St Polycarp of Smyrna: Life, Martyrdom, Prayer, Feast

St Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna who had learned the faith from St John the Apostle and who was burned in the stadium of his city, in the second century, after answering the proconsul: "Fourscore and six years have I served Him and He hath done me no wrong." He is one of the Apostolic Fathers, the generation that knew the Apostles, and the master of St Irenaeus. In the calendar of 1962 his feast falls on 26 January, a feast of the third class in red vestments. Here is his life, his letter, the account of his martyrdom written by his own church, and the prayers of his Mass in Latin and English.

Who was St Polycarp?

Polycarp belongs to the little group of early bishops known as the Apostolic Fathers, who received their instruction directly from the Apostles, "as it were from the fountain head", in Butler's phrase. He was a disciple of St John the Evangelist, and St Jerome, whose notice is read at Matins of his feast in the Breviary, adds that John himself ordained him bishop of Smyrna, and that he was "the chief of all Asia", having known several of the Apostles and of those who had seen the Lord.

Smyrna, a great port on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor (today Izmir, in Turkey), was one of the seven churches to which the Apocalypse is addressed: "Be thou faithful unto death: and I will give thee the crown of life" (Apocalypse ii. 10). Polycarp governed that church for many years and was revered by the faithful to the point of profound veneration.

The date of his birth is not recorded. His own words before the proconsul, eighty-six years in the service of Christ, mean that he was born before the end of the first century, around the year 70 if he died in 155; Butler gives the date of his death as 155 or 166, "or some other year".

What did St Polycarp learn from St John?

The fullest witness is his disciple St Irenaeus, later bishop of Lyons. Writing to a certain Florinus, who had known Polycarp as he had and had since fallen into heresy, Irenaeus recalled, in the words Butler preserves:

"I could tell you the place where the blessed Polycarp sat to preach the word of God. It is yet present to my mind with what gravity he everywhere came in and went out; what was the sanctity of his deportment, the majesty of his countenance... I seem to hear him now relate how he conversed with John and many others who had seen Jesus Christ, the words he had heard from their mouths."

If Polycarp had heard such errors, Irenaeus told Florinus, "he would have immediately stopped his ears and cried out, according to his custom, 'Good God! that I should be reserved to these times to hear such things!'" Through Irenaeus, whose life is told in our page on St Irenaeus of Lyons, the teaching of St John reached the Church of Gaul in the second generation.

What did St Polycarp call Marcion?

Polycarp had learned from his master a horror of those who corrupt the faith. St John, it was told, fled from the baths at the sight of the heretic Cerinthus. Polycarp met the heretic Marcion in the streets of Rome, and Marcion, offended that the bishop did not greet him, asked: "Do you not know me?" "Yes," answered the saint, "I know you, the first-born of Satan." St Jerome tells the same exchange in the lesson of the Breviary.

St Polycarp and St Ignatius of Antioch

When St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, passed through Smyrna in chains on his way to the beasts at Rome, Polycarp kissed his chains. Ignatius entrusted to him the care of his distant church of Antioch and asked him to write in his name to the churches of Asia to which he had no time to write himself. The life and letters of the martyr are told in our page on St Ignatius of Antioch.

The journey to Rome and the date of Easter

Late in life Polycarp travelled to Rome to confer with Pope St Anicetus, chiefly about the date of Easter, for the churches of Asia kept a different custom from the rest. Neither could persuade the other, and they agreed that each might keep his custom without breaking the bond of charity. Anicetus, as a mark of respect, asked Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own church. St Jerome adds that during this stay Polycarp brought back to the faith many who had been led astray by Marcion and Valentinus.

The writings of St Polycarp: the Letter to the Philippians

Of all that Polycarp wrote, one work survives: his Letter to the Philippians, sent with the letters of St Ignatius that the Philippians had asked for. St Irenaeus, St Jerome, Eusebius and Photius praised it, and in Jerome's day it was still read publicly in the churches of Asia. It opens: "Polycarp, and the presbyters with him, to the Church of God sojourning at Philippi."

Two of its sentences are among the most quoted of St Polycarp:

"For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist." (chapter 7)

"Let us then continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ." (chapter 8)

The first echoes the Epistles of St John, his master (2 St John 7); the same chapter uses the words "the first-born of Satan", the very name he gave to Marcion.

The martyrdom of St Polycarp

How St Polycarp died is known from a letter that the church of Smyrna wrote to other churches, the account of eyewitnesses that Butler follows step by step.

Why was St Polycarp arrested?

A violent persecution broke out in Asia; Eusebius places it in the sixth year of Marcus Aurelius, St Jerome under Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus. A young Christian named Germanicus had died bravely before the beasts in the amphitheatre of Smyrna, and the crowd, now thirsting for blood, began to shout: "Away with the atheists! Look for Polycarp!" Christians were called atheists because they refused the gods of the city and the worship of the emperor.

At the urging of his friends the old bishop withdrew to a neighbouring village. Three days before his arrest he saw in a vision his pillow on fire, and told his companions that he would be burned alive. He changed his hiding place, but a slave, threatened with torture, betrayed him. The letter praises him for not giving himself up of his own accord, as one Quintus had done before losing his nerve and sacrificing: Polycarp waited, as Christ did, to be taken.

When the horsemen came by night, he would not flee. "God's will be done," he said. He came down, had a meal served to them, and asked only for time to pray. He prayed standing for two hours, commending to God his own flock and the whole Church, so fervently that some of the men sent to seize him repented of their errand.

"Eighty-six years have I served Him"

On the road the chief of police, Herod, and his father Nicetas took him into their chariot and tried to persuade him: "What harm is there in saying Lord Caesar, or even in offering incense, to escape death?" "I am resolved not to do what you counsel me," he answered, and they threw him out of the chariot so roughly that his leg was hurt.

As he entered the stadium, many heard a voice from heaven: "Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man." The proconsul urged him to respect his age, to swear by the genius of Caesar and to say "Away with the atheists". Polycarp turned with a stern countenance towards the pagan crowd in the stadium and said: "Away with the atheists!" Pressed to revile Christ, he gave the answer that has made him famous:

"Fourscore and six years have I served Him and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?... I am a Christian."

Threatened with the beasts, then with fire, he answered: "You threaten me with a fire which burneth for a season, and after a little while is quenched; but you are ignorant of the judgement to come and of the fire of everlasting punishment which is prepared for the wicked." The crier announced three times: "Polycarp hath confessed himself a Christian", and the crowd, heathen and Jews together, cried out that he should be burned alive.

How did St Polycarp die?

The crowd ran to gather wood from the workshops and the baths. When the executioners would have nailed him to the stake, he said: "Suffer me to be as I am. He who gives me grace to endure the fire will enable me to remain at the pile unmoved." They only tied his hands behind his back, and, looking up to heaven, he prayed.

The prayer of St Polycarp at the stake, as the letter of the church of Smyrna gives it:

O Almighty Lord God, Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of Thee, God of angels and powers and of all creation, and of the whole family of the righteous who live in Thy presence! I bless Thee for having been pleased to bring me to this hour, that I may receive a portion among Thy martyrs and partake of the cup of Thy Christ, unto resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body, in the immortality of the Holy Spirit. Amongst whom grant me to be received this day as a pleasing sacrifice, such as Thou Thyself hast prepared, O true and faithful God. Wherefore for all things I praise, bless and glorify Thee, through the eternal high priest Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, with whom to Thee and the Holy Ghost be glory now and for ever. Amen.

He had scarcely said Amen when the fire was lit. Then, the eyewitnesses write, the flames formed themselves like the sail of a ship swelled by the wind and encircled the martyr's body without consuming it, so that it looked "not like burning flesh but bread that is being baked or precious metal refined", and there was a fragrance like incense. The executioner was ordered to pierce him with a spear; "a dove came forth", the letter says, and so much blood that it quenched the fire.

His enemies had the body burned to ashes, lest the Christians "abandoning the crucified man, should worship Polycarp". The letter answers them with a sentence that sums up the Catholic veneration of the saints: "Him we worship as the Son of God, but we love the martyrs as His disciples and imitators." The faithful gathered his bones, "more precious than the richest jewels", and laid them where they could meet each year to keep "the birthday of the martyr". It was two o'clock in the afternoon of 23 February.

The prayer of St Polycarp (Missal of 1962)

His Mass in the Missal of 1962 is Sacerdotes Dei, from the Common of a Martyr Bishop, with a proper Epistle from the first Epistle of his master St John (1 John iii. 10-16: "In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren") and the Gospel "fear ye not them that kill the body" (St Matthew x. 26-32).

Collect, 26 January

Deus, qui nos beáti Polycárpi Mártyris tui atque Pontíficis ánnua solemnitáte lætíficas: concéde propítius; ut, cujus natalítia cólimus, de ejúsdem étiam protectióne gaudeámus. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

O God, who dost gladden us by the yearly solemnity of blessed Polycarp, Thy Martyr and Bishop: mercifully grant that we who keep his heavenly birthday may also rejoice in his protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Secret

Múnera tibi, Dómine, dicáta sanctífica: et, intercedénte beáto Polycárpo Mártyre tuo atque Pontífice, per éadem nos placátus inténde. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Sanctify, O Lord, the gifts dedicated to Thee: and, at the intercession of blessed Polycarp, Thy Martyr and Bishop, look upon us, appeased by them. Through our Lord.

Postcommunion

Refécti participatióne múneris sacri, quǽsumus, Dómine, Deus noster: ut, cujus exséquimur cultum, intercedénte beáto Polycárpo Mártyre tuo atque Pontífice, sentiámus efféctum. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Refreshed by partaking of the sacred gift, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that, through the intercession of blessed Polycarp, Thy Martyr and Bishop, we may feel the effect of the worship we perform. Through our Lord.

The Collect is the simplest prayer to St Polycarp for any day. The word natalitia, "birthday", says what the church of Smyrna said in its letter when it spoke of keeping "the birthday of the martyr": the day of a martyr's death is his birthday into heaven.

When is the feast day of St Polycarp?

In the Roman calendar of 1962 the feast of St Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr, falls on 26 January, a feast of the third class in red vestments, the day after the feast of the Conversion of St Paul. The calendar of 1969 moved it to 23 February, the day of his death given in the letter of the church of Smyrna, as a memorial. You will find 26 January and its neighbours in our traditional Catholic calendar of 1962, and St Polycarp among the saints of the year in our guide to the Catholic saints, listed by feast day.

What is St Polycarp the patron saint of?

Butler, the Breviary and the Missal assign St Polycarp no patronage. Lists found online call him the patron of those suffering from earaches; we have found no basis for this in Butler, the Breviary or the Missal, and do not present it as tradition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was St Polycarp of Smyrna?

A bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, disciple of St John the Apostle, one of the Apostolic Fathers and the master of St Irenaeus, burned alive for the faith in the stadium of his city in the second century.

When did St Polycarp live?

He was born before the end of the first century and died, according to Butler, in 155 or 166. By his own words he had served Christ for eighty-six years.

Is St Polycarp a Father of the Church?

Yes: he is one of the Apostolic Fathers, the earliest Fathers, who knew the Apostles or their immediate disciples. His Letter to the Philippians is counted among their writings.

Why was St Polycarp killed?

Because he refused to swear by the genius of the emperor, to offer incense and to curse Christ, in a persecution in which the crowd of Smyrna demanded the death of the "teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians".

Why was St Polycarp declared a saint?

As a martyr: from the day of his death the church of Smyrna gathered at his tomb to keep his anniversary. There was no canonization process in his time; he was venerated as a saint by the custom of the Church from the first.

How old was St Polycarp when he died?

At least eighty-six, since he said he had served Christ for eighty-six years; whether he counted from his birth or from his baptism is not known.

The Iter Fidei app carries the Roman Missal of 1962 with the Mass of St Polycarp, the Breviary with the lessons of his feast, and the traditional calendar, in Latin and English. Join early access here.

Sources. Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, 26 January (St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr). Roman Breviary, 26 January, lessons of Matins (St Jerome, On Illustrious Men, ch. 17). St Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, inscription and ch. 7-8, 13. Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 26 January, and Common of a Martyr Bishop. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, Apocalypse ii. 8-10; 1 St John iii. 10-16; 2 St John 7; St Matthew x. 26-32.