Rome, there to furnish
food to the bloodthirsty beasts.
930 2 Cor. vi. 16.
931 Literally, “with.”
932 Or, “beast-like.”
933 [Better, “like the noble leader,” etc.; remitting κριὸς to the margin, as an ignoble word to English ears.]
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Chapter II.—Ignatius is condemned by Trajan.