Virginity in the Early Church implied Martyrdom [ Witnessing to Jesus Christ ] .I found the following mp3 very touching and inspiring , as if for a moment at last I touched the Truth of the vocation of Consecrated virginity- called to BECOME the Eucharist.
Listen here : http://media.blubrry.com/discerninghearts/p/discerninghearts.com/Aquilina/Roman-Martyrs.mp3
"And so, in A.D. 107, when Ignatius described his own impending execution, he
imagined it in Eucharistic terms. He said he was like the wine at the offertory.
He wrote to the Romans: “Grant me nothing more than that I be poured out
to God, while an altar is still ready.” Later in the same letter he wrote: “Let
me be food for the wild beasts, through whom I can reach God. I am God’s
wheat, ground fine by the lion’s teeth to be made purest bread for Christ.” Ignatius
is bread, and he is wine; his martyrdom is a sacrifice. It is, in a sense, a
eucharist.
