:29] the forerunner of
Christ, and more than all the prophets, [Matt. 11:9] should have
been put to death, not indeed after a public trial, nor on a
feigned charge (as it was with Christ), nor yet for the sake of
the people; but in a dungeon, and for the sake of a dancing-girl,
daughter of an adulteress! [Matt. 14:3-11] This one Saint's
ignominious death, and his life so vilely and shamelessly given
over into the hands of his sworn and adulterous enemy, must make
ail our evil light. Where was God then, that He could look on
such things? Where was Christ, Who, hearing of it, was
altogether silent? He perished as if unknown to God, and men,
and every creature. Compared with such a death, what sufferings
have we to boast of; nay, what sufferings of which we must not
even be ashamed? And where shall we appear, if we are unwilling
to endure any suffering, when such a man endured so shameful a
death, and so undeserved, and his body, after death, was given up
to the insults of his enemies! [1 Pet. 4:18] "Behold," He saith
in Jeremiah, "behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the
cup have assuredly drunken: and art thou he that shall altogether
go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt
surely drink of it." [Jer. 49:12]

Therefore, that hermit, who was used to fall ill every year, did
well to weep and lament, when for one whole year he found himself
in sound health, because, he said, God had forsaken him and
withdrawn His grace from him. So necessary and so salutary is
the Lord's chastening for all Christians.

We see, then, that all our sufferings are as nothing, when we
consider the nails, dungeons, irons, faggots, wild beasts, and
all the endless tortures of the saints; nay, when we ponder the
afflictions of men now living, who endure in this life the most
grievous persecutions of the devil. For there is no lack of men
who are suffering more sharp and bitter pains than we, in soul as
well as in body.

But now some will say, "This is my complaint, that my suffering
cannot be compared with the sufferings of the saints; because I
am a sinner, and not worthy to be compared with them. They,
indeed, suffered because of their innocence, but I suffer because
of my sins. It is no wonder, then, that they so blithely bore
all." That is a very stupid saying. If you suffer because of your
sins, then you ought to rejoice that your sins are being purged
away. And, besides, were not the saints, too, sinners? B