Homilies on the Statues

^19. It is tried gold! Try it as you desire, examine it as you wish, you will not find in it any dross. This shows us not only the fortitude of others, but also brings much farther consolation; for what says Christ, “Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” Again, Paul writing to the Macedonians in his desire to console them, says, “For you, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which are in Judea. For you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews.” And again, he consoles the Hebrews in like manner, reckoning up all the just who had lived in furnaces; in pits; in deserts; in mountains; in caves; in hunger; and in poverty. For communion of suffering brings some consolation to the fallen.