Polycarp of Smyrna
Feast · martyr
- 23 February (Roman Catholic Church)
- 23 February (Eastern Orthodox Church)
Kept on 23 February East and West alike. The Martyrdom of Polycarp, written by his own church soon after, is the earliest account of a Christian martyrdom outside the New Testament — and it is where the custom of keeping the day of death begins.
After The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (ANF vol. 1).
Commemorating
- Polycarp commemorates
- Martyrdom of Polycarp attested-by
Where this is recorded
- Roman Catholic Church — the day, after Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar
- Eastern Orthodox Church — the day, after The Typikon, ch. 48, the Menaion — 23 February, «Ст҃а́гѡ сщ҃енномч҃нка полѷка́рпа, є҆пⷭ҇кпа смѵ́рнскагѡ», p. 484
Glosses
- Why a saint's day is the day they died A feast is normally the dies natalis — the day of death, understood as the day of birth into heaven. The custom begins with the martyrs and is visible in the Martyrdom of Polycarp, whose church resolved to gather at…