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Exhortation to Martyrdom

Origen, tr. O’Meara, 1954

5. Part 5: The Necessity, Essence, and Kinds of Martyrdom

The Chalice of Salvation

From this episode we can learn also what martyrdom is and the special confidence¹ before God which is conferred by it. The saint has a special sense of honour and wishes to give a recompense for the benefits conferred on him by God; and so he looks around to see if he can do anything for the Lord in return for all that he has received. He finds that for a man of good intentions there is nothing to counterbalance, as it were, these benefits of God—except a martyr’s death. In Psalm 115 there is written this rhetorical question: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered to me? And then follows the reply to him who asks what he can render to the Lord for all he has received: I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.² The “chalice of salvation” is the usual term used for martyrdom, as we see from the Gospel. There the Lord answers them that wish for a higher honour in sitting on the right and on the left of Jesus in His kingdom, saying: Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?³ He calls martyrdom a chalice, as is evident again from the words: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.⁴ And again we learn that he who drinks the chalice that Jesus drank will sit, reign, and judge beside the King of Kings.⁵ Such, then, is the chalice of salvation: he who takes it will call upon the name of the Lord, and whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.⁶

Let This Chalice Pass from Me

But perhaps because of the words: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me,⁷ someone who does not understand the meaning of Scripture thoroughly, may think that the Saviour was in a way even afraid at the time of His passion. And if Jesus was afraid, a man may argue, how can a man remain steadfast forever?

Let us first ask those who make such an assumption regarding the Saviour whether He was inferior to him who said: The Lord is my light and my saviour: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? Whilst the wicked draw near against me to eat my flesh, they that trouble me and my enemies have themselves been weakened and have fallen. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.⁸ Most likely these words spoken by the prophet apply to no one else but the Saviour, who because of the light and salvation which have come to Him from the Father fears nobody and who because of the powerful protection given Him by God is afraid of no man. The heart of the Saviour never feared in any way when the whole camp of Satan was drawn up against Him. His heart, filled with holy knowledge, was confident in God when war rose up against Him. It is therefore impossible that the same man should say in fear: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me;⁹ and with fortitude: If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear.¹⁰

In order that we may not overlook anything in this text, I would direct your attention to the demonstrative used with the word “chalice” in each of the three Gospels. Matthew wrote that the Lord said: Father, if it be possible, let “this” chalice pass from me;¹¹ Luke: Father, if Thou wilt, remove “this” chalice from me;¹² and Mark: Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee: remove “this” chalice from me.¹³ Now since every martyrdom that results in death, whatever be the cause of the death involved, is called a chalice, note whether it can be asserted that He did not ask for exemption from martyrdom as such when He said, Let “this” chalice pass from me—otherwise He would have said: “Let the chalice pass from me”; but that probably He meant this kind of chalice. One should remember the possibility that the Saviour considered the different kinds, so to speak, of chalice and what is achieved through each one of them; understood in His most profound wisdom their differences; asked to be excused from martyrdom with this particular issue; asked in silence, on the other hand, for a form of martyrdom much severer, so that through this other chalice might be wrought a benefit more universal, one reaching to a greater number of men. But such was not the will of the Father, which, as compared with the will of the Son and with the judgment of the Saviour, orders and disposes all things with superior wisdom.¹⁴

Clearly the chalice of salvation mentioned in the Psalms is the death of martyrs. And that is why the sentence, I will take the chalice of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord,¹⁵ is followed by, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.¹⁶ Death, then, comes precious for us, if we are saints of God, and if we are not unworthy to die—not the ordinary, so to speak, and fruitless death in religion, but that very special death, death for the sake of Christianity, piety, and holiness.

The Baptism of Blood

Let us remember also the sins that we have committed, and that except by baptism it is not possible to obtain remission of sins.¹⁷ But according to the laws of the Gospel one cannot be baptized twice in water and the spirit for the remission of sins.¹⁸ We are given, however, the baptism of martyrdom.¹⁹ Obviously it bears this name from the fact that to the text: Can you drink of the chalice that I drink?²⁰ there is subjoined, or be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?²¹ Elsewhere it is said: And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized. And how am I straitened until it be accomplished?²² Note also that the baptism of martyrdom, as received by our Saviour, atones for the world; so, too, when we receive it, it serves to atone for many. Just as they who assisted at the altar according to the law of Moses seemed to procure for the Jews remission for sins by the blood of goats and oxen,²³ so the souls of believers that are beheaded for the testimony of Jesus,²⁴ do not assist in vain at the altar of heaven,²⁵ but procure for them that pray the remission of sins. And likewise we learn that as the High Priest Jesus Christ offered Himself in sacrifice, so the priests, whose leader He is, also offer themselves in sacrifice;²⁶ for this reason one sees them at the altar as their proper place. But while some of the priests were without blemish and offered victims without blemish and so performed the divine service, others had blemishes such as are listed by Moses in Leviticus,²⁷ and were kept away from the altar. Who then is the priest without blemish who can offer a victim²⁸ without blemish, if not he who bears witness to the last and fulfills every requirement of the concept of martyrdom? We have already spoken of him above.²⁹

We must not be surprised if this blessed state of the martyrs which will consist in profound peace and tranquillity and calm, has to be preceded by weather that seems menacing and, so to speak, wintry. It is in traversing the difficult and narrow course³⁰ in the winter’s storm that all the blessed must first show how they have mastered their pilotage. Then will be realized the words of the Canticle of Canticles addressed to the bride who has come through the winter’s blasts: My beloved answereth, it is said, and speaks to me: Arise, come, my neighbour, my beautiful one, my dove. For, look, winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.³¹ And remember that you will hear the words, the winter is now past, only if you will struggle bravely and valiantly through the present winter’s storm. It is only when the winter is past and the rain is over and gone that the flowers appear: Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God.³²

The Choice: Martyrdom or Idolatry

Again, we know that, since we have been persuaded by Jesus to abandon idols and polytheism which is really atheism, the Enemy cannot persuade us to accept idolatry; but he tries to force it upon us. And so with this in view he sets upon those who come within his power and makes either martyrs or idolaters of them who are brought to trial. Even now he keeps on repeating: All this will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me.³³ Let us take care, therefore, never to adore idols or obey demons: for the idols of the Gentiles are demons.³⁴ How monstrous is it to give up the sweet yoke of Christ and His light burden³⁵ to submit oneself once more to the yoke of demons and to carry the burden of the gravest sins! And that, too, after we had learned that the heart, of them that adore idols is ashes, and that their life is more base than clay;³⁶ and after we had said: How deceitful are the idols which our fathers acquired; and there is none among them that can send rain!³⁷

It was not only Nabuchodonosor of long ago who set up a statue of gold, nor were Ananias, Azarias and Misael of his day the only persons whom he then threatened to cast into the furnace of burning fire³⁸ if they did not adore it. No, now too, Nabuchodonosor speaks the same words to us—the true Hebrews, the Hebrews of the world to come.³⁹ But we, that we may experience the heavenly dew that will quench all the fire about us and refresh the higher part of our souls, shall imitate those holy youths. Aman may want you, as he did Mardochai, to bend the knee to him.⁴⁰ But you must say: I will not place the glory of men above the glory of the God of Israel. Let us destroy Bel by the word of God, and with Daniel let us slay the dragon,⁴¹ that as we are brought before the jaws of the lions, we may suffer nothing from them, while they alone who have stirred up the present combat against us, will be consumed by the very lions that could not devour us. Let us take to heart that in the recital of the great deeds of Job it is also written: If I placed my hand upon my mouth and kissed it: let this also be counted against me as a very great iniquity.⁴² It is likely indeed that we shall be commanded to place our hand upon our mouth and kiss it.

And this too let us note that the Saviour foretells martyrdom not in His discourses delivered to the multitude, but in those reserved for the Apostles. Thus, following the words, These twelve Jesus sent, commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles etc., there is added: Beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you shall be brought before governors and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak; ⟨for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak.⟩ For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death and the father the son, and the children shall rise up against their parents and shall put them to death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake. But he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another; and if they drive you out of that, flee into still another. Amen I say unto you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel till the Son of man come.⁴³

And Luke writes similarly: And when they shall bring you into the synagogues and to magistrates and powers, be not solicitous how you shall answer or what you shall say. For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what you must say.⁴⁴ And further on: Lay it up therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before how you shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay. And you shall be betrayed by your parents and brethren and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake. But a hair of your head shall not perish. In your endurance you shall possess your souls.⁴⁵ Mark, too, has something similar: When they shall lead you and deliver you up, be not thoughtful nor rehearse beforehand ⟨what you shall speak⟩; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye. For it is not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit. And the brother shall betray his brother unto death, and the father his son; and children shall rise up against the parents and shall work their death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake. But he that shall endure to the end, he shall be saved.⁴⁶

Again, the following words referring to martyrdom in Matthew are addressed exclusively to the Twelve. We, too, must heed them, and in heeding them we shall be brothers to the Apostles that heard them, and shall be counted among the Apostles. The words are as follows: Fear ye not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him that can destroy ⟨both⟩ soul and body in hell.⁴⁷ In what follows the Lord teaches us that no one comes to the combat of martyrdom without Divine Providence. The text is: Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father who is in heaven. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: better are you than many sparrows. Everyone therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.⁴⁸ The same is conveyed in Luke: This I say to you, my friends: Be not afraid of them who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you shall fear. Fear ye Him who, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows. And I say to you: Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But he that shall deny me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.⁴⁹ And elsewhere: For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when He shall come in His majesty and that of His Father and of the holy angels.⁵⁰ And Mark writes in a similar vein, as follows: For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.⁵¹

They that kill us, therefore, kill only the life of the body, as is clearly signified by the words, fear ye not them that kill the body—expressed in the same terms by Matthew and Luke.⁵² When they have slain the body, they cannot, even if they wished it, slay the soul: they have no more that they can do.⁵³ For how can the soul be slain when it has been given life by the very fact of martyrdom? The soul it is to which He who in Isaias encourages us to martyrdom, in His turn bears witness with His Son where it is written in Isaias: Be ye witnesses to me and I also shall be a witness to you and my Son whom I have chosen, saith the Lord God.⁵⁴

Notice also that it is not to slaves but to His friends that Jesus gives the following precept: Be not afraid of them who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.⁵⁵ Accordingly one has to fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.⁵⁶ For He only, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell.⁵⁷ He casts into hell them that fear the slayers of the body, but do not fear Him that can destroy both the soul and body in hell;⁵⁸ who, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell.⁵⁹ And if in the case of another the very hairs of his head are numbered,⁶⁰ and that certainly in the case of those who are beheaded for the sake of Jesus, then let us confess the Son of God before men and the gods that are not gods. He who will have had witness borne to Him, will in return bear witness to us before God and His Father; and He Himself will bear witness in heaven to him who has borne witness to Him on earth.

Apostates Will Be Denied by the Son

Is there any man that will not quote, when he reflects upon all this, the words of the Apostle: The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.⁶¹ Is not the bearing of testimony before the Father a far greater thing than bearing testimony before men? And in comparison with the testimony borne on earth by the martyrs to the Son of God, is not the testimony borne to them in heaven by Him of transcending significance? If a man thinks of denying before men, let him remember Him who said without any lie, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven!⁶²

In view of what Matthew says, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven,⁶³ and Luke, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God,⁶⁴ I suggest that the first-born of every creature, the image of the invisible God,⁶⁵ will bear testimony before the Father who is in heaven to him who bore testimony to Him; and that He who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,⁶⁶ and who is therefore the Son of man;⁶⁷ who is born of woman, herself of the race of man, and is therefore again the Son of man, a term we apply to the humanity of Jesus—He will bear testimony before the angels of God to them that have borne testimony to Him. And, corresponding to this, witness is to be given regarding those who deny Him.

We should also remember that he who bears witness to the Son before men recommends so far as he can Christianity and the Father of this Christianity to those in whose presence he bears witness. And he to whom witness is borne by the first-born of every creature⁶⁸ and by the Son of man, is recommended by the testimony of the Son of God and the Son of man to the Father who is in heaven, and the angels of God. And if it is not he who commendeth himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth,⁶⁹ must we not believe that he is indeed approved who is judged worthy of recommendation before the Father who is in heaven, and before the angels of God? If he is approved—he and others like him—whom the Lord has tried as gold in the furnace by tortures and questionings, and whom He has received as a victim of a holocaust,⁷⁰ what are we to say of them who, tested in the furnace of temptation,⁷¹ have denied Him? Them will He who denies him that deserves to be denied, deny and refuse to approve before the Father who is in heaven, and before the angels of God.

Nor must one’s combat be concerned with merely not denying: we must also sense no shame whatever at suffering what God’s enemies consider to be shameful. This is particularly your duty, Ambrose, consecrated to God as you are. You have been honoured and well-received by numerous cities, but now you appear, as it were, in triumphal procession, taking up the cross of Jesus and following Him⁷² as He goes before you to appear before magistrates and kings, that by making the journey with you He may give you a mouth of wisdom.⁷³ And He will do the same for you, Protoctetus, his companion in the conflict, and for you who are their fellow witnesses, who fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ.⁷⁴ May He be with you, on your way to God’s Paradise, to show you how to walk through the midst of the Cherubim and the flaming sword turning every way and keeping the way of the tree of life.⁷⁵ If these two guard the way to the tree of life, they do so that no one unworthy may pass by it and come to the tree of life. The flaming sword will, for example, keep back them that on the foundation which is laid, which is Christ Jesus, have built wood or hay or stubble,⁷⁶ and that wood which is most flammable and burns most fiercely, namely apostasy. The Cherubim will receive them that could not be overcome by the sword of fire, because they have built nothing which it could touch, and will bring them to the tree of life and to all that which God had planted . . . from the beginning and brought forth of the ground.⁷⁷ And since Jesus travels with you to Paradise, contemn the serpent that is overcome and trodden under the feet of Jesus and, through Him, under your feet also. For He has given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the Enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.⁷⁸

We must not, then, deny the Son of God or blush because of Him, His followers, or His words. Rather we should heed this: He that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven;⁷⁹ and again: He that shall be ashamed of me and mine, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when He shall come in His majesty and that of His Father and of the holy angels;⁸⁰ and again: For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.⁸¹

Jesus having once endured the cross, despising the shame,⁸² sits on that account on the right hand of God.⁸³ So, too, those who imitate Him, despising the shame, will sit and reign in heaven with Him⁸⁴ who came to send peace—not indeed upon earth, but in the souls of His disciples—and to send the sword upon earth.⁸⁵ Since the Word of God is living and effectual and more piercing than any two-edged sword and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,⁸⁶ He brings in recompense to our hearts especially now the prize of peace which surpasseth all understanding,⁸⁷ that which He left to His apostles.⁸⁸ But He has sent the sword between the image of the earthly and that of the heavenly,⁸⁹ so that, taking possession now of what is of heaven, He may later, when we no longer deserve to be divided in two, make us entirely of heaven.

He has come to bring not only the sword upon earth, but also fire. And what will I, He says, but that it be kindled?⁹⁰ May this fire therefore be kindled in you also. May it consume your every calculation that is earthly and of the body. May you now with heart and soul submit to that baptism wherewith Jesus was straitened until it was accomplished.⁹¹ And you, who have a wife and children, brothers and sisters, remember the words: If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, he cannot be my disciple.⁹² And both of you should remember these words: If any man come to me, and hate not—in addition—his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.⁹³ Hate your life, and in hating it you will keep it unto life eternal: He that hateth, says Scripture, his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal.⁹⁴ Hate your life, then, for the sake of life eternal, convinced that Jesus is teaching us a hatred that is for our good and welfare. And in the same manner as we should hate our own life in order to keep it for life eternal, so too in regard to wife, children, brothers, and sisters. You who possess them must hate them so as to do good to them that are hated. It is precisely through this hate that you will become a friend of God and so become free to become their benefactors.

Remember at the same time Him who prayed in spirit for the children of martyrs left behind for the sake of the love of God, and said: Take possession of the children of them that have been put to death.⁹⁵ Know only that not they that are children of the flesh, are the children of God;⁹⁶ and that just as it was said to them of the seed of Abraham, I know that you are the seed of Abraham,⁹⁷ and, If you were the children of Abraham, you did the works of Abraham,⁹⁸ in the same way will it be said to your children, “I know that you are the seed of Ambrose,” and, “If you are the children of Ambrose, do the works of Ambrose.” They will, doubtless, do them; but you will help them more by thus meeting your death than if you remained with them. In this way you will love them more wisely and pray for them with greater understanding, if you learn that they are not merely your seed but also your children. Now keep this on your lips: He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;⁹⁹ and, He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that shall lose his life for me shall find it.¹⁰⁰

By your readiness to undergo martyrdom give expression to the spirit of your Father that speaketh to them that are delivered up for the sake of religion.¹⁰¹ If you see that you are hated and abhorred and that you are regarded as impious, remember the words: Therefore the world hateth you, because you are not of this world. If you had been of this world, the world would love its own.¹⁰² You have already endured for the sake of Christ many outrages and many dangers since the time when you began to believe. Persevere to the end and advance in perseverance; for he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.¹⁰³ Know that, according to Peter, you shall greatly rejoice, if now you must be for a little time made sorrowful in divers temptations: that the trial of your faith—much more precious than gold which is perishable and tried by the fire—may be found unto praise and glory and honour at the appearing of Jesus Christ.¹⁰⁴ Notice the use of the words “be made sorrowful” in the sense of “labour,” as is seen in the passage, In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children.¹⁰⁵ A woman does not really bring forth children in sorrow, but in labour.

If the following words are helpful to the disciples of Christ, namely: Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the concupiscence thereof,¹⁰⁶—do not love, then, that which passes away, but do the will of God and become worthy to become one with the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, according to the prayer of the Saviour: . . . as I and Thou are one, that they also may be one in us?¹⁰⁷ How many days can he gain who loves the world or the things which are in the world,¹⁰⁸ but who destroys and loses his soul,¹⁰⁹ and carries about with him a conscience burdened with the greatest possible burden,¹¹⁰ the calamity of denial? Let each of us remember how many times he has been in danger of the ordinary death, and let us ask ourselves if we were not perhaps preserved from it in order that we might baptize ourselves in our own blood and wash ourselves from every sin, and so take our place at the heavenly altar¹¹¹ along with our companions in the fight.

But if a man because he is too tenacious of life or too weak in the face of suffering, or because of the apparently convincing arguments of such as seek to induce us to accept the evil choice, has denied the one only God and His Christ, and borne testimony to demons¹¹² or goddesses of fortune,¹¹³ then this man must realize that in doing this he is setting, as it were, a table for the demon and offering libations to Fortune, forsaking the Lord and forgetting His holy mount. He will incur the reproaches written in Isaias in these words: You that have forsaken me, that forget my holy mount, that set a table for the demon and offer a libation to fortune, I will hand you over to the sword, you shall all fall by slaughter: because I called you and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear. And you did evil before my eyes and you have chosen the things that displease me. Therefore thus saith the Lord Lord: Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded. Behold, my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart and shall howl for grief of spirit. For you shall leave my name for the satisfaction of my elect. And the Lord shall slay you.¹¹⁴ But if, because we know what the table of the Lord is, we wish to partake of it, let us attend to the words, You cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.¹¹⁵ And if we wish, understanding the words, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of heaven,¹¹⁶ to be found among them that drink with Jesus, let us weigh well these words also, You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord and the chalice of demons.¹¹⁷

John, the son of thunder,¹¹⁸ says: Who denieth the Father and the Son: whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son hath the Father also.¹¹⁹ When a man hears this, will he not have to fear that if he says he is not a Christian, he is denying the Son, and that in denying Him he will not have the Father? And is there anyone who will not eagerly confess himself a Christian in word and deed, that he may have the Father as well? For they who bear testimony have the Father.

If we have passed from death to life¹²⁰ in passing from unbelief to Faith, let us not be surprised if the world hates us.¹²¹ No one who has not passed from death to life, but still remains in death, can love them that have passed from the gloomy dwelling of death, so to speak, to the dwellings built up of living stones¹²² and flooded with the light of life. Jesus hath laid down His life for us, and let us, therefore, lay down ours:¹²³ I shall not say for Him, but for ourselves, and I should think for all them that will be edified by our martyrdom. The time has come for us Christians to glory in ourselves, for it is written: Not only so; but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience trial, and trial hope; and hope confoundeth not.¹²⁴ Only let the charity of God be poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.¹²⁵ Let Paul say, If—according to man—I fought with beasts at Ephesus;¹²⁶ and let us, “If—according to man—we were slain in Germany.”¹²⁷

As the sufferings of Christ abound, so also by Christ doth comfort abound.¹²⁸ Let us then welcome eagerly the sufferings incurred for Christ; and let them abound in us, if we truly strive for the abundant consolation with which all they who weep¹²⁹ shall be consoled, though perhaps in unequal measure. For if consolation were given in equal measure to all, it would not be written: As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also by Christ doth our comfort abound. They who are partakers of the sufferings, will be partakers of the consolation also,¹³⁰ according to the measure of the sufferings which they share with Christ. This you learn also from him who says with entire confidence: For we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation.

God, moreover, says by the Prophet: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee.¹³¹ What time could be more acceptable than when, because of our piety towards God in Christ, we make our solemn entry in this world surrounded by a guard and when we are led out, more like triumphant conquerors than conquered? For martyrs in Christ despoil with Him the principalities and powers¹³² and triumph with Him, by partaking in His sufferings and the great deeds accomplished in His sufferings—among which is His triumphing over principalities and powers, which you will soon see conquered and overcome with shame. What other day could be for us such a day of salvation as the day of so glorious a departure from here below? I exhort you: Give no offence in anything, that the priesthood and diaconate be not blamed because of you; but in all things exhibit yourselves as the ministers of God in much patience,¹³³ saying: And now what is my hope? Is it not the Lord?¹³⁴ In tribulation¹³⁵ be persuaded that many are the tribulations of the just.¹³⁶ In our necessities,¹³⁷ let us ask for what is necessary—happiness. In distresses,¹³⁸ let us walk without halting upon the strait and narrow way, so as to arrive at life.¹³⁹ And if it be required, let us show our mettle in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings.¹⁴⁰ For behold, the Lord is present, and His reward is in His hand, to be given to each one according to his works.¹⁴¹

Let us show now that we have wished for knowledge¹⁴² by doing the works which are in agreement with knowledge. Let all chastity, which comes from the avoidance of any possible defilement from sin, be manifested in us. We are the sons of a patient God; the brothers of a patient Christ: let us show ourselves patient in all that befalls us. He that is patient has great wisdom; but he that is impatient is greatly foolish.¹⁴³ If it is necessary to exhibit ourselves . . . by the armour of justice on the right hand and on the left, let us now, having exhibited ourselves by honour without becoming vain, also endure dishonour. If we have lived so as to deserve good report and have received it, let us now endure also evil report from the impious. And again, if we have been admired by lovers of truth as truthful, let us now laugh when it is said that we are deceivers. Because of the many dangers from which we have been delivered, many have said that we are known of God. Now let anyone say that we are unknown to Him, when perhaps we are known more. Hence, if we endure whatever happens, we are chastised but not killed; apparently we are sorrowful, but in reality we rejoice.

Paul says somewhere to them that have endured the first sufferings, exhorting them to maintain their initial perseverance in the dangers next to come on account of the Word: Call to mind the former days, wherein, being illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions. And on the one hand indeed, by reproaches and tribulations, were made a gazingstock; and on the other, became companions of them that were used in such sort. For you both had compassion on me that was in bands and took with joy the being stripped of your own goods, knowing that you have a better and a lasting substance. Do not therefore lose your confidence which hath a great reward. For you have need of perseverance.¹⁴⁴ So let us too endure a great fight of afflictions, by reproaches and tribulations made a gazingstock, yet taking with joy the being stripped of our goods. For we are convinced that we have a better substance, not earthly, nor even corporeal, but in some way invisible and incorporeal. For we look not at the things which are seen, knowing that these are temporal, while those others are eternal.¹⁴⁵

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