Feb. 23 is the feast day of St. Polycarp (69-155). He was Bishop of Smyrna (Turkey), fought heresy in the early Church, was friend to St. Ignatius of Antioch and martyred for his faith. His surviving ...

I am never more humbled by the courageous witness of the martyrs than when I reflect on their lives during my day-to-day struggles. Just as I am tempted to silently praise my own small mortifications, ...

"Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong," said Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, in A.D. 156 before climbing onto a pyre where Roman authorities would burn him to death.

Approximately 1,982 years ago, a man died. In fact, many men died that day. We know for sure of three men. Two were tied to crosses and crucified. One was nailed to the cross. Had that been the end of ...