Bear with all, even as the Lord does with you.
Ignatius, To Polycarp, chapter 1
St. Ignatius writes to Polycarp as a bishop carrying responsibility for other people. He urges him to bear with them, remembering the Lord’s patience toward him, and to support them in love. The counsel begins with a mercy already received. It asks the person caring for others to remember that he too depends upon patient love. Ignatius, To Polycarp, chapter 1
Ignatius joins that patience to prayer and attention to individuals. Polycarp is to seek further understanding and speak to people personally as God enables him. Bearing with someone therefore includes active care. The difficult person should remain a person to be understood and helped, rather than becoming only the name of an irritation. Ignatius, To Polycarp, chapter 1
Paul tells the Colossians to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. He connects bearing with one another to forgiveness, following the Lord’s forgiveness. The sequence keeps patience within a whole way of treating others. It can shape the manner in which we address a difficulty before anger determines it for us. Colossians 3:12-13
The original letter is episcopal counsel; we should preserve that audience. Its witness can still guide an ordinary encounter through the actions it actually names: pray, seek understanding and support the person in love. It supplies no instruction to conceal harm or pronounce wrongdoing good. Patience concerns how we bear responsibility toward someone. Ignatius, To Polycarp, chapter 1
When a particular person tries your patience, return to the Lord’s mercy toward you before choosing your next words. Consider what understanding or practical care the situation requires. This response follows Ignatius’s sequence and Paul’s command to compassion. It leaves room for truthful correction while refusing to make irritation the governing purpose of the encounter. Ignatius, To Polycarp, chapter 1
For prayer, use the Lord’s Prayer given by Christ in Matthew 6:9–13.
Sources and edition notes
- Ignatius, To Polycarp. Source. Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0110.htm.
Scripture references link to these comparison editions: NKJV. Biblical passages are paraphrased. Biblical language within a patristic quotation follows the identified historical English translation.