This date celebrates the transfer of his relics from Rome, where he was martyred, to Antioch, where he was bishop. When Emperor Trajan summoned Bishop Ignatius to Rome to answer for his faith, he was accompanied on the long journey by several people from Antioch who did not want to leave him alone. Since the saint despised all of Trajan's flattery and promises, and since he did not want to deny Christ, he was thrown into the circus to be fed to wild beasts. The beasts tore him to pieces, and thus he gave up his soul to God. His faithful companions collected the saint's bare bones and brought them to Antioch. But when the Persians captured Antioch in the 6th century, the relics of Saint Ignatius were returned to Rome. They are now in Rome, in the church of Saint Clement.

Holy Martyrs Romanus, James, Philotheus, Hypericius, Aviv, Julian, and Parigorios. Venerable Lawrence of the Caves.