St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery;' but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. 'It was also said, 'Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,' but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery. 'Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,' but I tell you, don't swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one. 'You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'* But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you. 'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor,* and hate your enemy.*' But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.

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	St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

St. Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna and one of the Apostolic Fathers. He was a student of the Apostle John the Theologian and was personally acquainted with 'others who had seen the Lord'. St. Polycarp served as a link between the Apostolic age and Orthodoxy of the latter part of the second century.

St. Polycarp was a new kind of Christian for his time. He was not a Jew and was not familiar with Old Testament Scriptures; instead he immersed himself in the Apostolic tradition. This is evident by his writings that weaved together phrases from a wide range of Apostolic writings.

Here is a quote from his letter to the Philippians, dated ca. 135 AD, that seems appropriate for the Easter period, "Everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an Antichrist; whoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil; and whoever perverts the sayings of the Lord for his own desires, and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgement, such a one is the first-born of Satan. Let us therefore, leave the foolishness and the false-teaching of the crowd, and turn back to the word which was delivered to us in the beginningÉ Let us, then, continue unceasingly in our hope and in the Pledge of our justification, that is, in Christ Jesus, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree, who did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth; yet, for our sakes, that we might live in Him, He endured everything".

On the day of his death and once he finished his prayers in which he remembered everyone he met, St. Polycarp was seated on a donkey and led into the city (presumably Rome), where he was asked to slander Christ. St. Polycarp replied "Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He has never done me wrong. How, then, should I be able to blaspheme my King who has saved me?" This indicates that, even if he was baptised as a child, he must have been born around 69 AD.

St. Polycarp was then beaten to death and his body, being confiscated by a centurion, was burnt. His bones were later collected and hidden by Christians. It is traditionally accepted that he was martyred on Saturday 7 March 155 AD.

Source: http://www.orthodoxchristian.info

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