St. Polycarp

Patron Saint of Earaches and Dysentery

St. Polycarp was a follower of St. John the Evangelist. He had the opportunity to learn about the life of Jesus from those who had walked with the Lord during his time on earth. St. Polycarp was in the second generation of Church leaders, and he had to navigate a lot of questions and heresies in the absence of the apostles. When making challenging decisions for the early Church, he tried to imitate the grace and charity of Jesus. Polycarp became Bishop of Smyrna. His preaching influenced St. Irenaeus, many of whose works survive today. For Polycarp’s work developing theology in the early Church, he is considered one of the Apostolic Fathers, a group of theologians in the early Church who directly knew the Apostles.