Such were the events concerning blessed Polycarp. Though he was the twelfth to suffer martyrdom in Smyrna, counting those from Philadelphia, he alone is remembered more than all the others, so that even the Gentiles speak of him everywhere. He was not only a distinguished teacher but also an outstanding martyr, whose martyrdom everyone desires to imitate because it occurred in accordance with the gospel of Christ.
By his endurance he defeated the unjust ruler and in this way received the crown of incorruption. Rejoicing with the apostles and all the righteous, he glorifies God, the Almighty Father, and blesses our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls, the Governor of our bodies, and the Shepherd of the catholic Church throughout the inhabited world.