These savage men, perhaps interested in witnessing the result of such an experiment, consented.
Polycarp then, raising his eyes to heaven, breathed aloud the following prayer:—
“Lord God all-powerful, Father of Jesus Christ, thy blessed and well-beloved Son, through whom we have received grace to know thee, I thank thee that thou hast led me to this day and to this hour, in which I am to take part in the number of thy martyrs. May I this day be admitted into thy presence with them as an acceptable sacrifice, in accordance with that thou hast prepared, predicted, and fulfilled!
“Therefore I praise thee for all these things. I bless thee, I glorify thee, through the eternal and celestial High Priest, Jesus Christ, thy dear Son; to whom be rendered glory, with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and through all future ages. Amen.”
The church in Smyrna wrote an account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, which is still extant, and which they sent to their brethren throughout the world. The day of miracles had not yet passed. The church testifies to the following miraculous event which was witnessed at his death:—
“When Polycarp had finished his prayer, and pronounced ‘Amen’ aloud, the officers lighted the fire: and, a great flame bursting out, we, to whom it was given to see, saw a wonder; who also were reserved to relate to others that which had happened. For the flame, forming the appearance of an arch as the sail of a vessel filled with wind, was a wall round about the body of the martyr; and it was in the midst, not as burning flesh, but as gold and silver refined in a furnace. We received also in our nostrils such a fragrance, as of frankincense or some other precious perfume! At length, the impious judges, observing that his body could not be consumed by fire, ordered the executioner to approach, and plunge his sword into his body. Upon this a quantity of blood gushed out, so that the fire was extinguished, and all the multitude were astonished.”
The dead body was then placed upon the funeral-pile, and burned. The friends of the martyr were then permitted to collect the charred bones, and give them Christian burial.
The Roman empire was beginning to be assailed with such ferocity by the surrounding barbarians, that Marcus Aurelius found it necessary to enlist Christians in the army. He formed a brigade of six thousand of these persecuted disciples of Jesus, and incorporated them with one of the Roman legions. God endowed these soldiers with such bravery, and enabled them to win such victories, as called forth the admiration both of the emperor and the army.
After a decisive battle, in which God seemed miraculously to have interposed in behalf of the Christian legion, Aurelius issued a decree, declaring that the Christians should no longer be persecuted, but should be entitled to all the rights and privileges belonging to other subjects of Rome.