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The acts of the Hieromartyr Polycarp of Smyrna were noted both in Orthodoxy and Catholicism. He was numbered among the saints and was considered one of the apostolic men. In Christian texts he was called the “leader of all Asia” in Christianity. He devoted a lot of time to preaching and spreading knowledge about the Lord throughout the world.
Life of Saint Polycarp
The main fact is that he was a follower of John the Theologian. Born in the second part of the 1st century. At an early age he lost his parents and was adopted by the Christian Callista. Changes in the life of Polycarp of Smyrna occurred after the death of his betrothed mother.
He decided that he would distribute all his property to the poor and needy, and he himself would lead a strict lifestyle. Bishop Vukol really liked this way of life. He brought him closer to himself and tried to share all his knowledge with him. In time he was ordained a deacon. Now his duties included preaching the Word of God in the temple.
Further, it was thanks to the bishop’s complicity that Polycarp rapidly rose up the career ladder. Before his consecration as bishop, Jesus appeared before him. He ruled his subordinates zealously adhering to all the rules of Christianity. Such dedication to his work aroused love for him among the clergy.
The best article for you, go to: Prayer to Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'
Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna preached in terrible times. The followers of God suffered martyrdom and hid from their persecutors. This happened after Marcus Aurelius began to rule. The pagans cried out to the judges so that the “father of all Christians” could be found. It was about this man who devoted himself entirely to serving the Lord.
The flock tried to save their abbot and were advised to take refuge in a small village near Smyrna. When the soldiers appeared, he said to feed them. He himself spent this time in prayer, preparing himself for a difficult death. The martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna was described in one of the ancient monuments of Christian writing.
Holy relics
When he was brought to trial, he did not renounce his convictions. Initially, it was decided to burn it. The executioners wanted to nail him to the post, but he said that he would not move and they simply tied him with a rope. When the fire did not touch his body and only closed over his head, the spectators began to demand that his head be cut off with a sword. When they cut her off, there was so much blood that she put out the fire.
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The body was burned. The remains were collected and honestly venerated today. Memorial Day falls on March 8th. In memory of him, a small wooden church was built in 1867 in the Trinity Sevsky Monastery. The bad thing is that it has not survived to this day.
HOLY MARTYR POLYCARP OF SMYRNA, BISHOP
Believe in Him “who raised... from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ... Whom everything that breathes serves, who will come as the Judge of the living and the dead, and whose blood God will require from those who do not believe Him. He who raised Him from the dead will also raise us if we do His will.
Therefore, “having girded your loins” (1 Pet. 1:13; Eph. 6:14), “serve God with fear”: (Ps. 2:11) and the truth, abandoning the vain talk and error of many, believe in Him “Who He raised... from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ and gave Him glory" (1 Peter 1:21) and the throne at His right hand, to whom all things in heaven and on earth are subject, to whom everything that breathes serves, who will come as the Judge of the living and the dead, and whose blood God will require from those who do not believe. To him. He who raised Him from the dead will also raise us, if we do His will, act according to His commandments and love what He loves, if we shun all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, slander, false witness, “not returning evil for evil,” reproach for rebuke (1 Peter 3:9), blow for blow, curse for curse, and if we remember what the Lord taught, saying: “Do not judge... lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1). Forgive and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37; Matt. 6:12,14). Have mercy so that you may receive mercy. “With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matt. 7:2; Luke 6:38). And blessed are the poor and those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God (Matt. 5:3,10; Luke 6:20).
"The Epistle to the Philippians"
Saint Demetrius of Rostov
The Life and Suffering of the Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna
Memory 23 February
In the city of Smyrna, located in the Asia Minor region of Ionia, during the time of the holy apostles the bishop was Saint Vukol, and during the days of this bishop the pious and God-fearing widow Callista lived here. An angel of the Lord appeared to her in a dream and ordered her to take an orphan, the youth Polycarp, to her; since Callista had no children, she joyfully took the boy and raised him in piety, like her own son. When he grew up and came to a perfect mind, the widow entrusted him with everything that she had in the house. Once at this time she needed to go far from home on one matter regarding her estates, and she did not return for quite a long time; during her absence, blessed Polycarp, extremely merciful to the poor, began to generously give to the poor, orphans and widows, he let go bread, wine, oil and all kinds of food to everyone who asked, so that the storehouses of his foster mother became scarce. When Callista was returning, one of the servants, coming out to meet her, began to complain about Polycarp that he had unreasonably squandered all his property, so that now, he slandered, there was complete poverty in the house. Callista was greatly saddened by this: having arrived home, she immediately went to the storerooms and found there a lot of all kinds of treasures. For blessed Polycarp, before the arrival of Callista, turned to the Lord with the following prayer: “Lord my God, You filled the vessels of the widow of Zarephath under Your prophet Elijah (3 Kings 17:10-16), hear me at this hour, and create that in “All the storehouses of this house are filled with the name of Christ.”
And the Lord immediately heard his prayer and filled the house of his benefactress with all sorts of blessings. Seeing that the house now had much more of everything necessary than before, Callista became angry with the servant, who complained about the poverty caused by Saint Polycarp: she thought that the servant was either mocking her or had slandered Polycarp out of hatred. Angry, she wanted to punish him. Saint Polycarp began to defend him, saying to his teacher: “I beg you, lady, do not punish another instead of me, but rather punish me, this servant is not worthy of punishment, but praise for his loyalty and devotion to you, he told you the whole truth: Indeed, all our wealth has become scarce and all our storerooms have been emptied, for I, seeing our brethren starving, the poor and wretched, gave them everything and depleted all supplies. They begged God, and He sent His angel, who replenished all your property. so that you, according to your custom, can give generous alms to the poor.”
Hearing and seeing all this, Callista was greatly surprised, and from then on she became even more zealous for good deeds in good faith, giving abundant alms, she fell in love with Saint Polycarp even more, as if she were her own son, marveling at his virtue, finally finishing her godly life, she gave her soul into the hands of the Lord, leaving her betrothed son, Saint Polycarp, as heir to all her estate. The blessed one distributed everything to the poor, and he himself began to diligently read divine books, diligently indulging in the thought of God and prayers, he spent his life in great abstinence and immaculate virginity, worked tirelessly day and night for the Lord, lovingly serving the sick, infirm and elderly. For such a life, the Bishop of Smyrna, Saint Vukol, fell in love with him; first the bishop made Polycarp a cleric, then a deacon, according to the testimony of Saint Pionius, who wrote the life of blessed Polycarp, St. Vukol also entrusted Polycarp, when he was a deacon, with the duty of preaching the word of God, for Saint Polycarp was distinguished by his prudence and eloquence, so that the holy ascetic was obliged to teach the people both in church and in other places. Not only Saint Vukol, but also the holy apostles, Paul and John the Theologian with other disciples of Christ loved Saint Polycarp; Saint Polycarp participated with the holy apostles in their travels, was their student, a companion of their works, an imitator of their life, the apostles again sent him to Smyrna to Saint Vukol, who ordained him as a presbyter. Saint Polycarp also wrote many words and epistles useful for the Church of Christ, but most of his writings were lost during the persecution, so that only a small portion of them remained. It was foretold to Saint Bishop Vukol that after his death, the episcopal throne in the Smyrna Church should be taken by the presbyter Polycarp, and not by anyone else, and therefore, dying, Saint Vukol, taking Polycarp’s right hand and placing it on his chest, entrusted him with shepherding his verbal flock and with the words “Glory to Thee, Lord,” he departed in peace into eternal life.
The apostolic bishops, who gathered for the burial of Saint Bucolus, dedicated Saint Polycarp, and many of them were rewarded with terrible visions. When the dedication to the bishop began, the divine light illuminated everyone who was in the church; some of the worthy saw a white dove, which, shining like lightning, flew around the head of Saint Polycarp; others saw the holy ascetic dressed like a warrior: he was girded with a military belt and armed as if to battle, others saw him in royal purple with a shining face; to one girl he seemed much taller than he really was, and his robe on his right shoulder was red. When Saint Polycarp knelt down to accept the dedication, he saw before him the feet of Christ the Lord himself, who was invisibly present at his dedication. So, ordained by Christ himself and the Holy Spirit, Polycarp ruled the Church of God, according to the decrees of the holy apostles, he endured many labors, saving human souls, he performed many wondrous miracles during his bishopric.
One day Saint Polycarp happened to be in one of the cities of the same Ionian region of Teos, which was located near the warm waters called Levedia, he stayed with the bishop of that city named Daphne, whom Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer mentions in his letter to the inhabitants of Smyrna. Saint Polycarp, seeing poverty and lack in the house of that bishop, prayed to God for him, so that the Lord would bless his house, and from that hour Bishop Daphne no longer experienced lack: his fields and vineyards, which had hitherto been barren, brought extraordinary harvests and became very fruitful, the wine, which was only in small quantities, was increased by the saint to abundance with his prayer. One day, returning to Smyrna, Polycarp, together with the deacon accompanying him, turned off the road and went into an inn that was on the way, it was already in the evening, and the tired travelers wanted to rest, having tasted a little food, Polycarp and his companion fell asleep, but their sleep did not last long , at midnight the angel of the Lord, pushing Polycarp in the side, said to him:
- Polycarp!
Then the saint asked:
- What, Lord?
“Get up,” the angel told him, “and leave the hotel immediately, for it will soon collapse: those who lived in that hotel did not believe in Christ God and committed many iniquities.”
Then the saint, getting up, began to wake up his deacon, commanding him to get up, but the deacon, who had previously been fast asleep, did not want to get up, he began to dissuade the saint:
“The first sleep has not yet passed, holy father, where will we go? In your constant meditation on the divine scriptures, you yourself do not sleep, and you do not allow others to sleep.”
Hearing these words, Saint Polycarp fell silent, but an angel appeared to him a second time and commanded him to go out, then again the saint began to urge the deacon, saying that this building should collapse, but the deacon answered:
“I believe in God, and I think that this building will not collapse as long as you, father, are in it.” Polycarp said:
“And I also believe in God, but I don’t rely on this stone building.”
Meanwhile, the angel appeared for the third time and repeated the same order, only then did the bishop persuade his companion to leave the hotel. As soon as they left, the building immediately collapsed to the very foundation and everyone in it perished to one, and Saint Polycarp, standing and looking at the sky, prayed like this: “Lord, Almighty God, Father of Jesus Christ, Your blessed Son, You foretold to the Ninevites through the prophet Jonah the destruction of their city, but you had mercy and spared them, truly I bless You, for through Your angel You brought us out of this building and delivered us from sudden death, just as You brought Lot out of Sodom, You constantly preserve the slaves Yours from all evil, You are good and merciful forever.”
After their arrival in Smyrna, with the prince of that city, who did not believe in Christ, one night an unclean spirit suddenly entered into one servant, the latter screamed loudly and made a great noise, so that the whole house was horrified, and all the inhabitants were attacked by fear and trembling. With the onset of day, the Jews came to the prince’s house in large numbers, wanting to cast out the demon, but a servant possessed by an unclean spirit rushed at them and, despite the fact that there were many of them, and he alone, still beat everyone severely, no one could defeat him, no one could escape his hand, so they left him barely alive and heavily bloodied: the demon possessed tore off all the clothes they were wearing and bit their bodies with his teeth. In that house there was one Christian, who said to the prince: “If you command, sir, I will call one person who will heal your slave without any difficulty.”
When the prince agreed to this proposal, the servant went to the holy Bishop Polycarp and invited him to the prince’s house. When the blessed one had not yet entered the prince’s house, the demon began to cry out: “Woe is me, Polycarp is coming here, I will be forced to flee from here against my will.”
As soon as the saint entered, the demon immediately came out with trepidation and fled from the prince’s servant, and the prince, seeing this, was greatly amazed. After that miracle, a fire broke out in Smyrna at night, since everyone was sleeping, the fire spread greatly and engulfed most of the city in flames, and, as always happens, there was a strong noise, screaming and screaming, everyone was gripped by horror, all the people began to put out the fire , but they could not do anything: the fire intensified more and more; The Jews also gathered and cast a spell on the fire, but all their attempts were in vain. Then the prince remembered Saint Polycarp and said to his superiors and advisers: “No one can stop the fire except the teacher of Christians Polycarp, who recently cast out the demon from my slave.”
Having sent for him, they invited him to their place and asked him to help the city, which had suffered such a misfortune. Raising his honest hands, the saint immediately began to pray before them, and the fire, as if flooded with strong water, went out and the fire stopped. Seeing such a miracle, people began to think that the saint was one of the gods, but Polycarp began to preach in front of everyone the one true God who exists in heaven, of whom he himself is only a slave, so that many believed and joined the holy Church of Christ. Another time, there was a lack of rain that lasted for a long time, a drought set in, followed by famine, then all the people with the prince and his advisers began to pray to the saint that he would take pity on them and ask his God for rain on the earth. When the saint prayed, a heavy torrential rain immediately fell, so that the earth was filled with moisture, and that year the harvest was much better than before. Through these and many other miracles of the saint, as well as through the healing of various sick people from ailments through the laying on of his hands, many turned to the Lord Jesus Christ; Day by day the Church of Christ increased, and the idolatrous faith decreased in Smyrna, where Saint Polycarp took upon himself the service of the word according to the apostolic command, as Saint Irenaeus testifies to this, that Polycarp was not only an apostolic disciple and a friend and interlocutor of many, who saw Christ with the eyes, but he was also sent by the apostles to Asia in order to occupy the episcopal throne there in Smyrna (after St. Bucolus), we saw him (adds St. Irenaeus) during our youth, when he was already a very advanced old man, and what he himself learned from the apostles , he taught this to others and conveyed to the Church only that which is true and not false; all the bishops who came after him in the Asian Church also testify to Saint Polycarp that he, indeed, was a constant and faithful champion of the truth, not like Valentine and Marcion and all the heresy leaders who introduced such harmful errors into the Church of Christ. This blessed Polycarp, having come to Rome, when Anicetus was pope there, turned many away from the heresy of the Marcionites and led them to the true Church and faith, clearly preaching the truth which he had received from the apostles. Among other things, he also told the following: the disciple of the Lord John, while he was in Ephesus, once came to the bathhouse, here he saw the heretic Herinth washing, the apostle immediately left the bathhouse and persuaded others who were with him to follow him, so that, he added, the bathhouse, where Herinth is washing herself - the enemy of God's truth, lest it suddenly collapse. One day the same Polycarp met with the heretic Marcion, the latter insolently said to him:
- Get to know us.
To this Polycarp replied:
“I know that you are the firstborn son of the devil, from the heretics and the apostles themselves and their disciples so carefully preserved themselves that they did not even want to talk with those who tried to overshadow the truth with their cunning vanity, and Saint Paul commands: “Heretics, after the first and the second admonition, turn away, knowing that such a one has become corrupt and sins, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11).
The letter of Polycarp to the Philippians has also been preserved, written in an extremely thoughtful manner, which cannot fail to be noticed by people who care about their salvation and approve of his faith and preaching.
This is Saint Irenaeus’ response to Polycarp. After Antoninus's twenty-two-year reign, his son Marcus Aurelius ascended the throne, sharing his power with his brother Lucius. At this time, a strong persecution of Christians was raised in Asia, and then Saint Polycarp sealed his confession with his blood. There is news about the suffering and death of this righteous man in the letter to the Church of Smyrna, where Saint Polycarp occupied the episcopal throne, and the content of this letter is as follows.
“Church of Smyrna to the church in Philomelia and to all other holy Catholic churches located among different nations - may the mercy, peace and love of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. We wrote to you, brothers, about Saint Polycarp, who extinguished the fire of persecution by shedding his blood, and about other martyrs. Many holy martyrs then showed invincible courage, others were beaten for such a long time that all their joints and veins were crushed and their insides were visible, others were dragged over stones and sharp tiles, and they endured all the cruelest torments that the tormentors could invent, endured with amazing calm, while others were given over to be devoured by wild beasts. And the wicked were deeply amazed and greatly amazed, seeing before them such courageous suffering of the saints. Among the other passion-bearers, with God's help, one young man named Germanicus showed outstanding courage with a fearless heart, without wavering in mind, he courageously went out to death, which by nature is so terrible for everyone. The judge admonished Germanicus for a long time so that he should spare his youth and not ruin this sweet life with such a bitter death, but as soon as he saw the animals released on him, he himself rushed at them, teasing them so that they would tear him to pieces. One man from Phrygia named Quintus, seeing the animals and the terrible torment, immediately became afraid and fell away from his salvation, whence it became clear that he had recklessly and not from a pure heart, but out of frivolity, as if driven by a sudden gust of wind, came to the judgment of the wicked and dared to submit himself to torture. He served as an example for everyone that such a great undertaking as surrendering oneself to torment should not be undertaken without caution. Polycarp, having heard about this torment, learned that the Greek people who did not believe in Christ, looking at the torment of other passion-bearers, clearly shouted to the judge: “Seek Polycarp, destroy these atheists.”
Hearing this, Polycarp, although he wanted to stay in the city until he was captured, but, yielding to the requests of Christians, he left the city and hid in one village, where all day and night, according to his custom, he prayed for church peace. Three days before he was captured by the wicked, he saw in a dream that its head broke out from a sudden fire and burned down. Rising from sleep, the saint said to those with him: “They will burn me in fire for the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Three days after this, those sent by the hegemon came to that village to look for Polycarp. They grabbed two youths and began to beat them with a vine so that they would tell them where Polycarp was, and they pointed him out in one room upstairs; although he could have escaped from there, he did not want to, saying: “Be the will of the Lord my God.”
Hearing the servants following him, he himself went up the stairs to meet them and greeted them in a friendly manner with a joyful face. The servants, who had not seen him before, looking at his gray hair and old age, at the meekness and calm joy of his handsome face, were surprised and said: “Was it necessary to work so hard and try so hard to find this old man?”
Polycarp immediately ordered a meal to be prepared for them and asked them to eat and drink, and to give him one hour for prayer. And he fervently prayed to God, sending thanks for everything that God had cared for him - for small and great, from the days of his youth and entrusting to God the holy church scattered throughout the world. After his long prayer, the messengers took the old man, put him on a donkey and led him to the city of Smyrna - it was the day of the Great Saturday. On the way, two honest senators Herod and Nikita met him and, putting him in their chariot, advised him that at the trial he should only renounce his faith with a word: “Is it so difficult to say: Lord Caesar, I will make a sacrifice? After all, in this way you will get rid of death.”
Polycarp was silent to their words, but when they insisted, he answered: “I will never do what you advise me.”
They got angry and began to reproach him and threw him off the chariot; in the fall, the old man injured his lower leg, but did not care about it. When he was brought to trial, the wicked people shouted, rejoicing that Polycarp had been taken, and they heard the voice of our Lord from heaven saying to him: “Take courage, Polycarp, and strive generously!”
Others of us heard this voice (says the message of Smyrna).
The judge asked him:
-Are you Polycarp?
“It’s me,” he answered.
“Spare your old age,” said the judge, “renounce Christ, swear by the royal fortune.” The judge, saying this and the like, said:
- Come to your senses, Polycarp, and say: destroy the godless.
Then Polycarp, raising his eyes to heaven and stretching out his hands against the wicked people, spoke to God.
- Destroy the godless! The judge said:
- Deny Christ, mock Him, and I will let you go free.
“For eighty-six years,” answered Polycarp, “I have served Christ, and He has not done me any harm, so how can I begin to revile my King, who preserves me to this day, with dishonorable words?”
The judge said:
- I will release fierce beasts on you.
“Release,” answered Polycarp, “but I will not change my best for the worst.”
“I will give you to be burned,” said the judge. He answered:
“You threaten me with a dying fire, but you know nothing about the unquenchable fire, where the godless and infidels will burn forever.” Do not hesitate any longer, but quickly do what you are planning to do to me.
Then the judge ordered the herald to announce to the people that Polycarp professed himself a Christian. Hearing this, the Greeks and Jews cried out loudly: “He is the seducer of all Asia, he is the father of Christians, he destroys our gods, burn him alive.”
And the people and the Jews insisted that Polycarp be burned. When they had prepared a lot of firewood and brushwood, Polycarp took off his belt and began to take off his clothes, also took off his boots, and the tormentors prepared iron tools and nails, intending to nail Polycarp with them so that he could not escape the fire. The saint said to them: “It is not appropriate to nail me, for whoever gives me patience in a fiery flame will also give me courage so that I do not move from my place or turn to any side.”
Then the tormentors did not nail him down, but only tied him up, and laid this gray-haired old man on the fire, like the best ram of the flock, bound as a sacrifice, to smell the aroma of God. Saint Polycarp prayed, saying: “I thank You, Lord God, that You have deigned to place me with Your martyrs and confessors, and I drink the cup of the sufferings of Your Christ and am a participant in His passion, so that in the resurrection of the eternal life I may be with Him. Accept me as a fat and pleasing sacrifice in Your sight, which You Yourself predestined and provided, and now the true God has fulfilled it, Whom I glorify and praise, You and Your Son, the eternal Hierarch Jesus Christ, with Him and with the Holy Spirit it becomes You all honor and glory and worship now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen.”
And when he said “Amen”, the servants immediately added fire, when the wood caught fire all around and the flames rose high, a miracle happened that amazed everyone: the flames surrounding the saint and towering above his head did not touch or approach the saint, but like ship blown by the wind the sails diverged from him, connecting above him in the heights. Saint Polycarp stood in the midst of the fire, like gold purified in a furnace, and the fire did not scorch his body; we smelled, as the Smyrians say in their epistle, such a fragrance emanating from the fire that without comparison surpassed all aromas. The wicked, seeing this, began to shout to the speculator so that he would approach the saint through the fire and kill him. Approaching, the speculator pierced the saint with a long weapon, and an extraordinary amount of blood flowed out of the wound, like a stream emerging from a source, it completely extinguished the fire, the whole multitude of people were amazed at this, realizing how great the difference was between believers and unbelievers. Polycarp was an outstanding man of our time, the bishop of the Smyrna Catholic Church, a teacher coming from the apostles, and a holy prophet: everything he said came true.
Then the Jews began to ask the judge not to give Polikarpov’s body to the Christians. “They will,” said the Jews, “consider him their god, just like the Crucified One.”
The wicked did not know that it was impossible for Christians to apostatize from Christ the Lord, who died on the cross for the salvation of the whole world, and consider anyone else to be god: We give divine honor to Him, as the true Son of God, and worthily honor the martyrs as disciples and the imitators of Christ, who suffered for Him out of love for Him, we embrace them with love and want to imitate them in piety, and in eternal glory we want to be their partakers. The centurion, by order of the judge, whom the Jews begged, betrayed the body of Polycarp to the flames, according to Hellenic custom. During the life of this ascetic, his body was not harmed by the fire, but after his death it succumbed to the fiery force. We (say the Smyrans) collected his bones from the ashes, purest gold and much more expensive than valuable stones, and kept them in an appropriate place, where we will celebrate the day of his suffering with joy, both in remembrance of such a feat for Christ who suffered, so and for the confirmation of those who have the same death to confess and glorify Christ, our true God. We sent this to you through Brother Mark, and when you read it, then send this message to the other scattered brethren, so that they too glorify the Lord, who showed us such a great chosen one among His slaves, who is able to fill us all with His grace and lead us into His eternal kingdom through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, to Him be glory, honor and worship forever and ever, Amen.
Kiss all the saints, and those who are with us kiss you, and Evarest, who wrote this letter, greets you along with his entire household. Polycarp ended his suffering on the seventh day of the Kalends of May, that is, on April 25, Holy Saturday, at the eighth hour of the day under the great bishop Philip, during the hegemony of Trallian, into the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. We wish good health to the brethren who walk in the gospel of the word of Jesus Christ, with whom glory be to God for the salvation of the chosen saints, as Saint Polycarp accomplished the Passion, so that we too may be his heirs in the kingdom of Christ. This epistle was rewritten by Guy, one of the disciples of Saint Irenaeus, a disciple of blessed Polycarp, and from this Socrates of Corinth was rewritten, and I, Presbyter Pionius, again received all this from the above-mentioned persons and compared it with the revelation that came to me from Saint Polycarp, who appeared to me in a vision. And he wrote, renewing everything that had been erased by the passage of time, so that our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His chosen ones, would receive me into His Heavenly Kingdom, to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen".
Note
In caring for the good of the Church of St. Polycarp, during the time of Pope Anicetus (157–168), undertook a journey to Rome to combat the false teachings of the Gnostics Valentinus and Marcion. Regarding the differences between the Asia Minor and Western churches in the understanding and celebration of Easter, the bishops of Smyrna and Rome did not agree to each deviate from their local custom, i.e. St. Polycarp recognized the correct celebration of Easter by Eastern Christians on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan and its dedication to the memory of the last supper of the Lord with the disciples and the sacrament of the Eucharist established at it, and Anicetas recognized, on the contrary, the correct understanding of Easter, established in the West, as the annual holiday of the Resurrection of Christ and celebrating it on the first Sunday after the spring full moon. But this difference of opinion did not violate the peace between the bishops, as a sign of which Anicetas allowed Saint Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in the Roman church.
From the many letters of St. Polycarp, written, according to St. Irenaeus, to churches or individuals, this is the only thing that has reached us. About the letter of Saint Polycarp to the Philippians by St. Irenaeus says “that from him those who desire and care about their salvation can learn the character of faith (Polycarp) and his preaching of the truth.” The father of church history, Eusebius (263–340), cites several passages from the epistle, noting that it is still addressed among Christians. Blessed Jerome reports that in his time the message of St. Polycarp to the Philippians was read in the churches of Asia Minor during divine services. The epistle was written shortly after the death of Ignatius the God-Bearer (107) and was prompted by the request of the Christians of the city of Philip to deliver to them Ignatius' messages to Polycarp and other Christians that he had. Fulfilling their request, St. Polycarp, in a special letter, teaches the Philippians a number of Christian instructions - he warns against heretics, indicates the duties of elders and deacons, young men and virgins, spouses and widows, urges them to avoid covetousness, practice prayer and fasting, instilling patience and love for enemies. In translation, this message can be read in the book of Archpriest Preobrazhensky, “The Writings of the Apostolic Men.” St. Petersburg. 1895
District message on the martyrdom of St. Polycarp from the church of which he was the leader and among which he suffered is one of the most ancient monuments of Christian antiquity. Eusebius included almost all of this message in his history (Book IV, Chapter 14). Translation in our four menaions of St. Demetrius of Rostov.
How does prayer to a saint help?
Prayers directed to him carry a certain message. Most often it consists of a request for:
- strengthening faith;
- making the right decision;
- healing of soul and body;
- overcoming all challenges.
They pray at the icon of the holy martyr like this:
“And a participant in morals,/ and a vicar of the throne, an apostle,/ you gained deeds, inspired by God,/ in a vision rising./ For this reason, correcting the word of truth,/ and for the sake of faith you suffered Even to the point of blood,/ Hieromartyr Polycarpe,/ pray to Christ God // our souls will be saved."
“By bringing the fruits of words to the Lord,/ Polycarp the wise, the virtues of sacrifice,/ also, the hierarch worthy of God has glorified you./ For this reason, today, enlightened by your words,/ we sing your praises “a praiseworthy memory, // glorifying the Lord.”
Works of Saint Polycarp
Since they carried out educational activities, it is not surprising that he tried to pass on all his knowledge to others. So that they remain not only in memory, but also on paper, he wrote letters. They set out the basic principles of Christianity and its point of view on all these aspects.
The best article for you, go to: Saint Cyril Equal to the Apostles
But only the work “Epistle to the Philippians” by Polycarp of Smyrna has survived to our time. In it, the bishop extols the Apostle Paul and quotes his writings. At the same time, he refutes all Gnostics. It also contains quotations from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Some scholars attribute to him the authorship of New Testament texts. Since they were similar to him in style.
Remember that requests to the holy martyr should be made with pure thoughts and an open heart. This is the only way you will be heard and Divine help will descend.
God bless you!
You will also be interested in watching a video story about the holy martyr Polycarp:
Veneration of martyrs in the ancient Church
When Saint Polycarp was executed, Christians wanted to take his body: “When the envious and crafty rival and adversary of the righteous saw the greatness of his (Polycarp’s) martyrdom and his impeccable life from the very beginning, and that he was crowned with the crown of incorruptibility and received an indisputable reward, he tried, so that his body would not be taken by us, although many wanted to do this and have a piece of his holy body” [6].
After this follows a very interesting and important description of further events: “And so he (the devil) inspired Nikita (a noble man who persuaded the saint to make sacrifices to the pagan gods) <...> to turn to the boss so that he would not give up his body, so that we, as he said, He, having left the Crucified One, did not begin to venerate him. This was said at the suggestion and insistence of the Jews, who saw that we were going to take him from the fire and did not understand that we could never leave Christ, who suffered for the salvation of all who are being saved in the world, blameless for sinners, nor honor anyone another. For we worship him as the Son of God; and we deservedly love the martyrs, as disciples and imitators of the Lord, for their invincible commitment to their King and Teacher. May he also grant us to be their associates and fellow students” [7]. These words become one of the first explanations of the difference between the “worship” of Christ as God and Savior and the “veneration” of the saints, which is a manifestation of “love” for those who set an example of true Christian life and death.
Hieromartyr Polycarp was not the only one who suffered during that persecution, but it is he who is singled out by Christians, because he “was not only a famous teacher, but also a fair martyr, whose martyrdom, which took place according to the Gospel, everyone wants to imitate” [8].
The body of Saint Polycarp was burned, but still the Christians “then took his bones, which were more precious than precious stones and nobler than gold, and laid them where they should have been; There, if possible, the Lord will give us, who have gathered in joy and joy, to celebrate the birth of his martyr, in memory of those who labored for the faith before us and for instruction and preparation for future ascetics” [9]. These words contain another interesting and important evidence that the day of the death of the martyr (from the above quotation it follows that the Christians of Smyrna were preparing to celebrate the first anniversary of the death of St. Polycarp) began to be considered the “birthday” of the saint for eternal life. This idea was first expressed by a friend of Saint Polycarp, the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer. In a letter to the Christians of Rome, he asks them: “Do not prevent me from living, do not wish me to die. I want to be God's; don’t give me away to the world” [10].
Saint Ignatius was taken by ship to Rome, where he was to appear before the court of the emperor. The saint was worried that Roman Christians might try to prevent his martyrdom. From the quoted words it is clear that for Saint Ignatius, death for Christ will become real life (that’s why he writes, “do not prevent me from living”).
