Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Polycarp, The Patron Saint of earaches.

In the early half of the second century, Polycarp, a famous Christian leader, was the bishop of Smyrna, a student of Saint John the Apostle, and a companion of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

Saint Ignatius sent Polycarp a letter from Troas after witnessing him being brought from Smyrna to Rome to be executed. To discuss the time of the Easter celebration in Rome, a sensitive matter in the early Church, the Asia Minor Churches selected Polycarp to confer with Pope Anicetus. This decision demonstrated how much the Asia Minor Churches valued Polycarp’s leadership.

One letter only—the one Polycarp wrote to the Church of Philippi in Macedonia—among the many that he wrote has survived.

At age 86, Polycarp was brought into the crowded Smyrna stadium and set afire. A blade ultimately murdered him after the flames failed to hurt him. The centurion gave the order to burn the saint’s body. The oldest complete, authentic narrative of a Christian martyr’s death is found in the “Acts” of Polycarp’s martyrdom. He passed away in 155.

Source: franciscanmedia.org