§10Sed omissis quidam divinis exhortationibus illum magis Graecum versiculum saecularis sententiae sibi adhibent: Qui fugiebat, rursus proeliabitur; ut et rursus forsitan fugiat.
But omitting indeed the divine exhortations, certain people rather apply to themselves that Greek verse of worldly maxim: "He who flees will fight again"; so that he may also flee again, perhaps.
Et quando vincet qui, cum fugerit, victus est? Bonum militem Christo imperatori suo praestat qui tam plene ab apostole armatus tuba persecutionis audita diem deserit persecutionis.
And when will he conquer who, when he fled, was conquered? He presents himself as a good soldier to Christ his emperor, who, having been so fully armed by the apostle, deserts the day of persecution as soon as the trumpet of persecution is heard.
Respondebo et ego de saeculo aliquid: Usque adeone mori miserum est? Moriatur quoquo modo aut victus aut victor.
I too will answer something from the world: "Is it so very wretched a thing to die?" Let him die in any way, whether conquered or conqueror.
Nam etsi negando ceciderit, cum tormentis tamen proeliatus.
For even if he fell by denying, he nevertheless fought with torments.
Malo miserandum quam erubescendum.
I prefer one to be pitied rather than one to be blushed for.
Pulchrior est miles in pugna pilo transmissus quam in fuga salvus.
More beautiful is the soldier in battle pierced by a javelin than safe in flight.
Times hominem, Christiane, quem timeri oportet ab angelis, siquidem angelos iudicaturus es: quem timeri oportet a daemoniis, siquidem et in daemonas accepisti potestatem: quem timeri oportet ab universo mundo, siquidem et in te mundus iudicatur? Christum indutus es, siquidem in Christum tinctus es, qui fugis diabolum.
Do you fear man, Christian, who ought to be feared by angels, since you are going to judge angels; who ought to be feared by demons, since you have received power even over demons; who ought to be feared by the whole world, since the world also is judged in you? You have put on Christ, since you have been baptized into Christ, you who flee the devil.
Depretiasti Christum, qui in te est, fugitivum cum diabolo te reddidisti.
You have depreciated Christ, who is in you; you have made yourself a fugitive along with the devil.
Sed dominum fugiens exprobras omnibus fugitivis sui vanitatem consilii.
But fleeing the Lord, you reproach all fugitives with the vanity of their own counsel.
Fugerat et quidam animosus prophetes dominum, traiecerat ab Ioppe Tarsum, quasi et a deo transfretaret, sed illum non dico in mari et in terra, verum in uterum etiam bestiae invenio, in quo nec mori per triduum potuit nec vel sic deum evadere.
A certain high-spirited prophet had also fled the Lord, and had crossed over from Joppa to Tarshish, as if he could cross the sea away from God; but I find him not only on sea and on land, but truly even in the belly of a beast, in which he could neither die for three days nor even thus escape God.
Quanto melius qui sive inimicum dei timens non fugit eum, sed potius contemnit, confidens scilicet de tutela domini, sive deum reformidat quanto magis sub oculis eius astitit, dicens: Dominus est, potens est.
How much better is he who, either fearing the enemy of God, does not flee him, but rather despises him, trusting indeed in the protection of the Lord, or dreads God, so much the more stands before His eyes, saying: "The Lord exists, He is powerful.
Omnia illius sunt; ubi fuero, in manu eius sum; faciat quod vult, non discedo, et si perire me volet, ipse me perdat, dum me ego servo illi. Malo invidiam ei facere per voluntatem ipsius pereundo, quam bilem per meam evadendo.
All things are His; wherever I shall be, I am in His hand; let Him do what He wills, I do not depart, and if He should wish me to perish, let Him destroy me Himself, as long as I keep myself for Him." I prefer to bring odium upon Him by perishing through His will, than anger by escaping through my own.
§11Hoc sentire et facere omnem servum dei oportet, etiam minoris loci, ut maioris fieri possit, si quem gradum in persecutionis tolerantia ascenderit.
To feel and to do this behooves every servant of God, even of a lower rank, so that he may become of a higher one, if he should ascend any step in the endurance of persecution.
Sed cum ipsi auctores, id est ipsi diaconi et presbyteri et episcopi fugiunt, quomodo laicus intellegere poterit, qua ratione dictum: Fugite de civitate in civitatem? Itaque cum duces fugiunt, quis de gregario numero sustinebit ad gradum in acie figendum suadere? Certe quidem honus pastor animan pro pecoribus ponit, ut Moyses non domino adhuc Christo revelato et iam in se figurato ait: Si perdis hunc populum, inquit, et me pariter cum eo disperde. Ceterum Christo confirmante figuras suas ma(??)us pastor est qui viso lupo fugit et pecora diripienda derelinquit.
But when the very authors, that is, the very deacons and presbyters and bishops, flee, how will a layman be able to understand for what reason it was said: "Flee from city to city"? Therefore, when the leaders flee, who from the common rank will endure to persuade anyone to stand firm in the battle line? Certainly indeed the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, as Moses said, when the Lord Christ was not yet revealed and yet already prefigured in him: "If You destroy this people," he said, "destroy me also likewise along with them." Moreover, since Christ has confirmed His own prefigurations, he is a bad shepherd who, on seeing the wolf, flees and leaves the sheep to be plundered.
Proicietur de villa pastor huiusmodi, detinebuntur illi missionis suae mercedes in compensationem, immo et de priore peculio eius exigetur detrimenti domini(??)i restitutio.
A shepherd of this kind will be cast out of the estate, the wages of his discharge will be withheld in compensation, nay, even the restoration of the master's loss will be demanded from his former private property.
Etenim qui habet, dabitur ei, ab eo autem, qui non habet, etiam quod videtur habere auferetur.
For to him who has, it shall be given, but from him who has not, even what he seems to have shall be taken away.
Sic Zacharias comminatur: Ex(??)ge (??)homphaea in pastores et evellite oves, et superdueam m(??)num meam in pastores. In quos et Ezechiel et Hieremias iisdem minis perorant, quod non tantum de pecoribus improbe vescantur pascentes potius semetipses, verum et dispersum gregem faciant et in praedam esse omnibus bestiis agri, dum non est pastor illis.
Thus Zechariah threatens: "Arise, sword, against the shepherds, and pluck away the sheep, and I will bring My hand upon the shepherds." Against whom Ezekiel and Jeremiah also declaim with the same threats, because they not only feed improperly on the sheep, feeding rather themselves, but also make the flock dispersed, and to be for a prey to all the beasts of the field, while there is no shepherd for them.
Quod numquam magis fit, quam cum in persecutione destituitur ecclesia a clero.
Which never happens more than when, in persecution, the church is abandoned by the clergy.
Si et spiritum quis agnoverit, audiet fugitivos denotantem.
If anyone also acknowledges the Spirit, he will hear Him marking out the fugitives.
Porro si eos qui gregi praesunt fugere, cum lupi irruunt, nec decet, immo nec licet (qui enim talem pastorem malum pronuntiavit, utique damnavit, omne autem quod damnatur, illicitum factum est sine dubio), ideo praepositos ecclesiae in persecutione fugere non oportebit.
Furthermore, if it neither becomes nor indeed is allowed for those who are in charge of the flock to flee when the wolves rush in (for He who pronounced such a shepherd bad, surely condemned him; and everything that is condemned is without doubt made unlawful), therefore it will not be proper for the leaders of the church to flee in persecution.
Ceterum si grex fugere deberet, non deberet praepositus gregis stare, sine causa staturus ad tutelam gregis, quam grex non desideraret, ex licentia fugae scilicet.
Otherwise, if the flock ought to flee, the leader of the flock ought not to stand, since he would stand without cause for the protection of the flock, which the flock would not desire, namely on account of the permission of flight.