I cannot imagine what it would even be like to be thrown to wild animals and eaten alive. I was at the Coliseum in Rome in 2003 and thought of that very thing--how many Christians died for Jesus. Who knows, without their faith and trust, I may not be Catholic today.
Saint Ignatius of Antioch was one of thousands of people who were thrown to the lions because of our Christianity. He was a convert from paganism to Christianity. He was born around 50, legend says he was the infant that Jesus took into his arms in Mark 9. But that cannot be since we know Jesus died around 33.
Saint Ignatius succeeded Saint Peter as Bishop of Antioch and he served during the persecution of Domitian and Trajan and it was then that he was taken to Rome and killed around 108. On the journey, which took about two months, he wrote letters to the churches under his care. He was the first person to use the term "Catholic Church." His relics are at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God’s wheat and bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God. No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God’s side. Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in my for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: “Come to the Father.” I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world I want only God’s bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed from the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood, which is love that cannot perish. Pray for me that I may obtain my desire. I have not written to you as a mere man would, but as one who knows the mind of God. - from a letter to the Romans from Saint Ignatius of Antioch
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