His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Karim

Consecrated on May 29, 2014 as 123rd successor of St. Peter

The Patriarch of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church

Patriarch's 1st Malayalam Message for Malankara

Welcome to St. Ignatius Jacobite Syriac Christian Church of San Diego, CA

We invite you to come and enjoy Jacobite Syriac Holy Mass on every 1st Saturday of the month.

Feel free to share your comments in our online guest book. Our Holy Mass is conducted in either Malayalam or Aramic-Syriac or English, and we'd like to take this opportunity to invite you to one of our monthly services. You can reach out to one of our Priests or Bishop.

We hope you and your family would find our Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Holy Mass to be an exceptional spiritual experience that takes you back a couple of millennia to the 1st century AD when our church service was set up in Aramic-Syriac, the language that was spoken by Jesus and his disciples.

Just in case you do not have time to come over to our next service you could make an online prayer request.

May God Bless You

Members

St. Ignatius Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church

San Diego, CA

Our Patron Saint: St. Ignatius

Apostle St. Peter himself appointed St. Ignatius as the Bishop to the see of Antioch as mentioned in writings of Theodoret of Cyrus (an influential author, theologian and Bishop of Cyrus from AD 423 to 457). Later St. Ignatius became the Patriarch of Antioch succeeding St. Peter and St. Evodius.

It was St. Ignatius who first used the word Catholic Church to represent the universal / complete / whole Church, in his letter to Smyrnaeans.

"Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid." — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, J.R. Willis translation.

It is believed that St. Ignatius was arrested on the charge of denying Roman gods, and was taken from Antioch to Rome. On that last trip he met leaders of local churches, at nearly every stop and with the help of a scribe he wrote seven letters and here is an extract from one among them.

Extracts from Letter to Romans

"I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness.

Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which is my way of reaching to God.

I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ."

Martyrdom & Burial of the Remains of St. Ignatius

In Rome St. Ignatius was sentenced to be thrown to the lions in the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater), and a Chronicle by Eusebius of Caesarea mentions that St. Ignatius was thrown to the loins in 11th year of Trajan, which is 108 AD.

After his execution at the Colosseum, believers of Universal (Catholic) Church in Rome, buried the remains of St. Ignatius underground where St. Peter's Basilica stands today and the tomb of St.Ignatius of Antioch can be found in the list of tombs in Vatican grotto.