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Monday, April 20

Polycarp of Smyrna

Bishop and Martyr · Patristic Era

Polycarp of Smyrna stood at the living hinge between the Apostles and the Church they left behind — a bishop who had sat at John the Evangelist's feet and who died at eighty-six refusing to blaspheme the Christ he had served all his life. When the Roman governor offered him freedom at the cost of a single renunciation, Polycarp replied: 'Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?'

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Polycarp of Smyrna

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February 23

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