The envious one tries to prevent the recovery of Polycarp's body
The church of Smyrna, after describing Polycarp's death, now explains how the devil moved Nicetes and the Jews to try to prevent the Christians from taking his body.
But the envious, malicious, and wicked one, the adversary of the righteous, saw the greatness of Polycarp's martyrdom and his blameless way of life from the beginning. He saw Polycarp crowned with the crown of immortality and carrying off a prize no one could dispute. So the adversary schemed to keep even Polycarp's body from being taken by us, although many were eager to do this and to share in his holy flesh.
He therefore prompted Nicetes, the father of Herod and brother of Alce, to petition the proconsul not to give up Polycarp's body. "Otherwise," Nicetes said, "they will abandon the crucified one and begin to worship this man." The Jews urged this on and supported it, and they also kept watch when we were about to take Polycarp from the fire. They did not understand that we can never abandon Christ, who suffered blamelessly for sinners for the salvation of the whole world of those who are saved, nor can we ever worship anyone else.
For we worship Christ as the Son of God, but the martyrs we love as disciples and imitators of the Lord, worthily, because of their unsurpassable goodwill toward their own King and Teacher. May we also become their companions and fellow disciples.
Greek
Ὁ δὲ ἀντίζηλος καὶ βάσκανος καὶ πονηρός, ὁ ἀντικείμενος τῷ γένει τῶν δικαίων, ἰδὼν τό τε μέγεθος αὐτοῦ τῆς μαρτυρίας καὶ τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ἀνεπίληπτον πολιτείαν, ἐστεφανωμένον τε τὸν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας στέφανον καὶ βραβεῖον ἀναντίρρητον ἀπενηνεγμένον, ἐπετήδευσεν, ὡς μηδὲ τὸ σωμάτιον αὐτοῦ ὑφ̓ ἡμῶν ληφθῆναι, καίπερ πολλῶν ἐπιθυμούντων τοῦτο ποιῆσαι καὶ κοινωνῆσαι τῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ σαρκίῳ.
ὑπέβαλεν γοῦν Νικήτην τὸν τοῦ Ἡρώδου πατέρα, ἀδελφὸν δὲ Ἄλκης, ἐντυχεῖν τῷ ἄρχοντι, ὥστε μὴ δοῦναι αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα: μή, φησίν, ἀφέντες τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον τοῦτον ἄρξωνται σέβεσθαι. καὶ ταῦτα εἶπον ὑποβαλλόντων καὶ ἐνισχυόντων τῶν Ἰουδαίων, οἳ καὶ ἐτήρησαν, μελλόντων ἡμῶν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς αὐτὸν λαμβάνειν: ἀγνοοῦντες, ὅτι οὔτε τὸν Χριστόν ποτε καταλιπεῖν δυνησόμεθα, τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου τῶν σωζομένων σωτηρίας παθόντα ἄμωμον ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτωλῶν, οὔτε ἕτερόν τινα σέβεσθαι.
τοῦτον μὲν γὰρ υἱὸν ὄντα τοῦ θεοῦ προσκυνοῦμεν, τοὺς δὲ μάρτυρας ὡς μαθητὰς καὶ μιμητὰς τοῦ κυρίου ἀγαπῶμεν ἀξίως ἕνεκα εὐνοίας ἀνυπερβλήτου τῆς εἰς τὸν ἴδιον βασιλέα καὶ διδάσκαλον: ὧν γένοιτο καὶ ἡμᾶς κοινωνούς τε καὶ συμμαθητὰς γενέσθαι.