After setting up the woodpile, Polycarp dressed alone, unbuckled his belt, and desired to remove his shoes by himself. Because followers clamoured to touch his body, he had never done this before. Before he was killed as a martyr for his beliefs, his noble existence always inspired awe.
They surrounded it with the woodpile’s prepared materials. He pleaded with them to leave him alone as they prepared to hang him: “I’ll be able to stand up straight on the pile of wood without nails thanks to whatever provides me the ability to survive fire.” They then just tied him up instead of nailing him. He so resembled a distinguished bull being selected from a large herd for sacrifice and given to God’s approval with his hands clasped behind his back. He raised his eyes to the sky and prayed, “Lord, the Father of your Son Jesus Christ, whom you love and bless, who taught us your name, God Almighty, God of angels, God of heavenly powers, God of all creation, and God of all righteous generation that dwells in your presence, I thank you, for in the assembly of martyrs, You have made me worthy of this day and this hour, that I may share in the suffering of Christ, that my soul and body may awaken I want you to stand before you today with them as a rich sacrifice that will please you, True and Only God, as you have planned ahead, as you have done beforehand.
And in everything, I give you thanks and I give you my praise in the person of your Holy Son, the supreme and Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ. I give you, Him, and the Holy Spirit my eternal gratitude.
The firemen lit the woodpile after he said the Amen and completed his prayer by raising it to the sky.
We were chosen to explain these happenings to others and were permitted to view them, thus we saw a miracle as a large flame rose. The flames assumed the form of a dome, like a sail in the wind, and formed a trench around the martyr’s corpse. The saint was in the center, not like a corpse on fire but more like bread baking or gold or silver flashing in a crucible. And it smelled to us like it was coming from pricey pelargoniums like frankincense.
