§10Hunc affectum martyres Christi certantes pro ueritate uicerunt.
The martyrs of Christ, fighting for the truth, overcame this affection.
nec mirum quia contempserunt, quod non fuerant peracta morte sensuri, qui non potuerunt eis, quos uiuentes sentiebant, cruciatibus uinci.
And it is no wonder that they despised what they were not going to feel once death was completed, who could not be overcome by those tortures which they felt while living.
poterat utique deus. qui leonem prophetae corpus, quod ipse occiderat, ulterius non permisit adtingere et fecit de peremptore custodem, poterat, inquam, a suorum interfectis corporibus canes, quibus fuerant proiecta, prohibere; poterat et ipsorum hominum innumerabilibus modis terrere saeuitiam, ne cadauera incendere, ne cineres dispergere auderent: sed hoc quoque experimentum multiplici uarietati temptationum deesse non debuit, ne fortitudo confessionis, quae inmanitati persecutionis pro corporis salute non cederet, pro sepulcri honore trepidaret, postremo, ne fides resurrectionis consumptionem corporum formidaret.
Surely God, who did not permit the lion to touch any further the body of the prophet which it had itself slain, and made a guardian out of the slayer—surely, I say, He could have kept away from the slain bodies of His own the dogs to which they had been thrown; He could also have terrified the cruelty of those very men in innumerable ways, lest they should dare to burn the corpses, or dare to scatter the ashes. But this test also ought not to have been lacking to the manifold variety of temptations, lest the fortitude of confession, which would not yield to the ferocity of persecution for the safety of the body, should tremble for the honor of the grave; and finally, lest the faith of the resurrection should dread the consumption of the bodies.
debuerunt ergo et ista permitti, ut etiam post haec tanti horroris exempla martyres in Christi confessione feruentes huius quoque testes fierent ueritatis, in qua didicerant eos, a quibus sua corpora interficerentur, postea nihil habere quod facerent, quoniam quidquid mortuis corporibus facerent, utique nihil facerent, quando in carne omni uita carente nec aliquid sentire posset, qui inde migrauit, nec aliquid inde perdere, qui creauit.
Therefore, these things also had to be permitted, so that even after these examples of so great horror, the martyrs, burning in the confession of Christ, might also become witnesses of this truth, in which they had learned that those by whom their bodies were slain had nothing they could do afterward, since whatever they might do to the dead bodies, they would surely do nothing, because in the flesh deprived of all life, neither could he who departed from it feel anything, nor could He who created it lose anything from it.
sed inter haec, quae fiebant de corporibus occisorum, cum martyres non ea metuentes magna fortitudine paterentur, tamen apud fratres luctus ingens erat, quod nulla dabatur potestas sanctorum funeribus iusta persoluere nec occulte subtrahere aliquid, sicut eadem testatur historia, crudelium custodum uigiliae permittebant.
But during these things which were done to the bodies of the slain, while the martyrs suffered them with great fortitude, not fearing them, yet among the brethren there was great grief, because no power was given to pay the due rites to the funerals of the saints, nor to steal away anything secretly, since, as the same history testifies, the watches of the cruel guards did not permit it.
ita cum illos, qui occisi fuerant, in dilaceratione membrorum suorum, in conflagratione ossuum, in dispersione cinerum miseria nulla contingeret, istos tamen, qui nihil eorum sepelire poterant, magna misericordia cruciabat, quia in nullo modo sentientibus ipsi quodam modo sentiebant et, ubi iam illorum nulla erat passio, erat istorum misera conpassio.
Thus, while no misery befell those who had been slain, in the tearing of their limbs, in the burning of their bones, in the scattering of their ashes, yet a great compassion tormented those who could bury nothing of them, because they themselves in some way felt for those who were in no way feeling, and where there was now no suffering of the former, there was the miserable compassion of the latter.
§11Secundum istam quam dixi miseram conpassionem laudantur illi et a rege Dauid benedicuntur, qui Saulis et Ionathae ossibus aridis sepulturae misericordiam praestiterunt.
According to that miserable compassion which I have mentioned, those are praised and blessed by King David who showed the mercy of burial to the dry bones of Saul and Jonathan.
quae tandem misericordia praestatur nihil sentientibus: an forte reuocandum est in opinionem, quod infernum fluuium insepulti non poterant transmeare? absit hoc a fide christiana: alioquin pessime actum est cum tanta martyrum multitudine, quorum non potuerunt corpora sepeliri, et fallaciter eis ueritas dixit: nolite timere eos, qui corpus occidunt et postea non habent quid faciant, si eis tanta mala facere potuerunt, quibus inpedirentur ad loca exoptata transire.
What mercy, after all, is shown to those who feel nothing? Or must we perhaps recall to opinion that the unburied could not cross the infernal river? Far be this from the Christian faith! Otherwise, it has gone very badly with so great a multitude of martyrs, whose bodies could not be buried, and the Truth spoke falsely to them: "Do not fear those who kill the body and afterward have nothing they can do," if they could do such great evils to them by which they would be hindered from crossing to the longed-for places.
sed quia hoc sine ulla dubitatione falsissimum est nec aliquid obest fidelibus negata eorum corporibus sepultura nec aliquid, si exhibeatur infidelibus, prodest, cur ergo illi, qui Saulem et eius filium sepelierunt, misericordiam fecisse dicuntur et ob hoc a rege pio benedicuntur, nisi quia bene afficiuntur corda miserantium, quando ea dolent in mortuorum corporibus alienis, quae illo affectu, quo nemo umquam carnem suam odio habet, nolunt fieri post mortem suam corporibus suis, et quod sibi exhiberi uolunt, quando sensuri non sunt, aliis non sentientibus curant exhibere, dum ipsi sentiunt?
But because this is without any doubt most false, and a denied burial to their bodies does not hinder the faithful in any way, nor does it profit the unfaithful if it is shown, why then are those who buried Saul and his son said to have shown mercy, and are for this reason blessed by the pious king, unless because the hearts of those who pity are well affected, when they grieve for those things in the dead bodies of others which, by that affection by which no one ever hates his own flesh, they do not wish to happen to their own bodies after their death; and what they wish to be shown to themselves when they are not going to feel it, they take care to show to others who do not feel it, while they themselves feel?