Polycarp of Smyrna (69–155)

Disciple of St. John the Apostle; his Letter to the Philippians and Martyrdom are treasures of the early Church. Polycarp was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. 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. Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.