§pr#2Nec non et illud consilium, frater carissime, utile et salubre prospexi in exhortatione tam necessaria quae martyras faciat amputandas esse uerborum nostrorum moras et tardidates adque ambages sermonis humani subtrahendas, ponenda illa sola quae Deus loquitur, quibus seruos suos ad martyrium Christus hortatur.
also, dearest brother, I have found that plan useful and salutary in an exhortation so necessary for making martyrs, that the delays and tardiness of our words should be cut off, and the ambages of human speech removed, and only those things put forward which God speaks, by which Christ exhorts His servants to martyrdom.
praecepta ipsa diuina uelut arma pugnantibus suggerenda sunt.
The divine precepts themselves must be suggested to those who fight, as if they were weapons.
illa sint militaris tubae hortamenta, illa pugnantibus classica.
Let those be the exhortations of the military trumpet, those the signals for those who fight.
inde aures erigantur, inde instruantur mentes, inde et animi et corporis uires ad omnem passionis tolerantiam roborentur.
Thence let the ears be pricked up, thence let the minds be prepared, thence let the strength of both soul and body be fortified for all tolerance of suffering.
nos tantum qui Domino permittente primum baptisma credentibus dedimus ad aliud quoque singulos praeparemus insinuantes et docentes hoc esse baptisma in gratia maius, in potestate sublimius, in honore pretiosius, baptisma in quo angeli baptizant, baptisma in quo Deus et Christus eius exultant, baptisma post quod nemo iam peccat, baptisma quod fidei nostrae incrementa consummat, baptisma quod nos de mundo recedentes statim Deo copulat.
We only, who by the Lord's permission have given the first baptism to believers, let us prepare each one for another as well, insinuating and teaching that this is a baptism greater in grace, loftier in power, more precious in honor, a baptism in which angels baptize, a baptism in which God and His Christ rejoice, a baptism after which no one sins anymore, a baptism which completes the growth of our faith, a baptism which, as we depart from the world, immediately joins us to God.
in aquae baptismo accipiuntur peccatorum remissa, in sanguinis corona uirtutum.
In the baptism of water, the remission of sins is received; in the crown of blood, the crown of virtues.
amplectenda res est et optanda et omnibus postulationum nostrarum precibus expetenda, ut qui serui Dei fuimus simus et amici.
It is a thing to be embraced and desired, and to be sought with all the prayers of our petitions, so that we who have been servants of God may also be His friends.
In exhortandis itaque ac parandis fratribus nostris et uirtutis ac fidei firmitate ad praeconium dominicae confessionis adque ad proelium persecutionis et passionis armandis primo in loco dicendum est:
I. Idola deos non esse quae homo sibi faciat — neque enim quae fiunt factore suo et fabricatore maiora sunt, aut protegere et seruare quemquam possunt quae ipsa de templis suis pereunt, nisi ab homine seruentur — sed nec elementa colenda esse quae homini secundum dispositionem et praeceptum Dei seruiunt.
Therefore, in exhorting and preparing our brethren, and in arming them with the firmness of virtue and faith for the declaration of the Lord's confession and for the battle of persecution and suffering, in the first place it must be said: I. That idols are not gods which man makes for himself—for neither are those things which are made greater than their maker and fabricator, nor can those things protect and preserve anyone which themselves perish from their temples unless they are preserved by man—and that neither are the elements to be worshipped which serve man according to the disposition and precept of God.
II. Destructis idolis et elementorum ratione monstrata ostendendum Deum solum colendum esse.
II. That when the idols are destroyed and the system of the elements is demonstrated, it must be shown that God alone is to be worshipped.
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III. Tunc addendum quae comminatio Dei sit aduersus eos qui idolis sacrificant.
III. Then must be added what is the threat of God against those who sacrifice to idols.
IIII. Praeterea docendum non facile ignoscere Deum idololatris.
IIII. Moreover, it must be taught that God does not easily forgive idolaters.
V. Et quod sic idololatriae indignetur Deus, ut praeceperit etiam eos interfici qui sacrificare et seruire idolis suaserint.
V. And that God is so indignant at idolatry that He has commanded even those to be slain who persuade others to sacrifice and serve idols.
VI. Subiungendum post haec quod redempti et uiuificati Christi sanguine nihil Christo praeponere debeamus, quia nec ille quicquam nobis praeposuerit et ille propter nos mala bonis praetulerit, paupertatem diuitiis, seruitutem dominationi, mortem inmortalitati, nos contra in passionibus nostris paupertati saeculari paradisi diuitias et delicias praeferamus, dominatum et regnum aeternum temporariae seruituti, immortalitatem morti, Deum et Christum diabolo et antichristo.
VI. After these things it must be subjoined that we who are redeemed and quickened by the blood of Christ ought to prefer nothing to Christ, because neither did He prefer anything to us, and He for our sake preferred bad things to good things, poverty to riches, servitude to dominion, death to immortality, while we, on the contrary, in our sufferings, should prefer the riches and delights of paradise to secular poverty, an eternal dominion and kingdom to temporary servitude, immortality to death, and God and Christ to the devil and antichrist.
VII. Insinuandum quoque ne erepti de faucibus diaboli et laqueis saeculi liberati, si in angustiis et pressuris esse coeperint, regredi denuo ad saeculum uelint et perdant quod euaserint.
VII. It must also be insinuated that those who have been snatched from the jaws of the devil and set free from the snares of the world, if they begin to be in straits and oppressions, should not wish to return again to the world and lose what they have escaped.
VIII. Insistendum potius esse et perseuerandum in fide et uirtute et caelestis ac spiritalis gratiae consummatione, ut ad palmam et coronam possit perueniri.
VIII. Rather, we must insist and persevere in faith and virtue and in the consummation of heavenly and spiritual grace, so that the palm and the crown may be reached.
VIIII. Ad hoc enim pressuras et persecutiones fieri ut probemur.
VIIII. For that oppressions and persecutions take place for this purpose, that we may be tested.
X. Nec timendas esse iniurias et poenas persecutionum, quia maior est Dominus ad protegendum quam diabolus ad inpugnandum.
X. Nor are the injuries and punishments of persecutions to be feared, because the Lord is greater to protect than the devil to attack.
XI. Ac ne expauescat quis et conturbetur ad pressuras et persecutiones quas patimur in isto mundo, probandum \'ante praedictum esse quod nos mundus odio habiturus esset et quod persecutiones aduersum nos excitaret, ut ex hoc ipso quod haec fiant manifesta sit fides diuinae pollicitationis in mercedibus et praemiis postmodum secuturis, nec nouum quid accidat christians, quando ab initio mundi boni laborauerint et oppressi adque occisi sint iusti ab iniustis.
XI. And lest anyone should be terrified and troubled at the oppressions and persecutions which we suffer in this world, it must be proved that it was foretold before that the world would hold us in hatred and would stir up persecutions against us, so that from this very fact that these things happen, the faith of the divine promise in the rewards and prizes afterwards to follow may be made manifest; nor does anything new happen to Christians, since from the beginning of the world the good have labored and the just have been oppressed and slain by the just.
XII. In nouissima parte ponendum quae spes et quae merces maneat iustos et martyras post conflictationes huius temporis et passiones.
XII. In the last part it must be set down what hope and what reward await the just and the martyrs after the conflicts and sufferings of this time.
XIII. Et quod plus accepturi simus in passionis remuneratione quam quod hic sustinemus in ipsa passione.
XIII. And that we are to receive more in the remuneration of suffering than what we sustain here in the suffering itself.