LUX VERITAS

Library of Sacred Texts

Apocrypha · Chapter 16 of 22

Martyrdom of Polycarp 16

Acts of the Martyrs

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So at length the lawless men, seeing that his body could not be consumed by the fire, ordered an executioner to go up to him and stab him with a dagger. And when he had done this, there came forth [a dove and] a quantity of blood, so that it extinguished the fire; and all the multitude marvelled that there should be so great a difference between the unbelievers and the elect.

2In the number of these was this man, the glorious martyr Polycarp, who was found an apostolic and prophetic teacher in our own time, a bishop of the holy Church which is in Smyrna. For every word which he uttered from his mouth was accomplished and will be accomplished.

Words in this chapter

What these words meant in the original — and where else they appear.

About Martyrdom of Polycarp

The eyewitness account of the death of the bishop of Smyrna in the stadium, with the answer that endured: eighty-six years I have served Christ, how can I blaspheme him now? English text: The Apostolic Fathers, Martyrdom of Polycarp (1891), J. B. Lightfoot, 1891 (public domain). Portuguese and Spanish: Lux Veritas translations from this edition.

Source: The Apostolic Fathers, Martyrdom of Polycarp (1891), J. B. Lightfoot (1891) · public domain