February: Day 23: Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp of Smyrna

 

February: Day 23:
Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp of Smyrna
 
(How Were the Sufferings of the Holy Martyrs for Christ Alleviated?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, whose memory is celebrated today, was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, who also ordained him Bishop of Smyrna. When the persecution of Christians began, the pagans demanded the death of Polycarp. The proconsul tried to save Polycarp’s life, but the crowd cried out: “Burn Polycarp alive!” The proconsul gave in. The people immediately began to collect firewood and brushwood from the surrounding baths and shops, and in an instant the fire was ready. The Jews worked harder than anyone. Polycarp himself took off his outer clothing. They wanted to chain him to the fire with iron chains, but he said: “This is not necessary, He who gave me the will to suffer for Him will also give me the strength to remain motionless on the fire.” They fulfilled the wish of the holy elder, and he himself went up to the fire; but then a miracle occurred that amazed everyone: the flames surrounded the holy elder, converging above him like a vault, and his body remained unharmed. Then the leaders ordered him to be pierced with a long spear, and so much blood flowed from the wound that the fire went out. All this aroused the amazement of the pagans. The Jews, noticing that the Christians wanted to take the body of Polycarp, asked the proconsul to burn the body. The proconsul's consent was given. But the Christians collected the bones and kept them as a sacred relic; and on the day of his martyrdom they gathered and solemnly celebrated the memory of the Martyr, giving us an example of honoring the life and death of the holy saints of God.

II. Reading about the amazing feats of courage and patience of the Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp and other holy martyrs, one cannot help but ask the question: how were the sufferings of the holy martyrs for Christ alleviated? Where did they find the spiritual strength to perform such wondrous feats? In the light of Church History and the works of the Holy Fathers, we can point out the following spiritual means by which the sufferings of the holy martyrs were alleviated.

a) Reflection on the sufferings of Christ the Savior. The Apostle Paul, calling believers to the upcoming fight for salvation, says: "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:1-2). This very gaze upon the Sufferer was always inherent in the pure souls of the holy martyrs, and sweetened the bitterness of their sufferings. If soldiers during battle fearlessly expose their lives to danger, inspired by the example of their leaders, who despise the dangers to which they themselves are exposed, then could the soldiers of Christ fear torment and death, having before their eyes the Leader of salvation Christ the Savior, who suffered for all, and left an example for all to follow in His footsteps in bearing the cross?

b) Hope for future reward. The holy martyrs looked upon their great feat and all the sufferings that lay before them as something small and insignificant, and were confident that eternal blessedness awaited them - that after short-term earthly sufferings they would pass into that bright world where they would no longer hunger or thirst, and the sun and no heat would scorch them (Rev. 7:16). If a sailor good-naturedly endures all the difficulties and dangers of a sea voyage because of the hope of reaching his homeland, where his family and many treasures await him, then those God-chosen men and women could endure all suffering with incomparably greater good-nature and patience, for whom beyond the boundaries of this world that wonderful, well-adorned city already shone, where his lamp is the Lamb, and where "there will be no more night" (Rev. 21:23-25 ).

c) Ardent love for Christ. This love, as the highest spiritual power, invisibly sweetened the bitterness of their suffering and torment. In the phenomena of ordinary life as well we see the power of love. Here is a tender mother carrying her baby in her arms in the intense midday heat and walking along an uneven, hard path. Ask her: does the thought occur to her to throw away her precious burden, and is all this not burdensome and difficult for her? We can say with confidence that she seems not to notice all this because of her love for her baby: the weight of the burden, the intense heat, the uneven, hard path - everything is absorbed by love! If natural love is so strong and effective, then what can we say about divine love? The martyrs, filled with love for Christ, not only were not afraid of suffering, but even wished to accept it with joy. The power of this love is thus depicted by the Apostle Paul: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword" (Rom. 8:35)?

d) The special action of divine grace. The very determination to suffer for Christ was the fruit of trust in grace-filled help. “I trust,” said the Holy Martyr Agatha, “in Christ my God, for He will look down from on high on my exploit with a multitude of His holy angels and will help me, the more feeble” (February 5). All Christian martyrs had a similar feeling of trust in God’s grace-filled help. They never relied on their own strength and gifts with self-delusion. In the spirit of deep humility they began their great exploit. Each of them mentally spoke with the Apostle: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13).

Divine grace sometimes so consoled the holy martyrs during their sufferings that they rejoiced in spirit, and this joy was reflected in their very gaze. Thus it is said of the Holy Martyr Theophilos (March 5), who was formerly a pagan philosopher, that “the Saint rejoiced in his torments, for he did not feel the pain and his face was bright.” Obviously, this joy and this brightness of face could not have been in the martyr without the grace of Christ, for it is unnatural for a person, as a weak person, to rejoice and show a brightness of face during suffering. The Holy Martyr Theodouli also testified to the same thing about herself (January 18). Hanging on a cypress tree and scorched by the fire, she said to the torturer: "Know, O commander, that I do not feel torment, and I am more tormented and conquered in vain." And thus the words of the Apostle were fulfilled: "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that we may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13).

e) The miraculous appearance of Jesus Christ. Sometimes the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared in visible form to those suffering for their faith in Him and by His appearance consoled them so that they accepted their execution without the slightest shame, with unperturbed peace of mind. Thus, in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, it is narrated about the Holy Protomartyr Archdeacon Stephen that at a time when his enemies were torn in their hearts and gnashing their teeth at him, he looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (7:54-55), and, embraced by the joy of the divine vision, he, being stoned, peacefully passed into the eternally blessed world, while kneeling in prayer (Acts 7).

III. May the reminder of these spiritual means, with the help of which the sufferings of the holy martyrs for Christ were alleviated, revive us, the faint-hearted, with the hope that the Lord will not leave us in time of temptation without His all-powerful help, that we too can draw strength for patience and courage in the struggle against evil from the same sources from which the holy martyrs drew them. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.