My LORD’s BibleMartyrdom of Polycarp 2
1All the martyrdoms, then, were blessed and noble which took place according to the will of God. For it becomes us who profess greater piety than others, to ascribe the authority over all things to God. And truly, who can fail to admire their nobleness of mind, and their patience, with that love towards their Lord which they displayed?—who, when they were so torn with scourges, that the frame of their bodies, even to the very inward veins and arteries, was laid open, still patiently endured, while even those that stood by pitied and bewailed them. But they reached such a pitch of magnanimity, that not one of them let a sigh or a groan escape them; thus proving to us all that those holy martyrs of Christ, at the very time when they suffered such torments, were absent from the body, or rather, that the Lord then stood by them, and communed with them. And, looking to the grace of Christ, they despised all the torments of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by [the suffering of] a single hour. For this reason the fire of their savage executioners appeared cool to them. For they kept before their view escape from that fire which is eternal and never shall be quenched, and looked forward with the eyes of their heart to those good things which are laid up for such as endure; things “which ear hath not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man,” but were revealed by the Lord to them, inasmuch as they were no longer men, but had already become angels. And, in like manner, those who were condemned to the wild beasts endured dreadful tortures, being stretched out upon beds full of spikes, and subjected to various other kinds of torments, in order that, if it were possible, the tyrant might, by their lingering tortures, lead them to a denial [of Christ].
Μακάρια μὲν οὖν καὶ γενναῖα τὰ μαρτύρια πάντα [τὰ] κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγονότα᾽ δεῖ γὰρ εὐλαβεστέ- ρους ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχοντας τῷ Θεῷ τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἐξουσίαν ἀνατιθέναι. τὸ γὰρ γενναῖον αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπομονητικὸν καὶ φιλοδέσποτον τίς οὐκ ἄν θαυμάσειεν ; of μάστιξι μὲν κατα- ξανθέντες, ὥστε μέχρε τῶν ἔσω φλεβῶν καὶ ἀρτηριῶν τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς οἰκονομίαν θεωρεῖσθαι, ὑπέμειναν, ὡς καὶ τοὺς περιεστῶτας ἐλεεῖν καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι τοὺς δὲ καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον 190 THE LETTER OF THE SMYRNAZANS [εἰ γενναιότητος ἐλθεῖν ὥστε μήτε γρύξαι μήτε στενάξαι τινὰ αὐτῶν, ἐπιδεικνυμένους ἅπασιν ἡμῖν ὅτι ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ βασα- νιζόμενοι τῆς σαρκὸς ἀπεδήμουν οἱ μάρτυρες τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅτε παρεστὼς ὃ Κύριος ὠμίλει αὐτοῖς. καὶ προσέχοντες τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριτι τῶν κοσμικῶν κατεφρό- vouy βασάνων, διὰ μιᾶς ὥρας τὴν αἰώνιον κόλασιν ἐξαγορα- ζόμενοι. καὶ τὸ wip ἦν αὐτοῖς ψυχρὸν τὸ τῶν ἀπανθρώπων βασανιστῶν᾽ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν γὰρ εἶχον φυγεῖν τὸ αἰώνιον καὶ μηδέποτε σβεννύμενον, καὶ τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀνέβλεπον τὰ τηρούμενα τοῖς ὑπομείνασιν ἀγαθά, ἃ οὔτε OYC ἤκογοεν οὔτε ὀφθδλμὸς εἶδεν, οὔτε ἐπὶ KapAian ἀνθρώπου ἀνέβη, ἐκείνοις δὲ ὑπεδείκνυτο ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, οἴπερ μηκέτι ἄνθρωποι ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη ἄγγελοι ἦσαν. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ of εἰς τὰ θηρία κριθέντες ὑπέμειναν δεινὰς κολάσεις, κήρυκας μὲν ὑποστρωννύμενοι καὶ ἄλλαις ποικίλων βασάνων ἰδέαις κολα- φιζόμενοι, ἵνα, εἰ δυνηθείη, διὰ τῆς ἐπιμόνου κολάσεως εἰς ἄρνησιν αὐτοὺς τρέψῃ" πολλὰ γὰρ ἐμηχανᾶτο κατ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ διάβολος.