Daybreak

Monday of the First Week of Lent Commemoration of St. Polycarp, 69-155; a letter addressed to him by St. Ignatius tells him to care for the Church and his own surviving epistle shows he encouraged the Philippians on the path of righteousness; St. Iraneus praises his defense of orthodoxy and his energy in combating heresy; during a visit to Rome, St. Polycarp spoke to the bishop, Anicetus, who agreed to let the Eastern churches calculate the date of Easter in their own way; Polycarp was arrested and martyred during a pagan festival in Smyrna, when he refused to deny Christ Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/23/26 Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46