apostolicfathers0201clem - Carmel Apologetics

7o8 EPISTLE OF S. POLYCARP.
the text of the Sniyrna^an Letter before him, and finding there either
MapTLwv or Maiwv, should alter it into 'AirpiXLoiv. For (a) Neither vii
Kal. Mart, nor vii Kal. Mai. would fall within the possible limits of
Easter; whereas both the Paschal interests of the chronicler himself and
the parallelisms to the Lord's Passion in the document before him would
suggest the Easter time as the date of the martyrdom. (/3)
He would
naturally interpret the 'great sabbath' according to the technical sense
which it bore in his own day, as the Saturday before Easter Day; and
this necessitated an alteration of the month, (y) In the age and country
in which he lived, the only calendar retaining the Macedonian names of
the months, with which he was acquainted, would be the Syromacedonian
;
and in this, as we have seen (p. 704), the months were pushed
forward, so that Xanthicus was no longer the sixth, as in the Asiatic
calendar, but the seventh. The (8) arbitrary character of his alterations
is shown in the fact that he has altogether erased the words /at/vos 'Bo.vOl-
Kov SevTcpa lo-rafxevov, perhaps because he could not make this date fit in
with the calendar with which he was acquainted, perhaps because the
mode of expression would be unfamiliar to his readers.
(v) January 26.
This is the day assigned to Polycarp in the Latin calendars,
so far
back as we can trace them. We may suspect indeed that in Gaul, so
long as Groeco-Asiatic influences prevailed, the original day, February
23, was retained but our ; knowledge here is a blank.
How January 26 came to be observed in the Latin Church will be
seen from a comparison of the notices in the two old Roman Martyrologies
(see above, p. 570) with corresponding notices in the ancient
Syriac Martyrology (see above, p. 560) which is much older than either.
(i)
Ancient Syriac Martyrology.
'
Latter Kanun 27 [Jan. 27] In the city of Nicsea, Polycarpus.'
Shebat 23 [Febr. 23] 'In Asia, of the number of the ancient confessors, Polycaq3
the bishop, etc'
(ii) Hierojiyviian Martyrology.
vii Kal. Febr. [Jan. 26] In Nicaea Smyrnae, passio sancti Polycarpi episcopi.
vii Kal. Mart. [Febr. 23] In Asia Polycarpi episcopi cum aliis duodecim martyribus.
Smyrnae, S. Erotis, Carpori, etc.
(iii)
Old Roman Martyrology.
vii Kal. Febr. [Jan. 26] S. Polycarpi, discipuli S. Joannis apostoli, apud Smyrnam
passi.
vii Kal. Mart. [Fel)r. 23] Romae, Polycarpi presbyleri.