Martyrdom of Polycarp 18.3

Anonymous · Martyrdom of Polycarp · ca. 156–160 · Smyrna · Read in context

Summary: The church planned to gather yearly on the anniversary of Polycarp's martyrdom.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:336

ἔνθα ὡς δυνατὸν ἡμῖν συναγομένοις ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ χαρᾷ παρέξει ὁ κύριος ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου αὐτοῦ ἡμέραν γενέθλιον, εἴς τε τὴν τῶν προηθληκότων μνήμην καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἄσκησίν τε καὶ ἑτοιμασίαν.

English · Claude translation

There, as far as possible, when we gather in gladness and joy, the Lord will grant us to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already contended and for the training and preparation of those who are yet to do so.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:336 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 312–345 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Also in: PG 5:1044b (found by text match)
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 25, 1913); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics: Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

“Birthday” (ἡμέραν γενέθλιον): the day of death as birth into heavenly life. This is the earliest known reference to an annual commemoration of a martyr.

Cite this passage

Mart. Pol. 18.3 (PG 5:1044b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/18/3/).

Plain text

Mart. Pol. 18.3 (PG 5:1044b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/18/3/).

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