St Polycarp

Polycarp stands so near the apostolic age that the whole life feels close to first beginnings. He is remembered as a disciple of St John, later bishop of Smyrna, and then the old teacher whose memory lived on in men like St Irenaeus. He appears not only as martyr but as pastor and defender of the faith, resisting heresy and helping hold the churches of Asia Minor in apostolic teaching. The most famous part of the life is the martyrdom account, and it is one of the earliest and strongest the Church possesses: Polycarp refusing to flee further, receiving the officers sent to arrest him with courtesy, standing calm before the proconsul, and uttering the unforgettable words that he had served Christ for eighty-six years and could not blaspheme his King.

Because the ancient sources are so good here, the life has unusual plain force. Polycarp does not need legend to be moving. He already is one of the deep roots of Christian memory, a bishop whose old age, doctrine, and martyrdom all seem to belong within reach of the apostles themselves.