St. Polycarp

Why is St. Polycarp our Patron Saint?

St. Polycarp dedicated his entire life to bringing people closer to Christ, therein saving their souls.  The name Polycarp actually means “fruitful” or “bearing much fruit” and, like our patron saint, SOS hopes to be fruitful in bringing souls to Christ.

St. Polycarp's Legacy:

St. Polycarp is remembered for his faithfulness to the teachings of the Apostles, his willingness to die for his faith, and his role in preserving the apostolic tradition.

St. Polycarp, please intercede for SOS; help us follow in your footsteps and “bear much fruit” in our mission of the Salvation of Souls. 

St. Polycarp's History:

St. Polycarp was a personal disciple of the Apostle John (and is therefore considered an Apostolic Father of the Church). Imagine how lucky he was, to learn about Jesus from one of the original twelve Apostles, and Jesus’ beloved Apostle, at that!  It was the Apostle John who ordained Polycarp as the bishop of the church in Smyrna in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), a post that Polycarp held until his martyrdom in 155AD.

Polycarp was bold in preaching the faith to a hostile people.  He wrote to many regarding the one true God, including an epistle to the church in Philippi, which is one of the few writings of St. Polycarp that has been preserved to this day.  Polycarp's teachings were passed on to his disciple, Irenaeus, who later became the Bishop of Lyons. Many came to believe in Jesus because of Polycarp’s preaching.

In the second century, persecution against the early Christians significantly increased. In 155AD, the crowds began to call for the death of the Christians' leader, Polycarp, so Roman authorities sent out a search party to bring him in. On a peaceful afternoon, while Polycarp was resting, the authorities came fully armed as if they were arresting a dangerous criminal. Aware that these men were coming, Polycarp's friends wanted to sneak him out, but he refused, saying, "God's will be done."  Polycarp welcomed his captors as if they were friends, talked with them, and ordered that food and drink be served to everyone present.  He asked them to give him an hour to pray alone, and they agreed.  Polycarp stood and prayed out loud. He was so filled with the grace of God that, for two hours, he could not be silent. Those who listened were astounded, and many of the Roman soldiers were sorry that they had come to arrest such a venerable old man.

St. Polycarp's Martyrdom:

We learned about what happened to Polycarp from the manuscript, “The Martyrdom of Polycarp” which is the earliest account of Christian martyrdom outside of the New Testament. The eyewitnesses reported that, when the Proconsul demanded that Polycarp deny Jesus, St. Polycarp replied, “eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” With that, the Proconsul ordered that Polycarp be burned at the stake but to everyone’s amazement the flames of the roaring fire arched around his body and never touched him!  Witnesses recalled smelling a fragrant aroma, like the scent of incense or other costly spices.  Seeing that his body could not be consumed by the fire, an executioner stabbed Polycarp to death. When he did this, Polycarp’s blood extinguished the fire.

To learn more about St. Polycarp, check out these additional resources below:

• Podcast

• Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians: