From
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Ignatius of Antioch
The oldest collection of the writings of St. Ignatius known to have existed was that made use of by the historian
Eusebius in the first half of the fourth century,
but which unfortunately is no longer extant. It was made up of the seven letters written by Ignatius whilst on his way to
Rome; These letters were addressed to the
Christians
- of Ephesus (Pros Ephesious);
- of Magnesia (Magnesieusin);
- of Tralles (Trallianois);
- of Rome (Pros Romaious);
- of Philadelphia (Philadelpheusin);
- of Smyrna (Smyrnaiois); and
- to Polycarp (Pros Polykarpon).
We find these seven mentioned not only by
Eusebius (
Church History III.36) but also by
St. Jerome (De viris illust., c. xvi). Of later collections of Ignatian letters which have been preserved, the oldest is known as the "long recension". This collection, the author of which is unknown, dates from the latter part of the fourth century. It contains the seven genuine and six spurious letters,
but even the genuine epistles were greatly interpolated to lend weight to the personal views of its author. For this reason they are incapable of bearing witness to the original form. The spurious letters in this recension are those that purport to be from Ignatius
- to Mary of Cassobola (Pros Marian Kassoboliten);
- to the Tarsians (Pros tous en tarso);
- to the Philippians (Pros Philippesious);
- to the Antiochenes (Pros Antiocheis);
- to Hero a deacon of Antioch (Pros Erona diakonon Antiocheias). Associated with the foregoing is
- a letter from Mary of Cassobola to Ignatius.
It is extremely probable that
the interpolation of the genuine, the addition of the spurious letters, and the union of both in the long recension was the work of an
Apollinarist of
Syria or
Egypt, who wrote towards the beginning of the fifth century. Funk identifies him with the compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions, which came out of
Syria in the early part of the same century. Subsequently there was added to this collection a panegyric on St. Ignatius entitled, "Laus Heronis". Though in the original it was probably written in Greek, it is now extant only in Latin and Coptic texts.
There is also a third recension, designated by Funk as the "mixed collection". The
time of its origin can be only vaguely determined as being between that of the collection known to
Eusebius and the long recension. Besides the seven genuine letters of Ignatius in their original form, it also contains the six spurious ones, with the exception of that to the Philippians.
In this collection is also to be found the "Martyrium Colbertinum". The Greek original of this recension is contained in a single codex, the famous Mediceo-Laurentianus
manuscript at Florence. This codex is incomplete, wanting the letter to the Romans, which, however, is to be found associated with the "Martyrium Colbertinum" in the Codex Colbertinus, at
Paris. The mixed collection is regarded as the most reliable of all in determining what was the authentic text of the genuine Ignatian letters.
There is also an ancient Latin version which is an unusually exact rendering of the Greek. Critics are generally inclined to look upon this version as a translation of some Greek
manuscript of the same type as that of the Medicean Codex.
This version owes its discovery to Archbishop Ussher, of
Ireland, who found it in two
manuscripts in
English libraries and
published it in 1644. It was the work of
Robert Grosseteste, a
Franciscan friar and
Bishop of Lincoln (c. 1250). The original Syriac version has come down to us in its entirety only in an
Armenian translation.
It also contains the seven genuine and six spurious letters. This collection in the original Syriac would be invaluable in determining the exact text of Ignatius, were it in existence, for the reason that it could not have been later than the fourth or fifth century. The deficiencies of the
Armenian version are in part supplied by the abridged recension in the original Syriac. This abridgment contains the three genuine letters to the Ephesians, the Romans, and to Polycarp. The
manuscript was discovered by Cureton in a collection of Syriac
manuscripts obtained in 1843 from the
monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Desert of Nitria. Also there are three letters extant only in Latin. Two of the three purport to be from Ignatius to
St. John the Apostle, and one to the
Blessed Virgin, with her reply to the same.
These are probably of Western origin, dating no further back than the twelfth century.