Martyrdom of Polycarp 14.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:330–332

εὐλογῶ σε, ὅτι ἠξίωσάς με τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ὥρας ταύτης, τοῦ λαβεῖν με μέρος ἐν ἀριθμῷ τῶν μαρτύρων ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου εἰς ἀνάστασιν ζωῆς αἰωνίου ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ πνεύματος ἁγίου· ἐν οἷς προσδεχθείην ἐνώπιόν σου σήμερον ἐν θυσίᾳ πίονι καὶ προσδεκτῇ, καθὼς προητοίμασας καὶ προεφανέρωσας καὶ ἐπλήρωσας, ὁ ἀψευδὴς καὶ ἀληθινὸς θεός.

English · Claude translation

I bless you because you have counted me worthy of this day and hour, to receive a share among the number of the martyrs in the cup of your Christ, for resurrection to eternal life of both soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. Among them may I be received before you today as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, just as you prepared beforehand, revealed beforehand, and have fulfilled, you the God who does not lie and is true.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:330–332 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 312–345 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Also in

PG 5:1040b–1040c (found by text match)

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 25, 1913); made independently of existing English translations.

Scripture

Mark 10:38 · allusion, medium confidence
Matt 20:22 · echo, low confidence
John 5:29 · allusion, medium confidence
Titus 1:2 · echo, low confidence

Topics

Prayer, Martyrdom, Eschatology

Notes

Translation notes

“The cup of your Christ”: the cup of suffering (Mark 10:38–39).
“Rich” (πίονι): literally “fat,” that is, choice, as in sacrificial language.
The prayer's form (blessing, remembrance, doxology) resembles early Eucharistic prayers, which has led some to think its wording was shaped by liturgical use.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Lake's printed text (wrong accent)): ἐν οἶς → ἐν οἷς.

Cite this passage

Mart. Pol. 14.2 (PG 5:1040b–1040c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/14/2/).

Plain text

Mart. Pol. 14.2 (PG 5:1040b–1040c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/14/2/).