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| Constantine's Expressions of Piety towards God; and Praise of the Confessors.
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Chapter XXIX.—Constantine’s Expressions of Piety towards
God; and Praise of the Confessors.
“I said,3185
| 3185 [“I said, under the guidance,” &c. It seems
necessary to supply some expression of this kind, in order to preserve
the sense, which is otherwise interrupted by the division (in this
instance, at least, manifestly improper) into
chapters.—Bag.] | under the
guidance of his hand; for I would desire never to be forgetful of the
gratitude due to his grace. Believing, therefore, that this most
excellent service had been confided to me as a special gift, I
proceeded as far as the regions of the East, which, being under the
pressure of severer calamities, seemed to demand still more effectual
remedies at my hands. At the same time I am most certainly persuaded
that I myself owe my life, my every breath, in short, my very inmost
and secret thoughts, entirely to the favor of the Supreme God. Now I am
well aware that they who are sincere in the pursuit of the heavenly
hope, and have fixed this hope in heaven itself as the peculiar and
predominant principle of their lives, have no need to depend on human
favor, but rather have enjoyed higher honors in proportion as they have
separated themselves from the inferior and evil things of this earthly
existence. Nevertheless I deem it incumbent on me to remove at
once and most completely from all such persons the hard necessities
laid upon them for a season, and the unjust inflictions under which
they have suffered, though free from any guilt or just liability. For
it would be strange indeed, that the fortitude and constancy of soul
displayed by such men should be fully apparent during the reign of
those whose first object it was to persecute them on account of their
devotion to God, and yet that the glory of their character should not
be more bright and blessed, under the administration of a prince who is
His servant.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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