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Epistula Ecclesiae Smyrnensis de martyrio s. Polycarpi (Loeb)

15.

1. Ἀναπέμψαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀμὴν καὶ πληρώσαντος τὴν εὐσήν, οἱ τοῦ πυρὸς ἄνθρωποι ἐξῆψαν τὸ πῦρ. μεγάλης δὲ ἐκλαμψάσης φλογός, θαῦμα εἴδομεν, οἷς ἰδεῖν ἐδόθη· οἳ καὶ ἐτηρήθημεν εἰς τὸ ἀναγγεῖλαι τοῖς λοιποῖς τὰ γενόμενα. 2. τὸ γὰρ πῦρ καμάρας εἶδος ποιῆσαν ὥσπερ ὀθόη πλοίου ὑπό πνεύματος πληρουμένη, κύκλῳ περιετείχισεν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ μάρτυρος· καὶ ἦν μέσον οὐχ ὡς σὰρξ καιομένη, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἄρτος ὀτώμενος ἢ ὡς χρυσὸς καὶ ἄργυρος ἐν καμίνῳ πυρούμενος. καὶ γὰρ εὐωδίας τοσαύτης ἀντελαβόμεθα, ὡς λιβανωτοῦ πνέοντος ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν τιμίων ἀρωμάτων.

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The Encyclical Epistle of the Church at Smyrna Concerning the Martyrdom of the Holy Polycarp

Chapter XV.--Polycarp is not injured by the fire.

When he had pronounced this amen, and so finished his prayer, those who were appointed for the purpose kindled the fire. And as the flame blazed forth in great fury, ¹ we, to whom it was given to witness it, beheld a great miracle, and have been preserved that we might report to others what then took place. For the fire, shaping itself into the form of an arch, like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, encompassed as by a circle the body of the martyr. And he appeared within not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace. Moreover, we perceived such a sweet odour [coming from the pile], as if frankincense or some such precious spices had been smoking ² there.