Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol I:
IGNATIUS: Chapter XII.—Salutations.

Chapter XII.—Salutations.

I salute the holy presbytery. I salute the sacred deacons, and that person most dear to me, 1258 whom may I behold, through the Holy Spirit, occupying my place when I shall attain to Christ. My soul be in place of his. I salute the sub-deacons, the readers, the singers, the doorkeepers, the labourers, 1259 the exorcists, the confessors. 1260 I salute the keepers of the holy gates, the deaconesses in Christ. I salute the virgins betrothed to Christ, of whom may I have joy in the Lord Jesus. 1261 I salute the people of the Lord, from the smallest to the greatest, and all my sisters in the Lord.

Footnotes

Literally, “the name desirable to me,” referring to Hero the deacon.

A class of persons connected with the Church, whose duty it was to bury the bodies of the martyrs and others.

Such as voluntarily confessed Christ before Gentile rulers.

Some insert here a clause referring to widows.