suffered] for Christ. Thence can one well see what we feel in the
present case, and in the occasions that we have in hand. I will quote
his words here, for they are a consolation for all those who are liable
to lose their lives, in the sea or in the mountains, because of the
preaching of the holy gospel and the persecution of the enemies of
the gospel. _Si fugientem in solitudine ac montibus latro oppresserit,
fera invaserit, fames aut sitis aut frigus afflixerit, vel per maria
praecipiti navigatione properantem tempestas ac procella submerserit
spectat militem suum Christus ubicunque pugnantem, et persecutionis
causa pro nominis sui honore morienti praemium reddit quod daturum se
in resurectione promisit. Nec minor est martyrii gloria non publica et
[non] inter multos perisse cum pereundi causa sit propter Christum
perire. Sufficit ad testimoniam martyrii fui [sc. fuisse] testis
ille qui probat martyres et coronat._ [23] This is sufficient for a
letter, although other testimonials of the saints could be adduced,
which show that the institution of martyrdom made by Christ our Lord
was not the narrow thing of which certain scholastics speak. Father
Teofilo Raynaudo [24] of our Society, in the book that he published,
_De martyrio per pestem_, in the year 1630, proves in a very learned
and wise manner that those who die through the exercise of the works
of charity with the sufferers of the pest are really and truly, and can
be called, martyrs. And clearly it is not less to give one's life than
to exercise spiritual works of charity, for one's neighbors. Hence we
ought to endure in this particular, for Christ our Lord, _in bonitate
et liberalitate_, [25] and since for other lesser works--as leaving
father and mother, or positions, etc., for Him--Christ our Lord chose
to give as a reward so much in this life, and afterward eternal life,
as He said through St. Mark, in the 10th chapter: _Centies tantum in
tempore hoc et in saeculo futuro vitam aeternam_. [26] The most heroic
and lofty work was necessarily the giving of one's life for the same
cause; and that loss will not give, to him who serves, another reward
here, but the reward of eternal life is reserved for the world to come,
and with a special diadem. Then may we be consoled, my fathers, in
our missions and voyages, if we lose our lives therein in the service
of Christ for the preaching of His holy gospel; since according to
His royal promise He always maintains it assur