The Confession of St. Patrick
Translated from the Latin by Ludwig Bieler
I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many.
My father was Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, a priest, of the village Bannavem Taburniæ;
he had a country seat nearby, and there I was taken captive.
I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity to
Ireland with many thousands of people—and deservedly so, because we turned away from God,
and did not keep His commandments, and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our
salvation. And the Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many
nations, even unto the utmost part of the earth, where now my littleness is placed among
strangers.
And there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be
converted with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my abjection, and mercy on
my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to
distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as would a father his son.
Hence I cannot be silent—nor, indeed, is it expedient—about the great benefits and the great
grace which the lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity; for this we can
give to God in return after having been chastened by Him, to exalt and praise His wonders before
every nation that is anywhere under the heaven.
Because there is no other God, nor ever was, nor will be, than God the Father unbegotten,
without beginning, from whom is all beginning, the Lord of the universe, as we have been
taught; and His son Jesus Christ, whom we declare to have always been with the Father,
spiritually and ineffably begotten by the Father before the beginning of the world, before all
beginning; and by Him are made all things visible and invisible. He was made man, and, having
defeated death, was received into heaven by the Father; and He hath given Him all power over all
names in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess to Him that Jesus
Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe, and whose advent we expect soon to be, judge of
the living and of the dead, who will render to every man according to his deeds; and He has
poured forth upon us abundantly the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality, who makes
those who believe and obey sons of God and joint heirs with Christ; and Him do we confess and
adore, one God in the Trinity of the Holy Name.
For He Himself has said through the Prophet: Call upon me in the day of thy trouble, and I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. And again He says: It is honourable to reveal and confess
the works of God.
Although I am imperfect in many things, I nevertheless wish that my brethren and kinsmen
should know what sort of person I am, so that they may understand my heart’s desire.
I know well the testimony of my Lord, who in the Psalm declares: Thou wilt destroy them that
speak a lie. And again He says: The mouth that belieth killeth the soul. And the same Lord says
in the Gospel: Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it on the day
of judgement.
And so I should dread exceedingly, with fear and trembling, this sentence on that day when no
one will be able to escape or hide, but we all, without exception, shall have to give an account
even of our smallest sins before the judgement of the Lord Christ.
For this reason I had in mind to write, but hesitated until now; I was afraid of exposing myself to
the talk of men, because I have not studied like the others, who thoroughly imbibed law and
Sacred Scripture, and never had to change from the language of their childhood days, but were
able to make it still more perfect. In our case, what I had to say had to be translated into a tongue
foreign to me, as can be easily proved from the savour of my writing, which betrays how little
instruction and training I have had in the art of words; for, so says Scripture, by the tongue will
be discovered the wise man, and understanding, and knowledge, and the teaching of truth.
But of what help is an excuse, however true, especially if combined with presumption, since
now, in my old age, I strive for something that I did not acquire in youth? It was my sins that
prevented me from fixing in my mind what before I had barely read through. But who believes
me, though I should repeat what I started out with?
As a youth, nay, almost as a boy not able to speak, I was taken captive, before I knew what to
pursue and what to avoid. Hence to-day I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of
education; for I am unable to tell my story to those versed in the art of concise writing—in such a
way, I mean, as my spirit and mind long to do, and so that the sense of my words expresses what
I feel.
But if indeed it had been given to me as it was given to others, then I would not be silent because
of my desire of thanksgiving; and if perhaps some people think me arrogant for doing so in spite
of my lack of knowledge and my slow tongue, it is, after all, written: The stammering tongues
shall quickly learn to speak peace.
How much more should we earnestly strive to do this, we, who are, so Scripture says, a letter of
Christ for salvation unto the utmost part of the earth, and, though not an eloquent one,
yet…written in your hearts, not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God! And again the
Spirit witnesses that even rusticity was created by the Highest.
Whence I, once rustic, exiled, unlearned, who does not know how to provide for the future, this
at least I know most certainly that before I was humiliated I was like a stone Lying in the deep
mire; and He that is mighty came and in His mercy lifted me up, and raised me aloft, and placed
me on the top of the wall. And therefore I ought to cry out aloud and so also render something to
the Lord for His great benefits here and in eternity—benefits which the mind of men is unable to
appraise.
Wherefore, then, be astonished, ye great and little that fear God, and you men of letters on your
estates, listen and pore over this. Who was it that roused up me, the fool that I am, from the midst
of those who in the eyes of men are wise, and expert in law, and powerful in word and in
everything? And He inspired me—me, the outcast of this world—before others, to be the man (if
only I could!) who, with fear and reverence and without blame, should faithfully serve the people
to whom the love of Christ conveyed and gave me for the duration of my life, if I should be
worthy; yes indeed, to serve them humbly and sincerely.
In the light, therefore, of our faith in the Trinity I must make this choice, regardless of danger I
must make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, without fear and frankly I must
spread everywhere the name of God so that after my decease I may leave a bequest to my
brethren and sons whom I have baptised in the Lord—so many thousands of people.
And I was not worthy, nor was I such that the Lord should grant this to His servant; that after my
misfortunes and so great difficulties, after my captivity, after the lapse of so many years, He
should give me so great a grace in behalf of that nation—a thing which once, in my youth, I
never expected nor thought of.
But after I came to Ireland—every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed—the
love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my
spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as
many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I
used to get up for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no
harm, and there was no sloth in me—as I now see, because the spirit within me was then fervent.
And there one night I heard in my sleep a voice saying to me: `It is well that you fast, soon you
will go to your own country.’ And again, after a short while, I heard a voice saying to me: `See,
your ship is ready.’ And it was not near, but at a distance of perhaps two hundred miles, and I had
never been there, nor did I know a living soul there; and then I took to flight, and I left the man
with whom I had stayed for six years. And I went in the strength of God who directed my way to
my good, and I feared nothing until I came to that ship.
And the day that I arrived the ship was set afloat, and I said that I was able to pay for my passage
with them. But the captain was not pleased, and with indignation he answered harshly: `It is of
no use for you to ask us to go along with us.’ And when I heard this, I left them in order to return
to the hut where I was staying. And as I went, I began to pray; and before I had ended my prayer,
I heard one of them shouting behind me, `Come, hurry, we shall take you on in good faith; make
friends with us in whatever way you like.’ And so on that day I refused to suck their breasts for
fear of God, but rather hoped they would come to the faith of Jesus Christ, because they were
pagans. And thus I had my way with them, and we set sail at once.
And after three days we reached land, and for twenty-eight days we travelled through deserted
country. And they lacked food, and hunger overcame them; and the next day the captain said to
me: `Tell me, Christian: you say that your God is great and all-powerful; why, then, do you not
pray for us? As you can see, we are suffering from hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever
see a human being again.’
I said to them full of confidence: `Be truly converted with all your heart to the Lord my God,
because nothing is impossible for Him, that this day He may send you food on your way until
you be satisfied; for He has abundance everywhere.’ And, with the help of God, so it came to
pass: suddenly a herd of pigs appeared on the road before our eyes, and they killed many of
them; and there they stopped for two nights and fully recovered their strength, and their hounds
received their fill for many of them had grown weak and were half-dead along the way. And
from that day they had plenty of food. They also found wild honey, and offered some of it to me,
and one of them said: `This we offer in sacrifice.’ Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.
That same night, when I was asleep, Satan assailed me violently, a thing I shall remember as long
as I shall be in this body. And he fell upon me like a huge rock, and I could not stir a limb. But
whence came it into my mind, ignorant as I am, to call upon Helias? And meanwhile I saw the
sun rise in the sky, and while I was shouting `Helias! Helias’ with all my might, suddenly the
splendour of that sun fell on me and immediately freed me of all misery. And I believe that I was
sustained by Christ my Lord, and that His Spirit was even then crying out in my behalf, and I
hope it will be so on the day of my tribulation, as is written in the Gospel: On that day, the Lord
declares, it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.
And once again, after many years, I fell into captivity. On that first night I stayed with them, I
heard a divine message saying to me: `Two months will you be with them.’ And so it came to
pass: on the sixtieth night thereafter the Lord delivered me out of their hands.
Also on our way God gave us food and fire and dry weather every day, until, on the tenth day, we
met people. As I said above, we travelled twenty-eight days through deserted country, and the
night that we met people we had no food left.
And again after a few years I was in Britain with my people. who received me as their son, and
sincerely besought me that now at last, having suffered so many hardships, I should not leave
them and go elsewhere.
And there I saw in the night the vision of a man, whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were
from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them, and I read the opening words
of the letter, which were, `The voice of the Irish’; and as I read the beginning of the letter I
thought that at the same moment I heard their voice—they were those beside the Wood of
Voclut, which is near the Western Sea—and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: `We ask
thee, boy, come and walk among us once more.’
And I was quite broken in heart, and could read no further, and so I woke up. Thanks be to God,
after many years the Lord gave to them according to their cry.
And another night—whether within me, or beside me, I know not, God knoweth—they called me
most unmistakably with words which I heard but could not understand, except that at the end of
the prayer He spoke thus: `He that has laid down His life for thee, it is He that speaketh in thee’;
and so I awoke full of joy.
And again I saw Him praying in me, and I was as it were within my body, and I heard Him above
me, that is, over the inward man, and there He prayed mightily with groanings. And all the time I
was astonished, and wondered, and thought with myself who it could be that prayed in me. But at
the end of the prayer He spoke, saying that He was the Spirit; and so I woke up, and remembered
the Apostle saying: The Spirit helpeth the infirmities of our prayer. For we know not what we
should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings,
which cannot be expressed in words; and again: The Lord our advocate asketh for us.
And when I was attacked by a number of my seniors who came forth and brought up my sins
against my laborious episcopate, on that day indeed was I struck so that I might have fallen now
and for eternity; but the Lord graciously spared the stranger and sojourner for His name and
came mightily to my help in this affliction Verily, not slight was the shame and blame that fell
upon me! I ask God that it may not be reckoned to them as sin.
As cause for proceeding against me they found—after thirty years!—a confession I had made
before I was a deacon. In the anxiety of my troubled mind I confided to my dearest friend what I
had done in my boyhood one day, nay, in one hour, because I was not yet strong. I know not,
God knoweth—whether I was then fifteen years old: and I did not believe in the living God, nor
did I so from my childhood, but lived in death and unbelief until I was severely chastised and
really humiliated, by hunger and nakedness, and that daily.
On the other hand, I did not go to Ireland of my own accord. not until I had nearly perished; but
this was rather for my good, for thus was I purged by the Lord; and He made me fit so that I
might be now what was once far from me that I should care and labour for the salvation of
others, whereas then I did not even care about myself.
On that day, then, when I was rejected by those referred to and mentioned above, in that night I
saw a vision of the night. There was a writing without honour against my face, and at the same
time I heard God’s voice saying to me: `We have seen with displeasure the face of Deisignatus’
(thus revealing his name). He did not say, `Thou hast seen.’ but `We have seen.’ as if He included
Himself, as He sayeth: He who toucheth you toucheth as it were the apple of my eye.
Therefore I give Him thanks who hath strengthened me in everything, as He did not frustrate the
journey upon which I had decided, and the work which I had learned from Christ my Lord; but I
rather felt after this no little strength, and my trust was proved right before God and men.
And so I say boldly, my conscience does not blame me now or in the future: God is my witness
that I have not lied in the account which I have given you.
But the more am I sorry for my dearest friend that we had to hear what he said. To him I had
confided my very soul! And I was told by some of the brethren before that defence—at which I
was not present, nor was I in Britain, nor was it suggested by me—that he would stand up for me
in my absence. He had even said to me in person: `Look, you should be raised to the rank of
bishop!’—of which I was not worthy. But whence did it come to him afterwards that he let me
down before all, good and evil, and publicly, in a matter in which he had favoured me before
spontaneously and gladly—and not he alone, but the Lord, who is greater than all?
Enough of this. I must not, however, hide God’s gift which He bestowed upon me in the land of
my captivity; because then I earnestly sought Him, and there I found Him, and He saved me from
all evil because—so I believe—of His Spirit that dwelleth in me. Again, boldly said. But God
knows it, had this been said to me by a man, I had perhaps remained silent for the love of Christ.
Hence, then, I give unwearied thanks to God, who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation,
so that today I can confidently offer Him my soul as a living sacrifice—to Christ my Lord, who
saved me out of all my troubles. Thus I can say: `Who am I, 0 Lord, and to what hast Thou called
me, Thou who didst assist me with such divine power that to-day I constantly exalt and magnify
Thy name among the heathens wherever I may be, and not only in good days but also in
tribulations?’ So indeed I must accept with equanimity whatever befalls me, be it good or evil,
and always give thanks to God, who taught me to trust in Him always without hesitation, and
who must have heard my prayer so that I, however ignorant I was, in the last days dared to
undertake such a holy and wonderful work—thus imitating somehow those who, as the Lord
once foretold, would preach His Gospel for a testimony to all nations before the end of the world.
So we have seen it, and so it has been fulfilled: indeed, we are witnesses that the Gospel has been
preached unto those parts beyond which there lives nobody.
Now, it would be tedious to give a detailed account of all my labours or even a part of them. Let
me tell you briefly how the merciful God often freed me from slavery and from twelve dangers in
which my life was at stake—not to mention numerous plots, which I cannot express in words; for
I do not want to bore my readers. But God is my witness, who knows all things even before they
come to pass, as He used to forewarn even me, poor wretch that I am, of many things by a divine
message.
How came I by this wisdom, which was not in me, who neither knew the number of my days nor
knew what God was? Whence was given to me afterwards the gift so great, so salutary—to know
God and to love Him, although at the price of leaving my country and my parents?
And many gifts were offered to me in sorrow and tears, and I offended the donors, much against
the wishes of some of my seniors; but, guided by God, in no way did I agree with them or
acquiesce. It was not grace of my own, but God, who is strong in me and resists them all—as He
had done when I came to the people of Ireland to preach the Gospel, and to suffer insult from the
unbelievers, hearing the reproach of my going abroad, and many persecutions even unto bonds,
and to give my free birth for the benefit of others; and, should I be worthy, I am prepared to give
even my life without hesitation and most gladly for His name, and it is there that I wish to spend
it until I die, if the Lord would grant it to me.
For I am very much God’s debtor, who gave me such grace that many people were reborn in God
through me and afterwards confirmed, and that clerics were ordained for them everywhere, for a
people just coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the utmost parts of the earth, as He
once had promised through His prophets: To Thee the gentiles shall come from the ends of the
earth and shall say: `How false are the idols that our fathers got for themselves, and there is no
profit in them’; and again: `I have set Thee as a light among the gentiles, that Thou mayest be for
salvation unto the utmost part of the earth.’
And there I wish to wait for His promise who surely never deceives, as He promises in the
Gospel: They shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob—as we believe the faithful will come from all the world.
For that reason, therefore, we ought to fish well and diligently, as the Lord exhorts in advance
and teaches, saying: Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men. And again He
says through the prophets: Behold, I send many fishers and hunters, saith God, and so on. Hence
it was most necessary to spread our nets so that a great multitude and throng might be caught for
God, and that there be clerics everywhere to baptize and exhort a people in need and want, as the
Lord in the Gospel states, exhorts and teaches, saying: Going therefore now, teach ye all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days even to
the consummation of the world. And again He says: Go ye therefore into the whole world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be condemned. And again: This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the end. And so too the Lord
announces through the prophet, and says: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, saith the
Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And
upon my servants indeed, and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my Spirit, and
they shall prophesy. And in Osee, He saith: `I will call that which was not my people, my people;
…and her that had not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy. And it shall be in the place
where it was said: “You are not my people,’ there they shall be called the sons of the living
God.’
Hence, how did it come to pass in Ireland that those who never had a knowledge of God, but
until now always worshipped idols and things impure, have now been made a people of the Lord,
and are called sons of God, that the sons and daughters of the kings of the Irish are seen to be
monks and virgins of Christ?
Among others, a blessed Irishwoman of noble birth, beautiful, full-grown, whom I had baptized,
came to us after some days for a particular reason: she told us that she had received a message
from a messenger of God, and he admonished her to be a virgin of Christ and draw near to God.
Thanks be to God, on the sixth day after this she most laudably and eagerly chose what all
virgins of Christ do. Not that their fathers agree with them: no—they often ever suffer
persecution and undeserved reproaches from their parents; and yet their number is ever
increasing. How many have been reborn there so as to be of our kind, I do not know—not to
mention widows and those who practice continence.
But greatest is the suffering of those women who live in slavery. All the time they have to endure
terror and threats. But the Lord gave His grace to many of His maidens; for, though they are
forbidden to do so, they follow Him bravely.
Wherefore, then, even if I wished to leave them and go to Britain—and how I would have loved
to go to my country and my parents, and also to Gaul in order to visit the brethren and to see the
face of the saints of my Lord! God knows it! that I much desired it; but I am bound by the Spirit,
who gives evidence against me if I do this, telling me that I shall be guilty; and I am afraid of
losing the labour which I have begun—nay, not I, but Christ the Lord who bade me come here
and stay with them for the rest of my life, if the Lord will, and will guard me from every evil way
that I may not sin before Him.
This, I presume, I ought to do, but I do not trust myself as long as I am in this body of death, for
strong is he who daily strives to turn me away from the faith and the purity of true religion to
which I have devoted myself to the end of my I life to Christ my Lord. But the hostile flesh is
ever dragging us unto death, that I is, towards the forbidden satisfaction of one’s desires; and I
know that in part I did not lead a perfect life as did the other faithful; but I acknowledge it to my!
Lord, and do not blush before Him, because I lie not: from the time I came to know Him in my
youth, the love of God and the fear of Him have grown in me, and up to now, thanks to the grace
of God, I have kept the faith.
And let those who will, laugh and scorn—I shall not be silent; nor shall I hide the signs and
wonders which the Lord has shown me many years before they came to pass, as He knows
everything even before the times of the world.
Hence I ought unceasingly to give thanks to God who often pardoned my folly and my
carelessness, and on more than one occasion spared His great wrath on me, who was chosen to be
His helper and who was slow to do as was shown me and as the Spirit suggested. And the Lord
had mercy on me thousands and thousands of times because He saw that I was ready, but that I
did not know what to do in the circumstances. For many tried to prevent this my mission; they
would even talk to each other behind my back and say: `Why does this fellow throw himself into
danger among enemies who have no knowledge of God?’ It was not malice, but it did not appeal
to them because—and to this I own myself—of my rusticity. And I did not realize at once the
grace that was then in me; now I understand that I should have done so before.
Now I have given a simple account to my brethren and fellow servants who have believed me
because of what I said and still say in order to strengthen and confirm your faith. Would that you,
too, would strive for greater things and do better! This will be my glory, for a wise son is the
glory of his father.
You know, and so does God, how I have lived among you from my youth in the true faith and in
sincerity of heart. Likewise, as regards the heathen among whom I live, I have been faithful to
them, and so I shall be. God knows it, I have overreached none of them, nor would I think of
doing so, for the sake of God and His Church, for fear of raising persecution against them and all
of us, and for fear that through me the name of the Lord be blasphemed; for it is written: Woe to
the man through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed.
For although I be rude in all things, nevertheless I have tried somehow to keep myself safe, and
that, too, for my Christian brethren, and the virgins of Christ, and the pious women who of their
own accord made me gifts and laid on the altar some of their ornaments and I gave them back to
them, and they were offended that I did so. But I did it for the hope of lasting success—in order
to preserve myself cautiously in everything so that they might not seize upon me or the ministry
of my service, under the pretext of dishonesty, and that I would not even in the smallest matter
give the infidels an opportunity to defame or defile.
When I baptized so many thousands of people, did I perhaps expect from any of them as much as
half a scruple? Tell me, and I will restore it to you. Or when the Lord ordained clerics
everywhere through my unworthy person and I conferred the ministry upon them free, if I asked
any of them as much as the price of my shoes, speak against me and I will return it to you.
On the contrary, I spent money for you that they might receive me; and I went to you and
everywhere for your sake in many dangers, even to the farthest districts, beyond which there
lived nobody and where nobody had ever come to baptize, or to ordain clergy, or to confirm the
people. With the grace of the Lord, I did everything lovingly and gladly for your salvation.
All the while I used to give presents to the kings, besides the fees I paid to their sons who travel
with me. Even so they laid hands on me and my companions, and on that day they eagerly
wished to kill me; but my time had not yet come. And everything they found with us they took
away, and me they put in irons; and on the fourteenth day the Lord delivered me from their
power, and our belongings were returned to us because of God and our dear friends whom we
had seen before.
You know how much I paid to those who administered justice in all those districts to which I
came frequently. I think I distributed among them not less than the price of fifteen men, so that
you might enjoy me, and I might always enjoy you in God. I am not sorry for it—indeed it is not
enough for me; I still spend and shall spend more. God has power to grant me afterwards that I
myself may be spent for your souls.
Indeed, I call God to witness upon my soul that I lie not; neither, I hope, am I writing to you in
order to make this an occasion of flattery or covetousness, nor because I look for honour from
any of you. Sufficient is the honour that is not yet seen but is anticipated in the heart. Faithful is
He that promised; He never lieth.
But I see myself exalted even in the present world beyond measure by the Lord, and I was not
worthy nor such that He should grant me this. I know perfectly well, though not by my own
judgement, that poverty and misfortune becomes me better than riches and pleasures. For Christ
the Lord, too, was poor for our sakes; and I, unhappy wretch that I am, have no wealth even if I
wished for it. Daily I expect murder, fraud, or captivity, or whatever it may be; but I fear none of
these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God
Almighty, who rules everywhere, as the prophet says: Cast thy thought upon God, and He shall
sustain thee.
So, now I commend my soul to my faithful God, for whom I am an ambassador in all my
wretchedness; but God accepteth no person, and chose me for this office—to be, although among
His least, one of His ministers.
Hence let me render unto Him for all He has done to me. But what can I say or what can I
promise to my Lord, as I can do nothing that He has not given me? May He search the hearts and
deepest feelings; for greatly and exceedingly do I wish, and ready I was, that He should give me
His chalice to drink, as He gave it also to the others who loved Him.
Wherefore may God never permit it to happen to me that I should lose His people which He
purchased in the utmost parts of the world. I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign
that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.
And if ever I have done any good for my God whom I love, I beg Him to grant me that I may
shed my blood with those exiles and captives for His name, even though I should be denied a
grave, or my body be woefully torn to pieces limb by limb by hounds or wild beasts, or the fowls
of the air devour it. I am firmly convinced that if this should happen to me, I would have gained
my soul together with my body, because on that day without doubt we shall rise in the brightness
of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as sons of the living God and joint
heirs with Christ, to be made conformable to His image; for of Him, and by Him, and in Him we
shall reign.
For this sun which we see rises daily for us because He commands so, but it will never reign, nor
will its splendour last; what is more, those wretches who adore it will be miserably punished. Not
so we, who believe in, and wors