Editing Polycarp (section)

==Veneration and Commemoration==
The ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, accounts of the veneration of the relics of a saint and the annual commemoration of a saint on the date of his or her death:

<blockquote>And so we afterwards took up his bones which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place; where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the birth-day of his martyrdom for the commemoration of those that have already fought in the contest, and for the training and preparation of those that shall do so hereafter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Medieval Sourcebook: The Martyrdom of Polycarp trans. J.B. Lightfoot |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/martyrdom-polycarp-lightfoot.asp |website=Fordham University|access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref></blockquote>

Relics of Polycarp are under the main altar of the church of [[Sant'Ambrogio della Massima]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Polycarp, bishop and martyr – February 23rd |url=http://www.saintsinrome.com/2013/08/st-polycarp.html |website=Saint In Rome & Beyond |access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Heilige und Namenspatrone im Jahreslauf|last1=Schaubler|first1=Vera|last2=Schindler|first2=Hanns Michael|publisher=Pattloch Verlag|year=1998|isbn=3629008305|location=Augsburg|pages=77}}</ref> The right arm of St. Polycarp had been kept at the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos-Saint Polycarp, in Ampelakiotissa near Nafpaktos, Greece, for over 500 years. It was stolen on 14 March 2013 and never recovered; however, a fragment, taken from the arm on a previous occasion, was discovered and returned to the monastery on 14 July 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sanidopoulos |first1=John |title=A Relic of Saint Polycarp Returns to Nafpaktos (Update on the 2013 Theft) |url=https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2019/09/a-relic-of-saint-polycarp-returns-to.html |website=Orthodox Christianity Then And Now |access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref>

In the [[Roman Catholic]], [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Greek Catholic]] Churches, the feast day of Saint Polycarp is 23 February. In the [[Roman Catholic liturgical calendar]], the feast day has the liturgical rank of obligatory memorial, but if the memorial is within the season of Lent that year, it is reduced in rank to a commemoration. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, his feast day is on 29 Amshir (8 March in the [[Gregorian calendar]]). Polycarp is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Lesser Festival (Anglicanism)|Lesser Festival]] on 23 February.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=27 March 2021|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref> He is also honored in the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]] on 23 February.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lutheran Service Book |publisher=Concordia Publishing House |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7586-1217-5 |pages=xiii |language=}}</ref>