Hand painted icon of Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer. Ignatius the God-Bearer was the second bishop of the Church of Antioch, not counting its founder, the Apostle Peter, and a representative of the generation of the Apostolic Men. He succeeded Bishop Evodius on the throne of Antioch in 67 and remained at the head of it until his death in 107. He is also known as a disciple of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. His nickname God-Bearer is associated with a tradition that originates from St. Symeon Metaphrastus (10th century), according to which St. Ignatius was the child pointed to and embraced by Jesus Christ when the apostles argued about primacy (Matt. 18:1-5). Against this tradition is the testimony of St. John Chrysostom, who writes that St. Ignatius never saw the face of the Lord "in the flesh". Ignatius himself explains this in the sense that he was a man who "had (carried) Christ in his heart" (ϑεοϕόρος), and not one who was carried by God (ϑεόϕορος). St. Ignatius ended his life with a martyr's death in Rome. The year of his martyrdom is disputed, with the most common assumption being that it occurred in 107 or 108. In the preserved account of his martyrdom, this event is also mentioned by St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and Origen. The Orthodox Church celebrates his memory on December 20, and the Roman Catholic Church on February 1. January 29 is the day on which the Orthodox Church commemorates the transfer of his relics from Rome to Antioch and back to Rome after the fall of Antioch to the Arabs in 637. Today they are kept in the Church of Saint Clement in Rome.