The Martyrdom of Polycarp

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

The assembly of God that sojourns at Smyrna, to the assembly that sojourns at Philomelium and to all communities of the holy and universal church everywhere: may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. We write to you concerning those who were martyred, and concerning the blessed Polycarp, whose witness set a seal upon the persecution and brought it to an end.

Blessed and noble were the martyrdoms that took place according to the will of God. Those who were tortured despised the world’s cruelties, purchasing with one hour an exemption from eternal punishment. The fire of their inhuman tormentors seemed cold to them, for they kept before their eyes their escape from the everlasting fire, and saw with the eyes of the heart the good things prepared for those who endure, which neither ear has heard nor eye has seen.

But Polycarp, when he first heard, was not alarmed, and wished to remain in the city; yet the brethren persuaded him to withdraw to a small farm. There he stayed with a few, doing nothing night and day but pray for all and for the assemblies throughout the world, as was his custom. Three days before his arrest, while praying, he saw his pillow consumed by fire, and turning to those with him he said, “I must be burned alive.”

When the pursuers drew near he moved to another farm, but they came upon two young servants, one of whom confessed under torture. So on a Friday, about the supper hour, mounted men and soldiers went out as against a robber. Finding him in an upper room, he could have fled, but he would not, saying, “The will of God be done.” He came down and spoke with them, ordering food and drink set before them, and asked only for an hour to pray undisturbed. When they consented, he stood and prayed, full of the grace of God, so that for two hours he could not be silent, remembering all whom he had ever met, small and great, and the whole universal church throughout the world.

When at last he finished, they set him on a donkey and brought him into the city. The captain Herod and his father Nicetes met him and tried to persuade him: “What harm is it to say, ‘Caesar is Lord,’ and to offer incense, and save yourself?” At first he was silent, then he said, “I will not do as you advise.” At this they grew harsh and thrust him from the carriage so that he bruised his shin; yet, unmoved, he walked eagerly to the stadium, where the uproar was so great that no voice could be heard.

As he entered, a voice from heaven came to him: “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.” No one saw the speaker, but those of us present heard the voice. When he was brought forward, the proconsul asked if he were Polycarp, and urged him: “Have respect for your age. Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent; say, ‘Away with the godless.’” Polycarp, looking sternly upon the lawless crowd in the stadium, waved his hand toward them, groaned, looked up to heaven, and said, “Away with the godless.”

The proconsul pressed him: “Swear, and I release you; revile the Anointed.” Polycarp answered, “Eighty and six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” When the proconsul insisted, “Swear by the fortune of Caesar,” he said, “If you vainly suppose I will swear by Caesar’s fortune, and pretend not to know who I am, hear plainly: I am a Christian. If you wish to learn the teaching of Christianity, set a day and listen.”

The proconsul threatened him with wild beasts and with fire. Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour and is soon quenched, for you do not know the fire of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment, kept for the ungodly. Why do you delay? Do what you will.” The herald proclaimed three times, “Polycarp has confessed himself a Christian.” Then the whole crowd, Gentiles and Jews of Smyrna together, cried out with uncontrollable rage that he should be burned alive.

Quickly the wood and kindling were gathered. When they would have nailed him to the stake, he said, “Leave me as I am; he who gives me strength to endure the fire will grant me also to remain at the stake unmoved.” So they bound him only. With his hands behind him, like a noble ram chosen from a great flock for sacrifice, he looked to heaven and prayed: “Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed child Jesus the Anointed, through whom we have come to know you; God of angels and powers and of all creation, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before you: I bless you that you have counted me worthy of this day and hour, to share in the cup of your Anointed among the number of the martyrs, unto the resurrection of life of soul and body in the incorruption of the Holy Spirit. May I be received this day among them, a rich and acceptable sacrifice. For this and for all things I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal high priest, Jesus the Anointed, your beloved child, through whom be glory to you, with him and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.”

When he had said the Amen, the men lit the fire. The flame, swelling like a sail filled with wind, made a wall around the body of the martyr; and he was within, not like burning flesh but like bread baking, or like gold and silver refined in a furnace; and we caught a fragrance as of incense. At last, seeing that his body could not be consumed, the lawless ordered an executioner to drive a dagger into him; and there came out so much blood that the fire was quenched, and all the crowd marveled.

Afterward we took up his bones, more precious than costly stones and finer than gold, and laid them in a fitting place. There, as we are able, the Lord will grant us to gather in gladness and joy to keep the birthday of his martyrdom, in memory of those who have fought before, and for the training and preparing of those yet to come. Such was the lot of the blessed Polycarp.