St. Andrew & Companions

THE MARTYRS’ SHARE IN CHRIST’S VICTORY
From a letter of St Paul Le-Bao-Tinh 6
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I, Paul, in chains for the name of Christ, wish to relate to you the trials
besetting me daily, in order that you may be inflamed with love for God and join
with me in his praises, “for his mercy is forever.” The prison here is a true image
of everlasting hell: to cruel tortures of every kind; shackles, iron chains, manacles;
are added hatred, vengeance, calumnies, obscene speech, quarrels, evil acts,
swearing, curses, as well as anguish and grief. But the God who once freed the
three children from the fiery furnace is with me always; he has delivered me from
these tribulations and made them sweet, “for his mercy is forever.”

In the midst of these torments, which usually terrify others, I am, by the
grace of God, full of joy and gladness, because I am not alone — Christ is with me.
Our Master bears the whole weight of the cross, leaving me only the tiniest, last
bit. He is not a mere onlooker in my struggle, but a contestant and the victor and
champion in the whole battle. Therefore upon his head is placed the crown of
victory, and his members also share in his glory.

How am I to bear with the spectacle, as each day I see emperors, mandarins,
and their retinue blaspheming your holy name, O Lord, “who are enthroned above
the Cherubim and Seraphim”? Behold, the pagans have trodden your cross
underfoot! Where is your glory? As I see all this, I would, in the ardent love I have
for you, prefer to be torn limb from limb and to die as a witness to your love. O
Lord, show your power, save me, sustain me, that in my infirmity your power may
be shown and may be glorified before the nations: grant that I may not grow weak
along the way, and so allow your enemies to hold their heads up in pride.

Beloved brothers, as you hear all these things may you give endless thanks
in joy to God, from whom every good proceeds; bless the Lord with me, “for his
mercy is forever.”… For “God chose what is weak in the world to confound the
strong, God chose what is low and despised” to confound the noble. Through my
mouth he has confused the philosophers who are disciples of the wise of this
world, “for his mercy is forever.”I write these things to you in order that your faith
and mine may be united. In the midst of this storm I cast my anchor toward the
throne of God, the anchor that is the lively hope in my heart.

Beloved brothers, for your part “so run that you may attain the crown,” put
on the “breastplate of faith” and take up “the weapons” of Christ “for the right hand
and for the left,” as my patron Saint Paul has taught us. “It is better for you to enter
life with one eye or crippled” than, with all your members intact, to be cast away.
Come to my aid with your prayers, that I may have the strength to fight according
to the law, and indeed “to fight the good fight” and to fight until the end and so
finish the race. We may not again see each other in this life, but we will have the
happiness of seeing each other again in the world to come, when, standing at the
throne of the spotless Lamb, we will together join in singing his praises and exult
for ever in the joy of our triumph.

6 Le Clerge Tonkinois et Ses Pretres Martyrs, A. Launay (Paris: Paris Foreign Mission Society, 1925), pp. 80-83.