polycarp, saint (c. 69-c. 156), bishop of Smyrna who was martyred (feast day: 29 Amshir). This entry consists of two articles: Life of Polycarp and Letters of Polycarp Life of Polycarp.
Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) and defender of orthodox belief. According to Saint Irenaeus (c. 130-200), he was closely associated with Saint John, one of the twelve disciples, by whom he was consecrated bishop. He is therefore a vital link between the apostolic age and the generation of great Christian writers who flourished toward the end of the second century.
When Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was on his way to Rome, where he was martyred by order of Emperor Trajan, he visited Polycarp in Smyrna and, in chains, greeted and encouraged this staunch pillar of the true faith. Also, on reaching Troas, Ignatius dispatched letters to Polycarp, which the latter preserved and, with his own additions, made into an important document on orthodoxy. He was also held in great esteem outside his own diocese, and other churches valued his teachings at a time of acute theological controversies that troubled the Christian church. At the age of eighty he traveled to Rome to participate in settling the dispute between Eastern and Western churches on the question of the date of Easter. Though no visible agreement could be reached on this topic, Bishop Anicetus of Rome requested that he celebrate the Orthodox Eucharist in his church as a mark of honor and esteem.
On his return to Smyrna, Polycarp was arrested by Roman authorities during a pagan festival. On trial he refused to recant his Christian faith, and consequently he was burned to death, while the gleeful mob shouted: "Let him be burned, he is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the destroyer of our gods." His martyrdom took place on Holy Saturday, the eve of Easter, probably in the year 156 or shortly afterward. He died happily, confessing Jesus Christ.
Polycarp is regarded as the "angel of the Church in Smyrna," and a special reference to Smyrna's martyrs is made in the book of Revelation: "I know thy works and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer . . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev. 2:9-10).