Now these things took place on the thirteenth
day before the Kalends of January, that is, on
the twentieth of December,'' Sura and Senecio
being then the consuls of the Romans for the
second time. Having ourselves been eye-wit-
nesses of these things, and having spent the
whole night in tears within the house, and hav-
ing entreated the Lord, with bended knees and
much prayer, that He would give us weak men
full assurance respecting the things which were
done,'° it came to pass, on our falling into a brief
slumber, that some of us saw the blessed Igna-
tius suddenly standing by us and embracing us,
while others beheld him again praying for us,
and others still -saw him dropping with sweat, as
if he had just come from his great labour, and
standing by the Lord. A\'hen, therefore, we
had with great joy witnessed these things, and
had compared our several visions" together, we
sang praise to God, the giver of all good things,
and expressed our sense of the happiness of the
holy [martyr] ; and now we have made known
to you both the day and the time [when these
things happened], that, assembling ourselves
together according to the time of his martyr-
dom, we may have fellowship with the champion
and noble martyr of Christ, who trode under
foot the devil, and perfected the course which,
out of love to Christ, he had desired, in Christ
Jesus our Lord ; by whom, and with whom, be
glory and power to the Father, with the Holy
Spirit, for evermore ! Amen.