Polycarp

Saint Polycarp of Smyrna
Mosaic of Saint Polycarp inside the monastery of Hosios Loukas.
Church Father Bishop of Smyrna and Hieromartyr
Born	AD 69
Died	AD 155 (aged 85-86) Smyrna, Roman Empire
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church Oriental Orthodox Church Church of the East Lutheranism Anglicanism
Major shrine	Sant'Ambrogio della Massima, Rome
Feast	23 February (formerly 26 January)
Attributes	Wearing the pallium, holding a book representing his Epistle to the Philippians
Patronage	Earache sufferers[citation needed]
Influences	Clement of Rome,[1] John the Apostle
Influenced	Irenaeus
Major works	Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

Polycarp (/ˈpɒlikɑːrp/; Greek: Πολύκαρπος, Polýkarpos; Latin: Polycarpus; AD 69 – 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna.^[2] According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body.^[3] Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.

Both Irenaeus^[4] and Tertullian^[5] say that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus's disciples. In On Illustrious Men, Jerome similarly writes that Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle, who had ordained him as a bishop of Smyrna.^[6] Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.