February 23 - Prayer to St. Polycarp

O disciple of John and shepherd who drank deeply of the cup of Christ's suffering, you who bore both the burden of a long life and the pain of a violent death yet remained faithful till the end – pray that the fire into which we are cast we may also endure as the sacrifice of Jesus and so find it fruitful, and so find it blessed… and so rejoice in the witness we are granted to give in the name of our Savior. May the offering of our lives join with your own and all the saints' in rising as holy incense to the throne of God and serve as witness, to the eyes that behold us, of the Lord's great power and love.