The Martyrdom of Polycarp

1The church of God sojourning at Smyrna to the church of God sojourning at Philomelium and to all the sojournings of the holy and universal church in every place. May mercy and peace and love from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied.

Brothers, we have written to you about those who suffered martyrdom and about the blessed Polycarp. Having sealed it all through his martyrdom, he brought the persecution to an end.

Nearly everything that led up to it happened so that the Lord from above might show us the martyrdom according to the gospel. Polycarp waited to be handed over, just as the Lord did, so that we too might become his imitators, looking not only to our own interests but also to the interests of our neighbors (Philippians 2:4). True and steadfast love does not seek its own salvation only, but the salvation of all the brothers as well.

2Every martyrdom that happens according to God's will is blessed and noble. We must revere God more deeply and ascribe to Him authority over all things. Who could fail to admire their nobility, their endurance, and their love for the Master?

Torn with whips until the inner design of their flesh lay open to view, down to the veins and arteries, they endured, so that the bystanders pitied them and mourned. Some reached such nobility that not one of them groaned or sighed. They showed us all that in that hour of bodily torture, Christ's martyrs were absent from the flesh. Or rather, the Lord stood beside them and spoke with them.

Fixed on the grace of Christ, they despised the tortures of this world, buying off eternal punishment with a single hour. The fire of their inhuman torturers felt cold to them. They kept before their eyes escape from the eternal fire that is never quenched, and with the eyes of the heart they looked up to the good things kept for those who endure, which no ear has heard, and no eye has seen, and no human heart has imagined (1 Corinthians 2:9). The Lord showed these things to them, for they were no longer men but already angels.

In the same way, those condemned to the beasts endured dreadful punishments. They were laid on sharp shells and punished with many other kinds of varied tortures, so that if possible, persistent torment might turn them to denial. The devil devised many schemes against them.

3But thanks be to God: he did not prevail against them all. The most courageous Germanicus gave them strength in their fear by the endurance within him. He also fought the wild beasts in a notable way. The proconsul wanted to persuade him and told him to pity his own youth, but Germanicus forced his way forward and drew the beast upon himself, because he wanted to be released the sooner from their unjust and lawless life. So the whole crowd marveled at the courage of the God-loving and God-fearing people of the Christians and shouted, "Take away the godless people," and, "let Polycarp be searched for."

4One of them was Quintus, a Phrygian who had arrived recently from Phrygia. When he saw the beasts, he became cowardly. He was the man who had pressured himself and some others to come forward willingly. The proconsul pleaded with him at length and persuaded him to swear and to sacrifice. For this reason, brothers, we do not praise those who come forward on their own, for the gospel does not teach this.

5Polycarp, that most marvelous man, was unshaken when he first heard. He wanted to remain in the city, but most of the others urged him to withdraw. So he withdrew to a small country place not far from the city and stayed there with a few companions, spending night and day in nothing but prayer for everyone and for the churches throughout the world, as was his habit.

Three days before his arrest, while he was at prayer, he entered a vision and saw his pillow consumed by fire. Then he turned to those with him and said, "I must be burned alive."

6As the men searching for him kept at it, he moved to another small country place. They arrived there at once, and when they did not find him, they seized two little boys. One of them confessed while under torture. He could not possibly escape notice, for even those who betrayed him belonged to his own household (Matthew 10:36).

The police chief who bore the same name, called Herod, then hurried to bring him into the stadium, so that he might complete his own appointed lot by sharing in Christ, and those who betrayed him might suffer the same punishment as Judas.

7With the boy to guide them, they set out on the preparation day about suppertime, pursuers on foot and on horseback with their usual weapons, like men rushing out to take a robber. They arrived late and found him lying down in an upstairs room. He could still have left for another place, but he would not. Polycarp says, “May God’s will be done” (Matthew 6:10).

When he heard they were there, he came down and spoke with them, while those present marveled at his age and his firm composure, that so much urgency should go into arresting such an old man. At once he ordered them to set food and drink before them at that hour, as much as they wanted, and he asked them to give him an hour to pray without hindrance. They allowed it, and he stood and prayed, full of God’s grace, so that for two hours he could not fall silent, and his hearers were amazed, and many were sorry they had come after an old man so befitting God.

8When he at last finished his prayer, he had remembered everyone he had ever met, small and great, honored and obscure, and the whole universal church throughout the inhabited world. Then the hour came for him to leave. They set him on a donkey and led him into the city, and it was a Great Sabbath.

The police chief Herod met him there, with his father Nicetes. They moved him onto their carriage and sat beside him and urged him, saying, "What harm is there in saying, 'Caesar is Lord,' and sacrificing, and doing the rest that goes with it, and so being kept safe?" At first Polycarp gave them no answer. When they kept pressing him, Polycarp says, "I will not do what you are urging on me."

When they failed to persuade him, they turned on him with dreadful words and hastily dragged him down, so that as he got down from the carriage he scraped his shin. Without turning back, as if he had suffered nothing, he pressed eagerly and hastily onward under guard toward the stadium, while the uproar in the stadium was so great that no voice could be heard.

9As Polycarp entered the stadium, a voice came from heaven saying, "Be strong, Polycarp, and act as a man." No one saw the one who spoke, but those of our people who were present heard the voice.

After he was brought forward, a great uproar broke out when people heard that Polycarp had been arrested. When he was led up, the proconsul asked him if he himself was Polycarp. When he confessed that he was, the proconsul urged him to deny, saying, "Respect your age," along with the other things they customarily say: "Swear by the fortune of Caesar, repent, say, 'Away with the godless people.'"

Polycarp looked with a stern face at the whole crowd of lawless nations in the stadium, waved his hand toward them, groaned and looked up to heaven, and said, "Away with the godless people." As the proconsul kept pressing him and saying, "Swear, and I will set you free; revile Christ," Polycarp said, "For eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I speak evil against my king who saved me?"

10When the proconsul kept pressing him again with the command, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar," Polycarp answered, "If you take empty pride in thinking I will swear by the fortune of Caesar, as you put it, and pretend you do not know who I am, then hear it openly: I am a Christian. If you want to learn the teaching of Christianity, set a day and listen."

The proconsul said, "Persuade the crowd." Polycarp said, "You, at least, I have counted worthy of even a word, for we have been taught to give fitting honor that does us no harm to the rulers and authorities appointed by God (Romans 13:1), but I do not count those people, the crowd, worthy for me to defend myself before them."

11The proconsul said, "I have wild beasts, and I will throw you to them if you do not change your mind." Polycarp said, "Summon them. For us, a change of course from what is better to what is worse cannot be undone, but it is good to move from hardship to what is right." The proconsul said to him again, "If you scorn the beasts and do not change your mind, I will cause you to be consumed by fire." Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for a time and is soon quenched, for you do not know the fire kept for the impious at the coming judgment and eternal punishment. So why do you delay? Bring whatever you wish."

12As Polycarp said this and much more, he was filled with boldness and joy, and his face was full of grace. He did not collapse, shaken by what was said to him. On the contrary, the proconsul himself was astounded and sent his own herald to stand in the middle of the stadium and proclaim three times, "Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian."

When the herald said this, the whole crowd of pagans and Jews who lived in Smyrna shouted with uncontrollable anger and a loud voice, "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our gods, who teaches many neither to sacrifice nor to worship." As they said this they kept shouting and asking the provincial official Philip to loose a lion on Polycarp. But he said it was not permitted for him, because he had completed the beast fights. Then they agreed with one mind to shout that Polycarp should be burned alive.

For the vision he had seen upon the pillow had to be fulfilled, when he saw it burning as he prayed and turned to the faithful with him and said prophetically, "I must be burned alive."

13It all happened in a moment, faster than words can tell. The crowd rushed at once to gather timber and dry sticks from the workshops and bathhouses, and the Jews in particular threw themselves eagerly into serving the work, as they customarily do.

When the pyre was ready, Polycarp stripped off all his clothes himself and unfastened his belt, and he even tried to remove his own sandals. He had never done this before, because each of the faithful always hurried to be the first to touch his body. In every way he had been adorned by his good life even before his martyrdom. They at once fitted the trappings of the pyre around him, and when they were about to nail him as well, Polycarp said, "Leave me as I am. The one who has given me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to remain undisturbed on the pyre without the safeguard of your nails."

14They did not nail him but tied him fast. With his hands set behind his back and bound, like a choice ram taken from a great flock for an offering, a whole burnt offering acceptable to God and made ready, he looked up to heaven.

"Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed child Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of you, God of angels and powers and of all creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your presence, I bless you because you have counted me worthy of this day and hour to take a share in the number of the martyrs in the cup of your Christ, for the resurrection to eternal life of both soul and body in the imperishability of the Holy Spirit. May I be received among them before you today as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, just as you prepared beforehand and revealed beforehand and fulfilled it, O God who never lies and is true. For this reason I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved child, through whom glory belongs to you with him and the Holy Spirit both now and for the ages to come. Amen."

15When he had uttered his Amen and finished his prayer, the men in charge of the fire lit it. A great flame blazed up, and we who were granted to see it beheld a wonder. We too were spared to report to the rest what happened. The fire shaped itself like a vault and walled the martyr's body round about, like a ship's sail swelling with the wind. And he stood in the middle, not like flesh burning but like bread baking, or like gold and silver glowing in a furnace. And we caught so rich a fragrance, as of breathing incense or some other precious spice.

16When the lawless men saw that the fire could not consume his body, they ordered a confector to step up to him and thrust him through with a small dagger. When he did so, so much blood poured out that it quenched the fire, and the whole crowd marveled that so great a difference should stand between the unbelieving and the elect. One of the elect was this most wonderful martyr Polycarp, who in our own time became an apostolic and prophetic teacher and bishop of the universal church in Smyrna. For every word he uttered has been fulfilled and will be fulfilled.

17But the devil, that jealous, envious, evil enemy of the whole family of the righteous, saw how great his martyrdom was. He saw a life blameless from the beginning. He saw Polycarp crowned with the crown of incorruption and carrying off the undisputed prize. So he schemed to keep even his body out of our hands, though many of us longed to take it and to share in his holy flesh.

So he prompted Nicetes, Herod's father and Alce's brother, to petition the magistrate not to hand over his body. "If you do," he said, "they will abandon the crucified one and begin to worship this man." The Jews put forward this plea and pressed it hard, and they stood watching while we were about to take him from the fire. They did not understand that we could never abandon Christ, who suffered, blameless, for sinners, for the salvation of the whole world of all who are saved, and that we could worship no one else.

For we worship Christ as the Son of God. But we love the martyrs as disciples and imitators of the Lord, as they deserve, for their matchless love for their own King and Teacher. May we also become their sharers and fellow disciples.

18When the centurion saw how bitter the dispute among the Jews had become, he laid him in the middle and burned him, as is their custom. Afterwards we gathered up his bones, more honorable than precious stones and more approved than gold, and laid them in a fitting resting place. There, as far as we are able to gather together in exultation and joy, the Lord will grant us to celebrate the anniversary day of his martyrdom, for the memory of those who have contended before us and for the training and preparation of those who are still to come.

19This is the story of the blessed Polycarp. He suffered martyrdom at Smyrna as twelfth with those from Philadelphia. He alone is remembered by all above all others, so even the Gentiles speak of him in every place. He proved himself not only a notable teacher but also an outstanding martyr. His martyrdom happened according to the gospel of Christ, and everyone longs to imitate it.

By endurance he overcame the unjust ruler, and in this way he received the crown of incorruptibility. Now he rejoices greatly with the apostles and all the righteous. He glorifies God, the almighty Father, and he blesses our Lord Jesus Christ, the savior of our souls and pilot of our bodies and shepherd of the universal church throughout the world.

20You asked to be told what happened in fuller detail. For the present we have made it known to you as in summary through our brother Marcian. Now that you have learned these things, send our letter on to the brothers beyond you, so that they too may glorify the Lord, the one who makes choices of his own servants.

To him who is able to lead us all by his grace and gift into his heavenly Kingdom through his only-begotten Child Jesus Christ belong glory and honor and power and greatness forever. Greet all the saints for us. Those with us greet you, and Evarestus who wrote this with whole house greets you.

The blessed Polycarp suffered martyrdom on the second day of the month of Xanthicus now in course, seven days before the Kalends of May, on the Great Sabbath at the eighth hour. Herod arrested him while Philip of Tralles was high priest and Statius Quadratus was proconsul, while Jesus Christ reigns forever. To him belong glory and honor and greatness and an eternal throne from generation to generation. Amen.

We pray that you farewell, brothers, as you keep walking in line with the word according to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through him be glory to God for the salvation of the holy elect, as the blessed Polycarp suffered martyrdom. May we be found at his footsteps in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Gaius copied this account out from the writings of Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, who also shared his life with Irenaeus. I, Socrates, wrote it in Corinth from the copies of Gaius. Grace be with all. I, Pionius, in turn wrote it again from what was written before, after I had searched it out, because the blessed Polycarp appeared to me in a revelation, as I shall explain in what follows. I gathered the pages when they were already almost worn out by time, so that the Lord Jesus Christ may gather me also with his elect into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

21Gaius transcribed this account from the writings of Irenaeus, who was also his fellow citizen. Irenaeus had been a disciple of holy Polycarp. He was in Rome at the time of the martyrdom of Polycarp the bishop, and there he taught many people. Many writings of his are preserved, finest and truest in their kind. In them he mentions Polycarp and says that he learned from him. He ably refuted every heresy, and he handed on the ecclesiastical and universal rule of the church just as he had received it from the holy one.

He tells this story too. Marcion once met holy Polycarp, the Marcionists being those called after Marcion, and Marcion said, "Recognize us, Polycarp." Polycarp said to Marcion, "I recognize, I recognize the first born of Satan." His writings also preserve this report. On the day and at the hour when Polycarp suffered martyrdom in Smyrna, Irenaeus was in the city of Rome and heard a voice like a trumpet saying, "Polycarp suffered martyrdom."

As has been said before, then, Gaius transcribed his text from the writings of Irenaeus, and Isocrates in Corinth worked from the copies of Gaius. And I, Pionius, have written it out again from the copies of Isocrates. I sought out these writings in obedience to a revelation of holy Polycarp, and I gathered them when they were already almost worn out by time, so that the Lord Jesus Christ may also gather me with his elect into his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to the ages of ages, amen.