§7Cum ergo fidelis mater fidelis filii defuncti corpus desiderauit in basilica martyris poni, si quidem credidit eius animam meritis martyris adiuuari, hoc, quod ita credidit, supplicatio quaedam fuit, et haec profuit, si quid profuit.
When, therefore, a faithful mother desired that the body of her deceased faithful son be placed in the basilica of a martyr, if indeed she believed that his soul is helped by the merits of the martyr, this very believing was a certain supplication, and this benefited, if anything benefited.
et quod ad idem sepulcrum recurrit animo et filium precibus magis magisque commendat, adiuuat defuncti spiritum non mortui corporis locus, sed ex loci memoria uiuus matris affectus.
And as for the fact that she returns in mind to the same tomb and commends her son more and more with prayers, it is not the place of the dead body that helps the spirit of the deceased, but the living affection of the mother from the memory of the place.
simul enim et quis et cui commendatus sit, non utique infructuose religiosam mentem precantis adtingit.
For at the same time, both who is commended and to whom he is commended touch, surely not fruitlessly, the religious mind of the one praying.
nam et orantes de membris sui corporis faciunt quod supplicantibus congruit, cum genua figunt, cum extendunt manus uel etiam prosternuntur solo et si quid aliud faciunt uisibiliter, quamuis eorum inuisibilis uoluntas et cordis intentio deo nota sit nec ille indigeat his indiciis, ut animus ei pandatur humanus.
For those who pray also do with the members of their body what is suitable for suppliants, when they bend their knees, when they stretch out their hands, or even prostrate themselves on the ground, and if they do any other visible thing, although their invisible will and the intention of their heart is known to God, nor does He need these indications so that the human mind may be opened to Him.
sed hinc magis se ipsum excitat homo ad orandum gemendumque humilius atque feruentius, et nescio quomodo, cum hi motus corporis fieri nisi motu animi praecedente non possint, eisdem rursus exterius uisibiliter factis ille interior inuisibilis qui eos fecit augetur, ac per hoc cordis affectus. qui, ut fierent ista, praecessit, quia facta sunt crescit.
But by this a man excites himself more to pray and groan more humbly and fervently; and, I know not how, since these movements of the body cannot happen without a preceding movement of the mind, yet when these same movements are again made outwardly and visibly, that interior invisible movement which made them is increased, and thereby the affection of the heart, which, having preceded so that these things might be done, grows because they have been done.
uerum tamen si eo modo quisque teneatur uel etiam ligetur, ut haec de suis membris facere nequeat, non ideo non orat interior homo et ante oculos dei in secretissimo cubili, ubi conpungitur, sternitur.
But yet, if anyone is so held or even bound that he cannot do these things with his members, the interior man does not therefore not pray, and prostrates himself before the eyes of God in the most secret chamber where he is pricked in heart.
ita etiam cum plurimum intersit, ubi ponat corpus mortui sui, qui pro spiritu eius deo supplicat, quia et praecedens affectus locum elegit sanctum et illic corpore posito recordatus locus sanctus eum qui praecesserat renouat et auget affectum, tamen etiamsi non possit ubi religiosus animus elegit humare quem diligit, nullo modo debet a supplicationibus necessariis in eius commendatione cessare.
Thus also, although it matters very much where he places the body of his dead, who supplicates God for his spirit, because both the preceding affection chose a holy place, and, the body being placed there, the remembered holy place renews and increases the affection which had preceded, yet even if he cannot bury the one he loves where his religious mind chose, he ought in no way to cease from the necessary supplications in commending him.
ubicumque enim iaceat uel non iaceat defuncti caro, spiritui requies adquirenda est, qui cum inde exiret, secum abstulit sensum, quo interesse possit quomodo quisque sit siue in bonis siue in malis, nec ab ea carne expectat adiuuari suam uitam, cui praebebat ipse uitam, quam detraxit excedens et redditurus est rediens, quoniam non caro spiritui, sed spiritus carni etiam ipsius resurrectionis meritum comparat, utrum ad poenam an ad gloriam reuiuescat.
For wherever the flesh of the deceased lies or does not lie, rest must be acquired for the spirit, which, when it went out from thence, took away with itself the sense by which it could care how anyone is, whether in good or in evil things, nor does it expect its life to be helped by that flesh to which it itself used to provide life, which it withdrew in departing and is to restore in returning, since not the flesh for the spirit, but the spirit for the flesh, procures the merit of the resurrection itself, whether it revive to punishment or to glory.
§8Legimus in ecclesiastica historia, quam graece scripsit Eusebius et in latinam linguam uertit Rufinus, martyrum corpora in Gallia canibus exposita canumque reliquias atque ossa mortuorum usque ad extremam consumptionem ignibus concremata eosdemque cineres fluuio Rhodano, ne quid ad memoriam qualemcumque relinqueretur, inspersos.
We read in the ecclesiastical history, which Eusebius wrote in Greek and Rufinus translated into the Latin tongue, that the bodies of the martyrs in Gaul were exposed to dogs, and the remains of the dogs and the bones of the dead were burned with fire even to utter consumption, and those same ashes were scattered into the river Rhone, lest anything should be left for any kind of memorial.
quod non ob aliud credendum est diuinitus fuisse permissum, nisi ut discerent christiani in confitendo Christum, dum contemnunt hanc uitam, multo magis contemnere sepulturam.
Which is to be believed to have been permitted divinely for no other reason, except that Christians might learn, in confessing Christ, while they despise this life, much more to despise burial.
hoc enim quod ingenti saeuitia de corporibus martyrum factum est, si eis quidquam noceret, quo minus beate requiescerent eorum uictoriosissimi spiritus, non utique fieri sineretur.
For if this which was done with immense cruelty to the bodies of the martyrs did any harm to them, so that the most victorious spirits of them should rest less blessedly, it would certainly not have been permitted to be done.
re ipsa ergo declaratum est non ideo dixisse dominum: nolite timere eos qui corpus occidunt et postea non habent quid faciant, quod non esset permissurus aliquid eos facere de suorum corporibus mortuorum, sed quoniam quidquid facere permissi essent, nihil quo minueretur christiana defunctorum felicitas fieret, nihil inde ad sensum post mortem uiuentium perueniret, nihil ad detrimentum saltem ipsorum corporum. quo minus integra resurgerent, pertineret.
For in reality itself it was declared that the Lord did not say: "Do not fear those who kill the body and afterward have nothing they can do," for the reason that He was not going to permit them to do anything to the bodies of His deceased servants, but because, whatever they were permitted to do, nothing would be done by which the Christian felicity of the deceased would be diminished, nothing therefrom would reach the sensation of the living after death, nothing would pertain to the detriment even of the bodies themselves, whereby they should rise less whole.