"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
It’s probably worth mentioning that I’ve created an RSS feed to allow people to subscribe to the St. Ignatius podcasts in iTunes:
If you have problems with this, or don’t use iTunes, simply point your media player software towards:
http://www.trycatch.net/audio/ignatius/IgnatiusOfAntioch.rss
UPDATE 03/16/2015: Please note, this link no longer works.
The final two letters of St. Ignatius which we read are both sent to the city of Smyrna. The first letter is sent to the Church as a whole, the second specifically to their bishop, Polycarp.
This first letter is special for many reasons, but particularly because it contains Ignatius’ clearest declaration of faith about the Eucharist, as well as being the earliest recorded use of the phrase “Catholic Church”. Invented at Nicea? I don’t think so.
Here is my abridged version of the letter:
“St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Smyrnaeans” PDF
“St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Smyrnaeans” Audio
The Scripture which will be proclaimed at Mass in the upcoming weeks looks at the subject of prayer.
The other day, whilst surfing the Internet, I came across the prayer which I used during my time of preparation prior to receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. To my surprise, I found that there was an “extra bit” that I had not heard before. Here it is:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
–Reinhold Niebuhr
I think I need this right now.