13. And now, beloved brethren, I shall come to that point whence I shall very easily be able to show you how highly the virtue of martyrdom is esteemed, which, although it is well known to all, and is to be desired on account of the insignia of its inborn glory, yet in the desire of its enjoyment has received more enhancement from the necessity of the times. Because if any one be crowned at that season in which he supposes himself to be crowned, if perchance he should die, he is greatly rewarded. Therefore, sublime and illustrious as martyrdom is, it is the more needful now, when the world itself is turned upside down, and, while the globe is partially shattered, failing nature is giving evidence of the tokens of its final destruction. For the rain-cloud hangs over us in the sky, and the very air stretches forth the mournful rain (curtain); and as often as the black tempest threatens the raging sea, the glittering lightning-flashes glow terribly in the midst of the opening darkness of the clouds. Moreover, when the deep is lashed into immense billows, by degrees the wave is lifted up, and by degrees the foam whitens, until at length you behold it rush in such a manner, that on those rocks on which it is hurled, it throws its foam higher than the wave that was vomited forth by the swelling sea. You read that it is written, that we must pay even the uttermost farthing. But the martyrs alone are relieved of this obligation; because they who trust to their desires for eternal salvation, and have overcome their longings for this life, have been made by the Lord’s precepts free from the universal suffering.11    [The sufferings of this life are here supposed to be retributive in the case of those who must be weaned from the world. Martyrs have weaned themselves, and go gladly to their rest.] Therefore from this especially, beloved brethren, we shall be able to set forth what great things the virtue of martyrdom is able to fulfil.

XIII. Nunc jam ad eam rem, fratres charissimi, veniam ex qua ostendere satis possim quanta martyrii virtus habeatur; quae tametsi omnibus est nota proque ingenitae claritatis insignibus expetenda, tamen plus addidit necessitas temporis desiderio voluntatis . Etenim est in muneribus magnis , si eo tempore quis coronetur quo coronatum se putat, si forte moriatur. Igitur, cum sit sublime excelsumque martyrium, nunc magis est necessarium quando mundus ipse subvertitur, partimque orbe concusso natura deficiens ultimi exitus momenta testatur. Nam 0794B et cum coelo imber incumbit, pluviam tristem aer praetendit , et quoties atra tempestas horrenti imminet pelago, per inter aperta nubium nocte coruscantium fulmina relucescunt; sed et cum mare magnis fluctibus volvitur, paulatim unda se tollit, paulatimque aequor albescit, donec cernas ita postmodum ruere ut in illis quibus retunditur saxis spumam altius jaciat quam undam tumidum pelagus expuebat. Legis scriptum esse usque quadrantem nos ultimum reddere. Sed solis haec pars est ablata martyribus. Etenim qui salutis aeternae cupiditatibus freti vitae hujusce desideria vicerunt, hos expertes doloris universi Domini praecepta fecerunt . Igitur hinc primum, charissimi fratres, poterimus exponere quanta martyrii virtus possit implere.