St. Ignatius is bugging me

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St Ignatius is bugging me, here is a quote from him that I can’t figure out, maybe you guys can help me.

“Mary’s virginity and her giving birth escaped the notice of the prince of this world, as did the Lord’s death - those three secret crying to be told, but wrought in God’s silence.”

Now at first I thought maybe he was talking about the prince of darkness, Satan, but I quickly dismissed that because he states that the Lords death escaped his notice. With all the activity between demons/Satan and Jesus I seriously doubt Our Lords death escaped satans knowledge.

So then I figured he must be talking about the princes of this world, but how could he when King Herod tried to have Jesus killed as an infant, and later Jesus tells the rulers who He really is. From the Governor to the Sanhedrin to the Jewish King, Jesus makes no issue with saying “I am.”

So who is St Ignatius talking about? Am I overlooking something???
 
I believe he IS talking about Satan. The silence of Mary’s giving birth was hidden to him, as was the death of Christ. Had Satan known the awesome benefit for the salvation of man that was taking place, he would have certainly NOT incited men to crucify Him.
 
I think it might be wise to be more specific in the title of your post when you say St. Ignatius I think of Antioch not of Loyola. I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with what was said.
 
Keep in mind that Satan can only see what God permits him to see. God is perfectly capable of blocking Satan from knowing that an event occurred on earth.
 
I agree we need to know which Ignatius.

Also, context is very important. Is this from a homily or letter? Who is it addressing?
This is why cherry-picking quotes can be so dangerous.
 
Sorry, I’ll tell Father Calloway, author of Champions of the Rosary, where I got the quote from, to stop “cherry picking” his quotes and to make sure he cites which specific Saint Ignatius he is talking about.

Until I get an answer from him can we focus on the actual question?
 
The quote is attributed to St. Ignatius of Antioch and is stated here, but without an explanation. So, if the OP read this in Fr. Callaway’s book, we can assume the explanation is missing therein also.

(Hit Ctrl F and insert “Ignatius” in the “find” line to find it quickly. It is a long article)
 
Did a little research – the quote is the lead sentence in the last chapter (= paragraph) of Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians. Here is the entire chapter, not that it’s going to answer the OP’s question.
Chapter XIX.-Three Celebrated Mysteries.
Click to expand...
Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord; three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life. And now that took a beginning which had been prepared by God. Henceforth all things were in a state of tumult, because He meditated the abolition of death.
Click to expand...
The chapter that precedes has nothing to do with this, nor do the following chapters, which are basically the end of the letter.
 
USMC_Convert said:
St Ignatius is bugging me, here is a quote from him that I can’t figure out, maybe you guys can help me.

“Mary’s virginity and her giving birth escaped the notice of the prince of this world, as did the Lord’s death - those three secret crying to be told, but wrought in God’s silence.”

Now at first I thought maybe he was talking about the prince of darkness, Satan, but I quickly dismissed that because he states that the Lords death escaped his notice. With all the activity between demons/Satan and Jesus I seriously doubt Our Lords death escaped satans knowledge.

So then I figured he must be talking about the princes of this world, but how could he when King Herod tried to have Jesus killed as an infant, and later Jesus tells the rulers who He really is. From the Governor to the Sanhedrin to the Jewish King, Jesus makes no issue with saying “I am.”

So who is St Ignatius talking about? Am I overlooking something???
Click to expand...
Satan knew the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. The evil one tempted Him and his minions cried out his name as they fled the man to possess the pigs in the territory of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-9). One would be hard pressed to think Ignatius missed these gospel points.
 
USMC_Convert said:
St Ignatius is bugging me, here is a quote from him that I can’t figure out, maybe you guys can help me.

“Mary’s virginity and her giving birth escaped the notice of the prince of this world, as did the Lord’s death - those three secret crying to be told, but wrought in God’s silence.”

Now at first I thought maybe he was talking about the prince of darkness, Satan, but I quickly dismissed that because he states that the Lords death escaped his notice. With all the activity between demons/Satan and Jesus I seriously doubt Our Lords death escaped satans knowledge.

So then I figured he must be talking about the princes of this world, but how could he when King Herod tried to have Jesus killed as an infant, and later Jesus tells the rulers who He really is. From the Governor to the Sanhedrin to the Jewish King, Jesus makes no issue with saying “I am.”

So who is St Ignatius talking about? Am I overlooking something???
Click to expand...
Well according to some private revelations I read, Jesus’s “star” at his birth was not made visible to the Devil, plus he never suspected that the Messiah would come from such poor beginnings. And like others have said, if the Devil had known for sure Jesus was the son of God he would have never instigated his death, and so God fooled the Devil, like the Devil fooled Adam and Eve.

themostholyrosary.com/mystical-city.htm
 
USMC_Convert said:
St Ignatius is bugging me, here is a quote from him that I can’t figure out, maybe you guys can help me.

“Mary’s virginity and her giving birth escaped the notice of the prince of this world, as did the Lord’s death - those three secret crying to be told, but wrought in God’s silence.”

Now at first I thought maybe he was talking about the prince of darkness, Satan, but I quickly dismissed that because he states that the Lords death escaped his notice. With all the activity between demons/Satan and Jesus I seriously doubt Our Lords death escaped satans knowledge.

So then I figured he must be talking about the princes of this world, but how could he when King Herod tried to have Jesus killed as an infant, and later Jesus tells the rulers who He really is. From the Governor to the Sanhedrin to the Jewish King, Jesus makes no issue with saying “I am.”

So who is St Ignatius talking about? Am I overlooking something???
Click to expand...
He is talking about Satan for sure. Yes, the frequent acknowledgments by demons that Jesus was the “Holy One of God” and the “Son of God” seem to go against this.

Edwin
 
Pride is blind to extreme humility. He did not recognize the meaning of these events

Peace
 
USMC_Convert said:
St Ignatius is bugging me, here is a quote from him that I can’t figure out, maybe you guys can help me.

“Mary’s virginity and her giving birth escaped the notice of the prince of this world, as did the Lord’s death - those three secret crying to be told, but wrought in God’s silence.”

Now at first I thought maybe he was talking about the prince of darkness, Satan, but I quickly dismissed that because he states that the Lords death escaped his notice. With all the activity between demons/Satan and Jesus I seriously doubt Our Lords death escaped satans knowledge.

So then I figured he must be talking about the princes of this world, but how could he when King Herod tried to have Jesus killed as an infant, and later Jesus tells the rulers who He really is. From the Governor to the Sanhedrin to the Jewish King, Jesus makes no issue with saying “I am.”

So who is St Ignatius talking about? Am I overlooking something???
Click to expand...
Here’s the actual quote

Epistle to the Ephesians ch 19, the prince being spoken of is Satan

Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord, three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life. And now that took a beginning which had been prepared by God. Henceforth all things were in a state of tumult, because He meditated the abolition of death.
 
Okay, I’m pretty well convinced you guys are correct, that it is satan he is talking about. It does seem a little odd that Satan who is supposed to be so intelligent would be fooled but I have to remember that A: it is God that he is fighting against so God is obviously going to win and B: the whole pride thing that is mentioned above probably played a big role.

Thanks for the help guys!!!
 
USMC_Convert said:
Okay, I’m pretty well convinced you guys are correct, that it is satan he is talking about. It does seem a little odd that Satan who is supposed to be so intelligent would be fooled but I have to remember that A: it is God that he is fighting against so God is obviously going to win and B: the whole pride thing that is mentioned above probably played a big role.

Thanks for the help guys!!!
Click to expand...
It isn’t odd that Satan was fooled because God blinded Him to the truth. Remember, Satan is in a sense completely powerless. If God chooses to blind him to something, such as the fact that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth, He can.
 
Like many other, Satan probably thought that Jesus was a great prophet, even the Messiah. What was hidden from Satan was the fact that Jesus was “God Himself … manifested in human form.” In other words, the divinity of Jesus was hidden from Satan until after Jesus’ death.

As St Paul said, “None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:8)
 
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