Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to Hero, a deacon of Christ and a servant of God, honored by God and most longed for, most reverend, Christ-bearing, Spirit-bearing, a genuine child in faith and love: grace, mercy, and peace from God Almighty and from Christ Jesus our Lord, his only-begotten Son, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil age and save us into his heavenly kingdom.
I exhort you in God to add to your course and to vindicate your dignity. Be careful to maintain concord with the saints; bear with the weaker, that you may fulfill the law of Christ. Give yourself to fastings and prayers, but not immoderately, lest you wear yourself out.
Do not abstain altogether from wine and meat, for these are not abominable. For it says, "You shall eat the good things of the earth"; and, "You shall eat meat like vegetables"; and, "Wine gladdens the heart of man, and oil makes the face cheerful, and bread strengthens." But take them in moderation and orderly, as from God who supplies them. For who shall eat, or who shall drink, apart from him? For if anything is fair, it is his; and if anything is good, it is his.
Attend to the reading, that you may not only yourself know the laws, but also expound them to others. Be sober as an athlete of God. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please the one who enlisted him; and if anyone competes, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully. I, the prisoner, am offered as a ransom for your soul.
Everyone who speaks contrary to what has been ordained, even though he be worthy of credit, even though he fast, even though he live in virginity, even though he work signs, even though he prophesy, let him appear to you as a wolf in sheep's clothing, working the destruction of the sheep.
If anyone denies the cross and is ashamed of the passion, let him be to you as the adversary himself. Even though he give all his goods to feed the poor, even though he remove mountains, even though he give his body to be burned, let him be abominable to you.
If anyone disparages the law or the prophets, which Christ when present fulfilled, let him be to you as antichrist. If anyone says that the Lord is a mere man, he is a Jew, a slayer of Christ.
Do nothing without the bishops, for they are priests, and you are a deacon of the priests. They baptize, perform the sacred rites, ordain, and lay on hands; but you minister to them, as Stephen the holy one did at Jerusalem to James and the presbyters.
Do not be ashamed of household servants, for they and we share a common nature. Do not despise women, for they bore you and nourished you. It is therefore right to love those who are the causes of your birth, yet only in the Lord. Without a woman a man will not beget children; therefore it is right to honor those who are co-workers in procreation.
Neither is man apart from woman, nor woman apart from man, except in the case of the first-formed; for Adam's body was made from the four elements, and Eve's from Adam's rib.
And the marvelous childbearing of the Lord was from the Virgin alone—not because lawful union is abominable, but because the birth was God-befitting; for it was fitting that the Creator should not make use of the customary manner of generation, but of the marvelous and strange one, as befits a Creator.
Flee pride, for the Lord resists the proud. Abhor lying, for you shall destroy all those who speak falsehood. Guard against envy, for its originator is the devil, and its successor was Cain, who looked with malice upon his brother and out of envy wrought murder.
Exhort my sisters to love God and to be content with their own husbands alone; likewise also exhort my brothers to be content with their own wives. Guard the virgins as treasures of Christ. Be long-suffering, that you may be abundant in prudence. Do not neglect the poor, in whatever you have abundance; for by almsgiving and acts of faith sins are purged away.
Keep yourself pure, as a habitation of God; you are a temple of Christ, you are an instrument of the Spirit. You know how I brought you up; though I am of the least account, be a zealous follower of me; imitate my manner of life. I do not boast in the world, but in the Lord. To Hero my child I give this exhortation: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
May I have joy of you, my longed-for child, of whom may the only unbegotten God and the Lord Jesus Christ be the guardian. Do not trust all men, do not be confident in all, nor even if anyone flatter you; for many are the servants of Satan, and he who is quick to trust is light in heart.
Remember God, and you will never sin. Do not be double-minded in your prayer, for blessed is he who has not doubted. For I believe in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his only-begotten Son, that God will show me Hero upon my throne; therefore press on in your course.
I charge you before the God of all and before Christ, in the presence of the Holy Spirit and of the ministering ranks: guard the deposit which I and Christ have committed to you, and do not judge yourself unworthy of the things that have been determined concerning you by God. I commit to you the church of the Antiochenes. I have committed you to Polycarp in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Greet the God-befitting presbytery; greet your holy fellow deacons, of whom may I have joy in Christ, both in flesh and in spirit. Greet the people of the Lord, from the least to the greatest, every one by name, whom I commit to you, as Moses committed the people to Joshua, the commander after him. And do not let what is said seem burdensome to you; for even if we are not such as those men were, yet at least we pray to become so, since we too are children of Abraham.
Be strong therefore, O Hero, heroically and manfully; for from now on you shall lead in and lead out the people of the Lord who are in Antioch, and the congregation of the Lord shall not be like sheep that have no shepherd.
Greet Cassian my host and his most reverend spouse and their most beloved children; to whom may God grant to find mercy from the Lord in that day, on account of their ministry to us; whom also I commit to you in Christ.
Greet all the faithful in Laodicea by name in Christ. Do not neglect those in Tarsus, but watch over them more constantly, confirming them by the gospel.
I salute in the Lord Maris, the bishop in Neapolis near Zarbus. And greet also the most reverend Mary my daughter, the most learned, and the church in her house, for whom may I be offered as a ransom—she who is a model of godly women.
May the Father of Christ, through his only-begotten Son, preserve you in health and prospering in all things, for the longest span of life, for the benefit of the church of God. Farewell in the Lord, and pray that I may be made perfect.