Übersetzung ausblenden
Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died

Chap. I.

The Lord has heard those supplications which you, my best beloved Donatus, ¹ pour forth in His presence all the day long, and the supplications of the rest of our brethren, who by a glorious confession have obtained an everlasting crown, the reward of their faith. Behold, all the adversaries are destroyed, and tranquillity having been re-established throughout the Roman empire, the late oppressed Church arises again, and the temple of God, overthrown by the hands of the wicked, is built with more glory than before. For God has raised up princes to rescind the impious and sanguinary edicts of the tyrants and provide for the welfare of mankind; so that now the cloud of past times is dispelled, and peace and serenity gladden all hearts. And after the furious whirlwind and black tempest, the heavens are now become calm, and the wished-for light has shone forth; and now God, the hearer of prayer, by His divine aid has lifted His prostrate and afflicted servants from the ground, has brought to an end the united devices of the wicked, and wiped off the tears from the faces of those who mourned. They who insulted over the Divinity, lie low; they who cast down the holy temple, are fallen with more tremendous ruin; and the tormentors of just men have poured out their guilty souls amidst plagues inflicted by Heaven, and amidst deserved tortures. For God delayed to punish them, that, by great and marvellous examples, He might teach posterity that He alone is God, and that with fit vengeance He executes judgment on the proud, the impious, and the persecutors. ²

Of the end of those men I have thought good to publish a narrative, that all who are afar off, and all who shall arise hereafter, may learn how the Almighty manifested His power and sovereign greatness in rooting out and utterly destroying the enemies of His name. And this will become evident, when I relate who were the persecutors of the Church from the time of its first constitution, and what were the punishments by which the divine Judge, in His severity, took vengeance on them.

Übersetzung ausblenden
De la mort des persécuteurs de l'église

I.

Le Seigneur s'est enfin laissé toucher à vos prières, mon cher Donat, et à celles de nos frères qui ont à jamais signalé leur foi par une confession glorieuse. La paix est rétablie partout, l’Eglise abattue se relève, et le temple ruiné[^1] par les impies va surpasser sa première magnificence. La providence divine nous a donné des princes[^2] qui ont aboli les sanguinaires édite des tyrans, et qui prennent soin de la vie de ces hommes qui, ayant dissipé les ténèbres des siècles passés, font luire sur nous les lumières de la paix. Après les terribles secousses d'une violente tempête, l'air se purifie et nous jouissons de la clarté désirée. Dieu tend une main secourable aux malheureux ; il essuie les larmes des affligés; ses ennemis sont terrassés; ceux qui avaient détruit son temple sont détruits eux-mêmes; ces méchants, qui tant de fois se sont enivrés du sang des chrétiens, ont rendu leurs âmes criminelles au milieu des supplices qu'ils avaient si justement mérités; car le Tout-Puissant n'avait différé leur châtiment que pour laisser un témoignage authentique qu'il n'y a qu'un Dieu, et que par des morts terribles il sait se venger de ses impies et de ses superbes adversaires. C’est de ces morts dont je prétends parler. Par la perte des ennemis du nom de Dieu, personne n'aura lieu de douter de sa majesté et de sa puissance; c'est ce que nous ferons voir, en rapportant les châtiments sévères dont le juge céleste a usé contre les auteurs des persécutions qui ont affligé l'Église depuis sa naissance.