Bucolus of Smyrna

Saint Bucolus (Boukolos) was bishop of Smyrna, before Saint Polycarp, at the beginning of the second century, who died around 100 to 105. He is commemorated on 6 February (19 February by the Gregorian calendar for the Serbian Church) and is venerated in the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The sources differ about his life.

According to an anonymous Life of the Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, attributed to Pseudo-⁠Pionius (fourth century), Bucolus was made bishop of Smyrna by the Apostle Paul. According to the Life of Saint Bucolus in the Menologion of Basil II (end of the tenth century) and the Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople (tenth century), he was a disciple of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist the Theologian, who made him bishop of the Church of Smyrna. Bucolus then ordained the holy hieromartyr Polycarp at Smyrna. According to Eusebius' Church History, Polycarp was appointed by the apostles. The Greek source says that Bucolus was, by tradition, either the first bishop of Smyrna or one of the first.

At Smyrna there were few baptized then. In the darkness of idol worship Bucolus shone like a clear light. He was distinguished by all virtues, especially by gentleness and meekness. Before his death he appointed the glorious Polycarp as his successor in the episcopate and passed peacefully to the Lord. Some church writers think that he is the angel of the Church in Smyrna of whom Saint John writes in Revelation: Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer; behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried. Be thou faithful unto death.

The Menologion of Basil II and the Synaxarion of Constantinople relate that after his death a myrtle tree grew on his grave which brought healing from diseases. His troparion, in the fourth tone, calls him a rule of faith and an image of meekness, a teacher of self-⁠restraint.

At Smyrna a church of Saint Bucolus, called Ai-⁠Vukla by the people of Smyrna, was built in 1866, with a glass dome. It escaped the fire of the Catastrophe of 1922, being surrounded by a dense ring of houses. It was used as a warehouse, then as a concert hall, as an archaeological museum and a store for antiquities. In 2011 it was restored and paintings were revealed inside.