Letter CXI.

(November, a.d. 409.)

To Victorianus, His Beloved Lord and Most Longed-for Brother and Fellow-Presbyter, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord.

1. My heart has been filled with great sorrow by your letter. You asked me to discuss certain things at great length in my reply; but such calamities as you narrate claim rather many groans and tears than prolix treatises. The whole world, indeed, is afflicted with such portentous misfortunes, that there is scarcely any place where such things as you describe are not being committed and complained of. A short time ago some brethren were massacred by the barbarians even in those deserts of Egypt in which, in order to perfect security, they had chosen places remote from all disturbance as the sites of their monasteries. I suppose, moreover, that the outrages which they have perpetrated in the regions of Italy and Gaul are known to you also; and now similar events begin to be announced to us from many provinces of Spain, which for long seemed exempt from these evils. But why go to a distance for examples? Behold! in our own county of Hippo, which the barbarians have not yet touched, the ravages of the Donatist clergy and Circumcelliones make such havoc in our churches, that perhaps the cruelties of barbarians would be light in comparison. For what barbarian could ever have devised what these have done, viz. casting lime and vinegar into the eyes of our clergymen, besides atrociously beating and wounding every part of their bodies? They also sometimes plunder and burn houses, rob granaries, and pour out oil and wine; and by threatening to do this to all others in the district, they compel many even to be re-baptized. Only yesterday, tidings came to me of forty-eight souls in one place having submitted, under fear of such things, to be rebaptized.

2. These things should make us weep, but not wonder; and we ought to cry unto God that not for our merit, but according to His mercy, He may deliver us from so great evils. For what else was to be expected by the human race, seeing that these things were so long ago foretold both by the prophets and in the Gospels? We ought not, therefore, to be so inconsistent as to believe these Scriptures when they are read by us, and to complain when they are fulfilled; rather, surely, ought even those who had refused to believe when they read or heard these things in Scripture to become believers now when they behold the word fulfilled; so that under this great pressure, as it were, in the olive-press of the Lord our God, although there be the dregs of unbelieving murmurs and blasphemies, there is also a steady out flowing of pure oil in the confessions and prayers of believers. For unto those men who incessantly reproach the Christian faith, impiously saying that the human race did not suffer such grievous calamities before the Christian doctrine was promulgated throughout the world, it is easy to find a reply in the Lord’s own words in the gospel, “That servant which knew not his lord’s will, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes; but the servant which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”947    Luke xii. 47, 48. What is there to excite surprise, if, in the Christian dispensation, the world, like that servant, knowing the will of the Lord, and refusing to do it, is beaten with many stripes? These men remark the rapidity with which the gospel is proclaimed: they do not remark the perversity with which by many it is despised. But the meek and pious servants of God, who have to bear a double portion of temporal calamities, since they suffer both at the hands of wicked men and along with them, have also consolations peculiarly their own, and the hope of the world to come; for which reason the apostle says, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in us.”948    Rom. viii. 18.

3. Wherefore, my beloved, even when you meet those whose words you say you cannot bear, because they say, “If we have deserved these things for our sins, how comes it that the servants of God are cut off not less than ourselves by the sword of the barbarians, and the handmaids of God are led away into captivity?”—answer them humbly, truly, and piously in such words as these: However carefully we keep the way of righteousness, and yield obedience to our Lord, can we be better than those three men who were cast into the fiery furnace for keeping the law of God? And yet, read what Azarias, one of those three, said, opening his lips in the midst of the fire: “Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our fathers: Thy name is worthy to be praised and glorified for evermore; for Thou art righteous in all the things that Thou hast done to us; yea, true are all Thy works: Thy ways are right, and all Thy judgments truth. In all the things which Thou hast brought upon us, and upon the holy city of our fathers, even Jerusalem, Thou hast executed true judgment; for according to truth and judgment didst Thou bring all these things upon us because of our sins. For we have sinned and committed iniquity, departing from Thee. In all things have we trespassed, and not obeyed Thy commandments, nor kept them, neither done as Thou hast commanded us, that it might go well with us. Wherefore all that Thou hast brought upon us, and everything that Thou hast done to us, Thou hast done in true judgment. And Thou didst deliver us into the hands of lawless enemies, most hateful forsakers of God, and to an unjust king, and the most wicked in all the world. And now we cannot open our mouths: we are become a shame and reproach to Thy servants, and to them that worship Thee. Yet deliver us not up wholly, for Thy name’s sake, neither disannul Thou Thy covenant; and cause not Thy mercy to depart from us, for Thy beloved Abraham’s sake, for Thy servant Isaac’s sake, and for Thy holy Israel’s sake, to whom Thou hast spoken, and promised that Thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that lieth upon the sea-shore. For we, O Lord, are become less than any nation, and be kept under this day in all the world because of our sins.”949    Song of the Three Holy Children, vers. 3–14. Here, my brother, thou mayest surely see how men such as they, men of holiness, men of courage in the midst of tribulation,—from which, however, they were delivered, the flame itself fearing to consume them, were not silent about their sins, but confessed them, knowing that because of these sins they were deservedly and justly brought low.

4. Nay, can we be better men than Daniel himself, concerning whom God, speaking to the prince of Tyre, says by the prophet Ezekiel, “Art thou wiser than Daniel?”950    Ezek. xxviii. 3. who also is placed among the three righteous men to whom alone God saith that He would grant deliverance,—pointing, doubtless, in them to three representative righteous men,—declaring that he would deliver only Noah, Daniel, and Job, and that they should save along with themselves neither son nor daughter, but only their own souls?951    Ezek. xiv. 14, 18, 20. Nevertheless, read also the prayer of Daniel, and see how, when in captivity, he confesses not only the sins of his people, but his own also, and acknowledges that because of these the justice of God has visited them with the punishment of captivity and with reproach. For it is thus written: “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said: O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments: neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets, which spake in Thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither Thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against Him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord, to walk in His laws which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed Thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey Thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against them. And He hath confirmed His words which He spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He doeth; for we obeyed not His voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought Thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten Thee renown as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain, because, for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and His supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary which is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Thy name; for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do: defer not, for Thine own sake, O my God; for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name. And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people…”952    Dan. ix. 3–20. Observe how he spoke first of his own sins, and then of the sins of his people. And he extols the righteousness of God, and gives praise to God for this, that He visits even His saints with the rod, not unjustly, but because of their sins. If, therefore, this be the language of men who by reason of their eminent sanctity found even encompassing flames and lions harmless, what language would befit men standing on a level so low as we occupy, seeing that, whatever righteousness we may seem to practise, we are very far from being worthy of comparison with them?

5. Lest, however, any one should think that those servants of God, whose death at the hand of barbarians you relate, ought to have been delivered from them in the same manner as the three young men were delivered from the fire, and Daniel from the lions, let such an one know that these miracles were performed in order that the kings by whom they were delivered to these punishments might believe that they worshipped the true God. For in His hidden counsel and mercy God was in this manner making provision for the salvation of these kings. It pleased Him, however, to make no such provision in the case of Antiochus the king, who cruelly put the Maccabees to death; but He punished the heart of the obdurate king with sharper severity through their most glorious sufferings. Yet read what was said by even one of them—the sixth who suffered: “After him they brought also the sixth, who, being ready to die, said, ‘Be not deceived without cause; for we suffer these things for ourselves, having sinned against God: therefore marvellous things are done unto us; but think not thou that takest in hand to strive against God and His law that thou shalt escape unpunished.’”953    2 Macc. vii. 18, 19. You see how these also are wise in the exercise of humility and sincerity, confessing that they are chastened because of their sins by the Lord, of whom it is written: “Whom the Lord loveth He correcteth,”954    Prov. iii. 12. and “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;”955    Heb. xii. 6. wherefore the Apostle says also, “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged; but when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”956    1 Cor. xi. 31, 32.

6. These things read faithfully, and proclaim faithfully; and to the utmost of your power beware, and teach others that they must beware, of murmuring against God in these trials and tribulations. You tell me that good, faithful, and holy servants of God have been cut off by the sword of the barbarians. But what matters it whether it is by sickness or by sword that they have been set free from the body? The Lord is careful as to the character with which His servants go from this world—not as to the mere circumstances of their departure, excepting this, that lingering weakness involves more suffering than a sudden death; and yet we read of this same protracted and dreadful weakness as the lot of that Job to whose righteousness God Himself, who cannot be deceived, bears such testimony.

7. Most calamitous, and much to be bewailed, is the captivity of chaste and holy women; but their God is not in the power of their captors, nor does He forsake those captives whom He knows indeed to be His own. For those holy men, the record of whose sufferings and confessions I have quoted from the Holy Scriptures, being held in captivity by enemies who had carried them away, uttered those words, which, preserved in writing, we can read for ourselves, in order to make us understand that servants of God, even when they are in captivity, are not forsaken by their Lord. Nay, more, do we know what wonders of power and grace the almighty and merciful God may please to accomplish by means of these captive women even in the land of the barbarians? Be that as it may, cease not to intercede with groanings on their behalf before God, and to seek, so far as your power and His providence permits you, to do for them whetever can be done, and to give them whatever consolation can be given, as time and opportunity may be granted. A few years ago, a nun, a grand-daughter of Bishop Severus, was carried off by barbarians from the neighbourhood of Sitifa, and was by the marvellous mercy of God restored with great honour to her parents. For at the very time when the maiden entered the house of her barbarian captors, it became the scene of much distress through the sudden illness of its owners, all the barbarians—three brothers, if I mistake not, or more—being attacked with most dangerous disease. Their mother observed that the maiden was dedicated to God, and believed that by her prayers her sons might be delivered from the danger of death, which was imminent. She begged her to intercede for them, promising that if they were healed she should be restored to her parents. She fasted and prayed, and straightway was heard; for, as the result showed, the event had been appointed that this might take place. They therefore, having recovered health by this unexpected favour from God, regarded her with admiration and respect, and fulfilled the promise which their mother had made.

8. Pray, therefore, to God for them, and beseech Him to enable them to say such things as the holy Azariah, whom we have mentioned, poured forth along with other expressions in his prayer and confession before God. For in the land of their captivity these women are in circumstances similar to those of the three Hebrew youths in that land in which they could not sacrifice to the Lord their God in the manner prescribed: they cannot either bring an oblation to the altar of God, or find a priest by whom their oblation may be presented to God. May God therefore grant them grace to say to Him what Azariah said in the following sentences of his prayer: “Neither is there at this time prince, or prophet, or leader, or burnt-offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place to sacrifice before Thee, and to find mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit let us be accepted. Like as in the burnt-offerings of rams and bullocks, and like as in ten thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice be in Thy sight this day. And grant that we may wholly go after Thee; for they shall not be confounded that put their trust in Thee. And now we follow Thee with all our heart: we fear Thee and seek Thy face. Put us not to shame, but deal with us after Thy loving-kindness, and according to the multitude of Thy mercies. Deliver us also according to Thy marvellous works, and give glory to Thy name, O Lord; and let all them that do Thy servants hurt be ashamed: and let them be confounded in all their power and might, and let their strength be broken: and let them know that Thou art Lord, the only God, and glorious over the whole world.”957    Song of the Three Children, vers. 15–22.

9. When His servants use these words, and pray fervently to God, He will stand by them, as He has been wont ever to stand by His own, and will either not permit their chaste bodies to suffer any wrong from the lust of their enemies, or if He permit this, He will not lay sin to their charge in the matter. For when the soul is not defiled by any impurity of consent to such wrong, the body also is thereby protected from all participation in the guilt; and in so far as nothing was committed or permitted by lust on the part of her who suffers, the whole blame lies with him who did the wrong, and all the violence done to the sufferer will be regarded not as implying the baseness of wanton compliance, but as a wound blamelessly endured. For such is the worth of unblemished purity in the soul, that while it remains intact, the body also retains its purity unsullied, even although by violence its members may be overpowered.

I beg your Charity to be satisfied with this letter, which is very long considering my other work (although too short to meet your wishes), and is somewhat hurriedly written, because the bearer is in haste to be gone. The Lord will furnish you with much more abundant consolation if you read attentively His holy word.

EPISTOLA CXI . Augustinus Victoriano presbytero, consolans eum ad toleranter accipienda mala quae barbari, in Italiam et Hispaniam incursionem facientes, inferebant sanctis viris et sacris virginibus.

0422

Domino dilectissimo et desiderantissimo fratri et compresbytero VICTORIANO, AUGUSTINUS, in Domino salutem.

1. Litterae tuae impleverunt grandi dolore cor nostrum, quibus petisti ut prolixo opere aliqua responderem; cum talibus malis magis prolixi gemitus et fletus, quam prolixi libri debeantur. Totus quippe mundus tantis affligitur cladibus, ut pene pars nulla terrarum sit, ubi non talia, qualia scripsisti, committantur atque plangantur. Nam ante parvum tempus, etiam in illis solitudinibus Aegypti, ubi monasteria separata ab omni strepitu, quasi secura delogerant , a barbaris interfecti sunt fratres. Jamvero quae modo in regionibus Italiae, quae in Galliis nefaria perpetrata sint, etiam vos latere non arbitron; de Hispanis quoque tot provinciis, quae ab his malis diu videbantur intactae, coeperunt jam talia nuntiari. Sed quid longe imus? Ecce in regione nostra Hipponensi, quoniam eam barbari non attigerunt, clericorum donatistarum et Circumcellionum latrocinia sic vastant ecclesias, ut barbarorum fortasse facta mitiora sint. Quis enim barbarus excogitare potuit quod isti, ut in oculos clericorum nostrorum calcem et acetum mitterent, quorum membra etiam caetera plagis horrendis vulneribusque sauciarunt? Depraedantur etiam domos aliquas et incendunt, fructus aridos diripiunt, humidos fundunt, et talia caeteris comminando, multos etiam rebaptizari compellunt. Pridie quam ista ad te dictavi, ex uno loco per hujusmodi terrores quadraginta et octo animae mihi rebaptizatae nuntiatae sunt.

2. Plangenda sunt haec, non miranda, et exclamandum ad Deum, ut non secundum merita nostra. sed secundum misericordiam suam a tantis malis liberet nos. Nam quid utique sperandum fuit generi humano, cum haec et in Prophetis et in Evangelio tanto aute praedicta sint? Non itaque debemus tam nobisipsis esse contrarii, ut credamus quando leguntur, et queramur quando complentur: sed potius et illi qui increduli fuerant, cum haec in sanctis Libris conscripta legerent vel audirent, nunc saltem credere debent cum compleri jam vident; ut de his tum magnis pressuris tanquam in torculari Domini Dei nostri, sicut amurca infidelium murmurantium et blasphemantium fluit, ita oleum quoque fidelium confitentium et orantium exprimi et liquari non cesset. Illis enim qui contra christianam fidem querelas impias jactare non quiescunt, dicentes quod antequam ista doctrina per mundum praedicaretur, tanta mala non patiebatur genus humanum, facile est ex Evangelio respondere; Dominus enim dicit: Servus nesciens voluntatem domini sui, et faciens digna plagis, vapulabit paucas; servus autem sciens voluntatem domini sui, et faciens digna plagis, vapulabit multas (Luc. XII, 47, 48). Quid ergo mirum, si christianis temporibus iste mundus, tanquam servus jam sciens voluntatem Domini sui, et faciens digna plagis, vapulat multas? Attendunt quanta 0423 celeritate Evangelium praedicatur, et non attendunt quanta perversitate contemnitur. Servi autem Dei humiles et sancti, qui dupliciter mala temporalia patiuntur, quia et ab ipsis impiis, et cum ipsis patiuntur, habent consolationes suas, et spem futuri seculi; unde dicit Apostolus: Non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis (Rom. VIII, 18).

3. Proinde, charissime, etiam illis quorum verba dicis te ferre non posse, quoniam dicunt, Si nos peccatores ista meruimus, quare et servi Dei barbarorum ferro perempti sunt, et ancillae Dei captivae ductae sunt? humiliter et veraciter et pie responde: Quantamlibet enim justitiam servemus, quantamlibet Domino obedientiam exhibeamus, numquid meliores esse possumus illis tribus viris, qui in caminum ignis ardentis pro conservanda lege Dei projecti sunt? Et tamen lege quid illic dicat Azarias, unus ex tribus qui aperiens os suum in medio ignis, dixit: Benedictus es, Domine Deus patrum nostrorum, et laudabilis; et gloriosum nomen tuum in saecula: quoniam justus es in omnibus quae fecisti nobis, et omnia opera tua vera, et rectae viae tuae, et omnia judicia tua veritas, et judicia veritatis fecisti per omnia quae intulisti nobis, et civitati sanctae patrum nostrorum Jerusalem; quoniam in veritate et judicio intulisti nobis omnia haec, propter peccata nostra; quoniam peccavimus, et Legi tuae non paruimus, et mandatis tuis non obandivimus, ut bene nobis esset; et omnia quae intulisti nobis, in judicio vero intulisti. Et tradidisti nos in manus iniquorum inimicissimorum transfugarum, et regi injusto et pessimo ultra universam terram. Et nunc non est ut possimus aperire os: vere confusio et opprobrium facti sumus servis tuis, et eis qui te colunt. Ne tradideris nos in perpetuum propter nomen tuum, Domine, et ne despexeris testamentum tuum, et ne abstuleris misericordiam tuam a nobis, propter Abraham qui a te dilectus est, et propter Isaac servum tuum, et Israel sanctum tuum, quibus locutus es multiplicaturum te semen eorum ut astra coeli et arenam maris: quoniam, Domine, minimi facti sumus prae omnibus nationibus, et sumus humiles hodie in terra propter peccata nostra (Dan. III, 26-37). Vides certe, frater, quales viri, quam sancti, quam fortes in medio tribulationis, ubi tamen eis parcebatur, et eos urere ipsa flamma verebatur, peccata sua confitebantur, pro quibus se digne et juste humiliari noverant, nec tacebant.

4. Numquid etiam meliores esse possumus ipso Daniele, de quo per Ezechielem prophetam dicit Deus ad principem Tyri: Numquid tu sapientior quam Daniel (Ezech. XXVIII. 3)? Et qui ponitur unus in tribus justis quos dicit Deus solos se liberaturum; ostendens utique in illis tres quasdam formas justorum, quos ita se liberaturum dicit, ut nec filios suos secum liberent. sed ipsi soli liberentur, Noe. Daniel, et Job (Id. XIV, 14, 16) ? Lege tamen etiam precem 0424 Danielis, et vide quemadmodum in captivitate positus peccata, non tantum populi sui, verum etiam sua confiteatur, et pro his dicat per justitiam Dei se ad illam captivitatis poenam et opprobria pervenisse. Sic enim scriptum est: Et dedi faciem meam ad Dominum Deum, ut quaererem preces et obsecrationes in jejunationibus et sacco, et precatus sum Dominum Deum meum, et confessus sum, et dixi: Domine Deus magne et mirabilis, et qui servas testamentum tuum, et misericordiam diligentibus te et servantibus praecepta tua, peccavimus, adversus Legem fecimus, impie egimus, et recessimus, et declinavimus a praeceptis tuis, et a judiciis tuis, et non exaudivimus servos tuos Prophetas, qui loquebantur in nomine tuo ad reges nostros, et ad omnem populum terrae. Tibi, Domine, justitia, nobis autem confusio faciei, sicut dies hic viro Juda, et habitantibus Jerusalem, et omni Israel, qui proximi sunt, et qui longe sunt in omni terra, in qua eos disseminasti ibi, propter contumaciam eorum, quia improbaverunt te, Domine. Nobis autem confusio faciei, regibus nostris, et principibus nostris, et patribus nostris, qui peccavimus. Tibi Domino Deo nostro miserationes et propitiationes , quoniam recessimus, et non audivimus vocem Domini Dei nostri, ut essemus in praeceptis legis hujus quam dedit in conspectu nostro in manu servorum ejus Prophetarum. Et omnis Israel peccaverunt adversus legem tuam, et declinaverunt ne audirent vocem tuam: et supervenit nobis maledictio et jusjurandum, quod scriptum est in lege Moysi servi Dei, quoniam peccavimus, et statuit sermones suos, quos locutus est ad nos et ad judices nostros, qui judicabunt nos, superducere innos mala magna, quae nunquam facta sunt sub omni coelo secundum ea quae facta sunt in Jerusalem. Sicut scriptum est in Lege Moysi, omnia mala haec venerunt ad nos, et non rogavimus Dominum Deum nostrum, ut averteret a nobis delicta nostra, et ut intelligeremus omnem veritatem tuam. Et vigilavit Dominus Deus ad omnem sanctum suum, et perduxit ea quae fecit ad nos, quoniam justus Dominus Deus noster in omni mundo suo quem fecit, et non audivimus vocem ejus. Et nunc, Domine Deus noster, qui eduxisti populum tuum de terra Aegypti in manu forti, et fecisti tibi nomen sicut dies hic, delicta adversus legem tuam fecimus. Domine, in omni misericordia tua avertaturimpetus tuus, et ira tua a civitate tua Jerusalem, et monte sancto tuo. Propter peccata enim nostra et iniquitates patrum nostrorum, 0425Jerusalem et populus tuus in confusionem venit omnibus qui circum nos sunt. Et nunc exaudi, Deus noster, preces servi tui et orationem ejus, et ostende nobis faciem tuam ad sanctificationem tuam quae deserta est. Propter te inclina, Domine Deus meus, aurem tuam, et exaudi; aperi oculos tuos, et vide interitum nostrum et civitatis tuae Jerusalem, super quam invocatum est nomen tuum super eam , quoniam non in nostra justitia jactavimus precem nostram in conspectu tuo, sed ad misericordiam tuam quae magna est. Exaudi Domine, propitiare Domine, intende Domine, et ne tardaverispropter te, Deus meus; quoniam nomen tuum invocatum est in civitate tua, super civitatem tuam et populum tuum. Et adhuc me loquente et orante et enumerante peccata mea et peccata populi mei (Dan. IX, 3-20). Vide quemadmodum sua peccata prius dixit, et postea populi sui. Et hanc Dei commendat justitiam, et hanc Dei laudem dicit, quia non injuste, sed pro peccatis eorum flagellat etiam ipsos sanctos suos. Si ergo ista dicunt qui excellentissima sanctitate ignes et leones circa se innoxios habuerunt, quid nos oportet dicere in humilitate nostra, qui tam longe illis impares sumus, quantamcumque justitiam servare videamur?

5. Sed ne aliquis existimet illos Dei servos, quos dicis a barbaris interfectos, sic illam mortem evadere debuisse, quomodo tres illi viri ab ignibus, et Daniel a leonibus liberatus est; sciat illa propterea facta miracula, ut eos verum Deum colere crederent reges, a quibus in illa supplicia tradebantur. Hoc enim erat in occulto judicio et misericordia Dei, ut illis regibus eo modo consuleret ad salutem. Antiocho autem regi, qui Machabaeos poenis crudelibus interemit, noluit ita consulere, sed eorum gloriosissimis passionibus cor duri regis acriori severitate punivit. Lege tamen, etiam unus illorum, qui sexto loco patiebatur, quid dicat. Ita enim scriptum est: Et post hunc sextum applicuerunt. Cumque hic tormentis excruciatus moreretur, dixit: Noli te seducere propter nos; haec patimur peccantes in Deum nostrum, et facta sunt haec digna nobis. Tu autem noli te putare impunitum futurum, qui adversus Deum et Legem ejus legibus tuis pugnare voluisti (II Mach. VII, 18, 19). Vides etiam isti quam humiliter et veraciter sapiant, qui pro peccatis suis se flagellari a Domino confitentur: de quo scriptum est, Quem enim diligit Dominus corripit (Prov. III, 12); flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit (Hebr. XII, 6): unde et Apostolus, Si enim nosmetipsos judicaremus, a Domino non utique judicaremur. Cum judicamur autem 0426a Domino corripimur, ne cum hoc mundo damnemur (I Cor. XI, 31, 32).

6. Haec fideliter lege, fideliter praedica, et quantum potes cave, et cavendum doce, ne adversus Deum in his tentationibus et tribulationibus murmuretur. Bonos dicis Dei servos et fideles et sanctos, gladio barbarorum peremptos. Quid autem interest, utrum eos febris an ferrum de corpore solverit? Non qua occasione exeant, sed quales ad se exeant Dominus attendit in servis suis, nisi quod majorem habet poenam languor diuturnus quam citissimus exitus: et tamen etiam ipsum languorem diuturnum et horrendum legimus, qualem passus est Job ille, cujus certe justitiae Deus ipse qui falli non potest, tale perhibet testimonium.

7. Gravissima sane et multum dolenda est illa captivitas feminarum castarum atque sanctarum, sed non est captivus earum Deus, nec captivas deserit suas, si novit suas. Nam et illi sancti quorum passiones et confessiones de Scripturis sanctis commemoravi, ab hostibus ducti atque in captivitate positi, illa dixerunt quae conscripta legerentur a nobis, ut disceremus captivos Dei servos non deseri a Domino suo. Unde autem scimus quid etiam per istas omnipotens et misericors Deus in ipsa terra barbarica fieri velit mirabilium suorum? Tantum non cessetis pro illis ingemiscere ad Deum, et quaerere quantum potestis, et quantum ipse permittit, cum tempus et facultatem dederit, quid de illis factum sit, vel quae vestra possint habere solatia. Nam de Sitifensi ante paucos annos Severi episcopi neptis sanctimonialis a barbaris ducta est, et per mirabilem Dei misericordiam cum honore magno suis parentibus restituta est. Domus enim illa barbarorum ubi captiva ingressa est, subita coepit dominorum infirmitate jactari, ita ut omnes ipsi barbari, tres nisi fallor, vel amplius fratres, periculosissima infirmitate laborarent. Quorum mater animadvertit puellam Deo deditam, et credidit quod ejus orationibus sui filii possent ab imminentis jam mortis periculo liberari; petivit ut oraret pro eis, pollicens quod, si salvi facti essent, eam suis parentibus redderent. Jejunavit illa et oravit, et exaudita continuo est. Ad hoc enim factum erat, quantum exitus docuit. Ita illi tam repentino Dei beneficio salute percepta, mirantes eam et honorantes, quod eorum mater promiserat impleverunt.

8. Ora ergo Deum pro eis, et roga ut etiam ipsas doceat talia dicere, qualia supra memoratus sanctus Azarias, inter caetera in oratione et confessione sua fudit ad Deum. Sic enim sunt illae in terra captivitatis suae, quomodo erant illi in ea terra, ubi nec sacrificare more suo poterant Domino, sicut nec istae possunt, vel ferre oblationem ad altare Dei, vel invenire ibi sacerdotem per quem offerant Deo. Donet ergo eis Dominus ut ei dicant, quod Azarias dixit in consequentibus 0427 precum suarum: Non est in hoc tempore princeps et propheta et dux, non holocausta, neque oblatio, neque supplicationes, nec locus ad sacrificandum in conspectu tuo, et invenire misericordiam; sed in anima contrita et spiritu humilitatis accipiamur. Sicut in holocaustomatibus arietum et taurorum, et in multitudine agnorum pinguium, sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspectu tuo hodie perficere subsequentes te, quoniam non erit confusio iis qui in te confidunt. Et nunc sequimur toto corde et timemus te, et quaerimus faciem tuam, Domine; ne confundas nos, sed fac nobiscum secundum mansuetudinem tuam, et secundum multitudinem misericordiae tuae, et libera nos secundum mirabilia tua, et da gloriam nomini tuo, Domine, et revereantur omnes, qui ostendunt servis tuis mala, et confundantur ab omnipotentia, et virtus eorum conteratur, et sciant quoniam tu es Dominus Deus solus et gloriosus in universo orbe terrae (Dan. III, 38-45).

9. Haec illis dicentibus, et ad Deum ingemiscentibus, omnino suis aderit qui suis adesse consuevit, et aut nihil earum castissimis membris libidine hostili perpetrari permittet; aut si permittet, non imputabit. Cum enim animus nulla consensionis turpitudine maculatur, etiam carnem suam defendit a crimine : et quidquid in ea nec commisit, nec permisit libido patientis, solius erit culpa facientis; omnisque illa violentia non pro corruptionis turpitudine, sed pro passionis vulnere deputabitur. Tantum enim in mente valet integritas castitatis, ut illa inviolata, nec in corpore possit pudicitia violari, cujus membra potuerint superari . Haec epistola pro tuo desiderio brevis, pro meis tamen occupationibus multum prolixa, et propter perlatoris festinationem nimis accelerata sufficiat charitati tuae. Multo uberius vos Dominus consolabitur, si Scripturas ejus intentissime legeritis.