Saint Polycarp of Smyrna: Apostolic Fidelity, Martyrdom, and the Cost of Truth
MASS Sacerdótes Dei
LESSON 1 John 3:10-16
GOSPEL St Matthew 10:26-32
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Beloved in Christ, welcome to this broadcast Mass on this, as we said, the Feast of the great bishop and martyr, Saint Polycarp of Smyrna.
Saint Polycarp was a contemporary of the last Apostle, John, under whom he was discipled, together with Saint Ignatius of Antioch.¹ Indeed, we have a surviving letter addressed to Polycarp by Ignatius,² and we know, of course, that they met on Ignatius’ great journey towards the centre of the Empire for his own martyrdom, in about 110 AD.³
We know that Saint Polycarp was in his eighty-sixth or eighty-seventh year at the time of his martyrdom, in about 155 AD, meaning that, of course, he would have lived long enough and been old enough to have been a pupil of Saint John, who himself died roughly around 107 AD.⁴ So the wonderful thing about Polycarp and Ignatius is that they were made apostles by those who were apostles indeed.
Polycarp visited Rome and met with disciples who had known Jesus, who had met and spoken with the Lord. And if Polycarp was a father to the Smyrnaeans, then Ignatius was like a grandfather to them, for he also sent an epistle to the Church at Smyrna.⁵ Polycarp too wrote epistles, and famously, of course, we know Saint Clement’s epistle from Rome,⁶ and Polycarp wrote to the Philippians.⁷
The point I am making here is that these second-generation bishops—we commemorated Saint Timothy of Ephesus just a couple of days ago, who of course knew Saint Paul—the point I am making is that these bishops of the early Church knew the Apostles. They knew the Apostles well. They learned from the Apostles. And whom did the Apostles learn from but none other than our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Meaning that the teachings these second-generation apostolic men give us may be regarded as bona fide, as sacred, as wholly reliable and trustworthy. Meaning, of course, that when Saint Ignatius talks about bishops, priests, and deacons at the turn of the second century, that was an apostolically established pattern for ministry.⁸ When Saint Justin Martyr, writing in about 165 AD, describes the formula of the Mass as practically unchanged these two thousand years, we know that this must have been established by the Apostles themselves.⁹
Not only that, but beliefs concerning apostolic succession and its significance, beliefs concerning the confection of the sacraments, particularly of transubstantiation regarding the changing of the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Christ—and we too, of course, have other more objective, independent witnesses writing about the Christians at this early period as well. We have a Roman governor writing to Rome asking, “What do I do about these Christians who, from what we can tell, seem to be cannibals, because they claim to eat their Saviour, His flesh and blood, once every week?” and so on and so forth.¹⁰
My point being that this continuity of our faith and of its practice is reliable and can be relied upon.
What has always been, perhaps, an issue has been the propensity by many to place overemphasis on certain aspects of the faith, which then distort the faith. That is why throughout the Church’s history there have been various times of what we might call reformation, where it has been necessary for councils, popes, or movements to correct and restore balance when heresies, dubious teachings, over-practices, and religiosity have crept in.
But even in the time of Ignatius and Polycarp, there were already heresies beginning, such as the Docetists, who believed in the absolute divinity of Christ but thought that His Incarnation was some kind of mirage, thereby denying the full humanity of Christ and the real mystery of the Incarnation—how God can be both fully God and fully man.¹¹ That teaching itself would later have to be reiterated by councils and popes, because of later heresies such as Arianism, Manichaeism, and Gnosticism.
Even Polycarp, when visiting Rome, met Marcion. Marcion was a heretic, and when he was introduced to Polycarp, Marcion apparently said, “Do you know who I am?” And Polycarp answered, “Yes, I know how to recognise the first-born of Satan.”¹²
That is the other thing you notice from the writings and the acts of these early apostolic men: they bore no truck with rubbish. They did not suffer fools gladly. They certainly had no time for heretics. And yet they were continually, in their epistles and in their teachings, appealing to unity—unity amongst the brethren, unity within the Church—but also steadfastness and fidelity to that apostolic faith that they themselves had received from the Apostles and were in turn handing on.
All of this should give us great encouragement and confidence in our Catholic faith. We know that our traditions, our teachings, and our practice descend from those who descended from the Apostles themselves.
Now Polycarp, of course, was Bishop of Smyrna, and eventually it too underwent persecutions. Christians were being forced to worship idols and ultimately the Emperor. As we have said before, you must recall that for ancient Rome, anyone who did not hold to the same faith as the Emperor was considered suspicious. When pressed, if that person refused to manifest the piety that expressed religious unity with the Emperor and the Empire, they were considered traitors—treasonous to the Empire.¹³
And so it was that Christians during these times of persecution and trial were regarded as traitors to society. Treason is not something we tend to hear much about today, but in ancient societies and civilisations it was a very serious matter.
Eventually Polycarp’s own time came. Naturally, he refused. He was threatened by the governor with all sorts of torture, to which Polycarp replied that this would be as nothing compared to the eternal torment that awaits unbelievers in hell. He was then ordered to be burned at the stake. He was taken to the amphitheatre and tied to a pole, and a great pile of wood was placed about him.
But every time they tried to light it, it would not take. Eventually, they had to draw a sword. Even when the fire was lit, the flames did not seem to touch him. The ancient account says that his body appeared to shine with a golden light and was not consumed. Then the sword was used to finish him off, and such a gush of the martyr’s blood came forth that it extinguished the fire, astonishing the crowd—many of whom converted to the faith.¹⁴
If you have the opportunity today, look up the Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp. It is one of the earliest martyrdom accounts we possess, second only to the description of Saint Stephen’s martyrdom recorded by Saint Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.¹⁵
The obvious question posed to us—posed by the martyrs and posed by today’s readings—is this: are we prepared to die for Christ?
We are enduring a time of persecution, both within and without the Church. In some parts of the world this persecution is overt; in the West it is more insidious, because it comes not only from secular society, but even from Christians who have adopted secular values.
Which is why, after the fashion of Saint Polycarp and Saint Ignatius, we must be resolute and steadfast in the apostolic faith. We must bear witness to that faith, both within the Church and beyond it. We have a double charge: to call back those who have wandered into error, and to bring Christ to those who have not yet known Him.
We must do so with charity—but not with false charity. There is no such thing as dual integrity. Truth cannot be divided or accommodated. It must be spoken clearly, even when it divides. Our Lord Himself warned us not to fear those who can kill the body, but to fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.¹⁶
Let us therefore pray for the reconversion and revival of Christianity in our generation. Let us ask for courage, prudence, and wisdom, that we may speak the truth with love and live it with fidelity.
Holy Polycarp, pray for us.
Holy Ignatius, pray for us.
All holy martyrs, pray for us.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
¹ Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiastica III–IV.
² Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to Polycarp.
³ Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica III.36.
⁴ Martyrdom of Polycarp 9.3; Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica IV.15.
⁵ Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans.
⁶ Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians (c. AD 96).
⁷ Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians.
⁸ Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 8; Epistle to the Magnesians 6.
⁹ Justin Martyr, First Apology 65–67.
¹⁰ Pliny the Younger, Epistulae X.96.
¹¹ Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus Haereses I.24; III.11.
¹² Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III.3.4.
¹³ Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica IV.15.
¹⁴ Martyrdom of Polycarp 15–16.
¹⁵ Acts of the Apostles 7:54–60.
¹⁶ Matthew 10:26–28.
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