Posted on 02/24/2003 7:24:14 PM PST by Lady In Blue
Thou didst cure our afflictions,cleanse our sins and,according to Thy compassion,Thou didst raise those who were dead.
But the hater of mankind,in his shameless impudence, attacks her in the person of her servers.
O Lord, do not leave Thy holy Church without Thy care, that the promise that Thou didst utter concerning her invincibility may not be shown false.
Taken from A SPIRITUAL PSALTER by Saint Ephraim
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BTTT on Optional Memorial of St. Polycarp -- 02-23-05!
February 23, 2005
St. Polycarp
(d. 156)
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), disciple of St. John the Apostle and friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century. St. Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, and later at Troas wrote him a personal letter. The Asia Minor Churches recognized Polycarps leadership by choosing him as a representative to discuss with Pope Anicetus the date of the Easter celebration in Romequite a controversy in the early Church. Only one of the many letters written by Polycarp has been preserved, the one he wrote to the Church of Philippi, Macedonia. At 86, Polycarp was led into the crowded Smyrna stadium to be burned alive. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger. The centurion ordered the saints body burned. The Acts of Polycarps martyrdom are the earliest preserved, fully reliable account of a Christian martyrs death. He died in 156. Quote:
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BUMP
Thank you so much. An amazing story in that the fire did not harm St, Polycarp when they tried to kill him.
Reading | From a letter on the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp by the Church of Smyrna |
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A rich and pleasing sacrifice | |
When the pyre was ready, Polycarp took off all his clothes and loosened his under-garment. He made an effort also to remove his shoes, though he had been unaccustomed to this, for the faithful always vied with each other in their haste to touch his body. Even before his martyrdom he had received every mark of honour in tribute to his holiness of life.
There and then he was surrounded by the material for the pyre. When they tried to fasten him also with nails, he said: Leave me as I am. The one who gives me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to stay quite still on the pyre, even without the precaution of your nails. So they did not fix him to the pyre with nails but only fastened him instead. Bound as he was, with hands behind his back, he stood like a mighty ram, chosen out for sacrifice from a great flock, a worthy victim made ready to be offered to God. Looking up to heaven, he said: Lord, almighty God, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have come to the knowledge of yourself, God of angels, of powers, of all creation, of all the race of saints who live in your sight, I bless you for judging me worthy of this day, this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ, your anointed one, and so rise again to eternal life in soul and body, immortal through the power of the Holy Spirit. May I be received among the martyrs in your presence today as a rich and pleasing sacrifice. God of truth, stranger to falsehood, you have prepared this and revealed it to me and now you have fulfilled your promise. I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him be glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen. When he had said Amen and finished the prayer, the officials at the pyre lit it. But, when a great flame burst out, those of us privileged to see it witnessed a strange and wonderful thing. Indeed, we have been spared in order to tell the story to others. Like a ships sail swelling in the wind, the flame became as it were a dome encircling the martyrs body. Surrounded by the fire, his body was like bread that is baked, or gold and silver white-hot in a furnace, not like flesh that has been burnt. So sweet a fragrance came to us that it was like that of burning incense or some other costly and sweet-smelling gum. |
BTTT on the Memorial of St. Polycarp, February 23, 2006!
BTTT on the Optional Memorial of St. Polycarp, February 23, 2007!
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