The Martyrdom of Polycarp

Blessed then and noble are all the martyrdoms[*](The sufferings of the Martyrs) which took place according to the will of God, for we must be very careful to assign the power over all to God.

For who would not admire their nobility and patience and love of their Master? For some were torn by scourging until the mechanism of their flesh was seen even to the lower veins and arteries, and they endured so that even the bystanders pitied them and mourned. And some even reached such a pitch of nobility that none of them groaned or wailed, showing to all of us that at that hour of their torture the noble martyrs of Christ were absent from the flesh, or rather that the Lord was standing by and talking with them.