Polycarp of Smyrna

Life events

1. Born — 69

   Polycarp was born around AD 69, the year derived from his reported statement at his martyrdom that he had served Christ for eighty-six years.

2. Consecrated

   Jerome reports that John the Apostle ordained Polycarp as bishop of Smyrna; Irenaeus adds that he was consecrated a presbyter and communicated with many who had seen Jesus.

3. Wrote

   Polycarp wrote the Epistle to the Philippians, the sole surviving work attributed to him, which is densely woven with references to the Septuagint and forms part of the Apostolic Fathers corpus.

4. Pilgrimage

   Polycarp traveled to Rome to meet Anicetus, then Bishop of Rome, to discuss liturgical differences between the churches of Anatolia and Rome, including the date of Easter. Though they reached no agreement on the Quartodeciman question, each adhered to his own custom without breaking communion, and Anicetus allowed Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his church.

5. Martyred — 155

   Polycarp was arrested in Smyrna, brought before the proconsul Lucius Statius Quadratus, and executed on 23 February c. 155–156. He was bound and burned at the stake; when the fire failed to consume his body, he was stabbed with a spear. His final words before the pyre included: 'Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong.'

6. Translated

   After his death, the Smyrnaean community gathered his bones — described in the Martyrdom of Polycarp as 'more valuable than precious stones' — and laid them in a suitable place to commemorate his martyrdom annually, constituting one of the earliest documented instances of Christian relic veneration and saint's feast commemoration.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Irenaeus, who heard Polycarp preach as a young man, records that Polycarp was a companion of Papias and a correspondent of Ignatius of Antioch, and had conversed with John and others who had personally seen Jesus. (likely)
• Polycarp was a Quartodeciman, celebrating Easter on 14 Nisan following the Eastern practice; in Rome he maintained this custom alongside Anicetus, who observed the first Sunday after the spring equinox full moon, yet both bishops preserved full communion. (likely)
• The Martyrdom of Polycarp is considered the earliest or one of the earliest accounts of Christian relic veneration and the annual liturgical commemoration of a saint on the date of his death. (likely)
• Irenaeus records that during Polycarp's visit to Rome, his arguments converted many disciples of Marcion and Valentinus; Polycarp himself reportedly called Marcion 'the firstborn of Satan.' (likely)
• The right arm of Polycarp, preserved for over 500 years at the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos near Nafpaktos, Greece, was stolen on 14 March 2013; a fragment taken earlier was returned to the monastery on 14 July 2019. (certain)