The church of God at Smyrna to the church of God at Philomelium [in
Phrygia, Asia Minor] and to all the communities of the holy all-embracing
church everywhere.
We write to you, brothers, concerning that which took place with those of
us who have given witness unto death, in particular with the blessed
Polycarp, who put an end to the persecution by sealing it, as it were,
with his own witness.
Cut by scourges until the anatomy of the body was visible, even to the
veins and arteries, they endured everything. Even the spectators pitied
and bewailed them. The noble martyrs of Christ attained such towering
strength of soul that not one of them uttered a cry or groan. They proved
to all of us that in the hour of their torture they were free of the
body, or rather that the Lord himself stood by them and talked with them.
In the same way they endured fearful torment when they were condemned to
the wild beasts. They were rolled over shells and were subjected to all
kinds of other tortures, for the tyrant hoped to induce them to deny
their faith by the prolonged torture, if that were possible.
The infernal Tempter used many devices against them, but thanks be to the
Lord he was powerless against them all. The noble Germanicus strengthened
the weakness of others by his steadfastness. He wrestled gallantly with
the wild beasts. When the proconsul tried to persuade him, saying that he
had pity on his youth, he forcibly pulled the wild beast towards himself,
wi****ng to be freed more quickly from this godless and unjust life. The
whole mob, horrified at the heroism of the God-loving and God-fearing
Christian sect, shouted, “Away with the atheists! Get moving! Look for
Polycarp!”
Only one man, a certain Quintus from Phrygia, who had just recently come
from there, turned coward when he saw the wild beasts. He was the one who
had voluntarily given himself up to the court and had also persuaded some
others to do the same. After earnest entreaty the proconsul persuaded him
to take the oath and to sacrifice. Therefore, brothers, we do not find it
praiseworthy if some of us voluntarily give ourselves up. The Gospel does
not teach this. But Polycarp, in contrast, when he first heard of all
this, acted admirably by showing no fear… When they did not find him,
they arrested two young slaves, one of whom became a traitor under
torture.
Taking the young slave with them, the constables set out against him on
Friday at evening with a squadron of mounted men and their usual arms.
Late in the evening they came upon him and found him in an upper room of
a small cottage…They were amazed at his great age and his calm dignity…He
immediately ordered food and drink to be served them, as much as they
wanted, and he asked them to give him an hour for undisturbed prayer…And
when the moment of departure came, they seated him on a donkey and in
this way brought him into the city.
It was a great Sabbath. Herod, the chief of police, and Nicetes, his
father, rode to meet him. They took him into their carriage and sitting
next to him urged him by saying, “What is wrong with saying ‘Lord!’ and
‘Caesar!’ and sacrificing, and the rest of it, and thereby saving your
life?”
At first he did not answer them, but when they did not leave him in peace
he said, “I am not willing to do what you advise me.”…When he entered the
arena there was such a tremendous uproar that nobody could be understood.
When he was led forward, the proconsul asked him if he was Polycarp. This
he affirmed. The proconsul wanted to persuade him to deny his faith,
urging him, “Consider your great age,” and all the other things they
usually say in such cases. “Swear by the genius of Caesar; change your
mind. Say, ‘Away with the atheists.’” Polycarp, however, looked with a
serious expression upon the whole mob assembled in the arena. He waved
his hand over them, sighed deeply, looked up to heaven, and said, “Away
with the atheists.”
But the proconsul pressed him further, and said to him, “Swear and I will
release you! Curse Christ!”
And Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has
never done me any harm. How could I blaspheme my King and Savior?”
When the proconsul still pressed him saying, “Swear by the genius of
Caesar,” he replied, “If you desire the empty triumph of making me swear
by the genius of Caesar according to your intention, and if you pretend
that you do not know who I am, hear my frank confession: I am a
Christian. If you are willing to learn what Christianity is, set a time
at which you can hear me.”
The proconsul replied, “Try to persuade the people.”
Polycarp answered him, “You I consider worthy that I should give an
explanation, for we have been taught to pay respect to governments and
authorities appointed by God as long as it does us no harm. But as to
that crowd, I do not consider them worthy of my defense.”
Thereupon the proconsul declared, “I have wild beasts. I shall have you
thrown before them if you do not change your mind.”
“Let them come,” he replied. “It is out of question for us to change from
the better to the worse, but the opposite is worthy of honor: to turn
round from evil to justice.”
The proconsul continued, “If you belittle the beasts and do not change
your mind, I shall have you thrown into the fire.”
Polycarp answered him, “You threaten me with a fire that burns but for an
hour and goes out after a short time, for you do not know the fire of the
coming judgment and of eternal punishment for the godless. Why do you
wait? Bring on whatever you will.”
As Polycarp spoke these and similar words, he was full of courage and
joy. His face shone with inward light. He was not in the least
disconcerted by all these threats. The proconsul was astounded. Three
times he sent his herald to announce in the midst of the arena, “Polycarp
has confessed that he is a Christian!”
No sooner was this announced by the herald, than the whole multitude,
both pagans and Jews, the entire population of Smyrna, yelled with
uncontrolled anger at the top of their voices, “He is the teacher of
Asia! The father of the Christians! The destroyer of our gods! He has
persuaded many not to sacrifice and not to wor****p.” This they shouted,
and they demanded of Philip, the high priest of public wor****p, that he
let loose a lion upon Polycarp. He explained that he was not allowed to
do this since the wild-beast combats had been closed. Then there arose a
unanimous shout that Polycarp should be burned alive. In this way the
vision had to be fulfilled in which he had seen his pillow burning while
he was praying. To the faithful who were with him he had spoken the
prophetic words, “I must be burned alive.”
Now everything happened much faster than it can be told. The mob rushed
to collect logs and brushwood from the workshops and the public baths;
the Jews as usual were especially zealous in this work. When the woodpile
was ready, Polycarp took off all his outer clothes, opened his belt, and
tried to undo his shoes. This he had not usually done himself because
each of the faithful was eager to be the first to touch his body. Already
before his martyrdom he had been very much honored because of the
goodness of his life.
The fuel for the pyre was very quickly piled around him. When they wanted
to fasten him with nails, he refused. “Let me be. He who gives me the
strength to endure the fire will also give me the strength to remain at
the stake unflinching, without the security of your nails.”…When he had
spoken the Amen and finished his prayer, the executioners lit the fire.
In the end, when the godless mob saw that his body could not be consumed
by the fire, they ordered the executioner to thrust a dagger into his
breast…When the tempter, the slanderer and evil one, the enemy of the
race of the righteous, saw the whole greatness of his martyrdom and his
blameless life from the beginning…he prompted Nicetes, the father of
Herod and the brother of Alce, to ask the proconsul not to give up the
body…“for fear,” those were his words, “that they should abandon the
crucified and start wor****pping this man.” They said this through the
instigation and urging of the Jews who also had been watching when we
wanted to take him out of the fire. They do not know that we will never
abandon Christ. He suffered for the salvation of all those who are being
saved on the whole earth, the one without guilt for the guilty ones. We
can never wor****p anyone else. We wor****p him because he is the son of
God. To the martyrs we give the love we owe them as disciples and
followers of the Lord. They have, after all, loved their king and master
with boundless love. How we wish that we may become their companions and
fellow disciples! When the officer in charge saw the commotion caused by
the Jews, he had the body put in the middle of the pyre and burned,
according to their custom. So afterwards we were able to take up his
bones, more valuable than jewels and more precious than gold, and to lay
them to rest in our burying place. There we will come together as often
as God will grant us, in jubilation and joy, as much as we are able.
There we will celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom and death like a
birthday, in memory of those who have fought and won the fight before,
and for the strengthening and preparation of those who still have to face
it. Such is our re****t about the blessed Polycarp who, counting those
from Philadelphia, was the twelfth to suffer martyrdom at Smyrna.
The Martyrdom of the Holy Polycarp, recorded February 22, A.D. 156.
Jim wrote:
> I have received a letter addressed to me by your most esteemed
> predecessor, Serenius Granianus. It does not seem right to me now to
> let this matter pass by without examination, lest the people should be
> perturbed and the informers find op****tunities for mean actions. If,
> therefore, the people of the province are able to base their petition
> against the Christians on clear grounds, so that they can be
> answerable even before a court of law, then let them use these legal
> channels only; let them not just resort to petitions and outcries. It
> is far more fitting that you should begin a detailed investigation if
> anyone brings up an accusation. Therefore if anyone acts as an accuser
> and shows proof that the people concerned are acting against the law
> in some way, then you should pass your sentence in accordance with the
> extent of the offense. But, by Hercules! If anyone should bring
> forward his accusation with slanderous intention, you should take such
> a shameful thing properly into account and see that it is punished.
>
> Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117–138) to Minucius Fundanus,
> Proconsul of Asia, quoted in Justin, First Apology 68.
>
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