Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Treatise 3

Behold, most beloved brothers, peace has been restored to the Church, and what once seemed impossible to the unbelieving and the faithless — our security — has been repaired by divine aid and vengeance; minds are turning back to joy, the storm of oppression and the cloud have been dispersed, and tranquility and serenity now shine forth. Praises must be given to God, and His benefits and gifts celebrated with thanksgiving, for our voice never ceased giving thanks even in the midst of persecution. Indeed, the enemy cannot be so powerful that we, who love the Lord with our whole heart, soul, and strength, would fail to proclaim His blessings and praises always and everywhere with glory.

The day longed for by all has arrived, and after the horrible, dark night the world has shone radiant with the Lord's light. We gaze upon the confessors with joyful faces, clinging to them with holy kisses and embracing those we have yearned for with an insatiable desire. The white cohort of Christ's soldiers stands before us, having broken the fierce fury of persecution through a steadfast confrontation, prepared for the patience of prison and armed for the tolerance of death. You have resisted the world mightily, offered a glorious spectacle to God, and become an example for the brothers who will follow.

The religious voice has spoken of Christ, confessing that it once believed in Him. Illustrious hands, accustomed only to divine works, have refused sacrilegious sacrifices. Mouths sanctified by the heavenly food of the Lord's body and blood have rejected profane contagions and the remnants of idols. Your head, freed from the impious and wicked veil that covered the heads of those who sacrificed, remains free; your forehead, marked with the sign of God, could not bear the devil's crown but has reserved itself for the Lord's crown. How joyfully the mother Church receives you, returning from battle, into her bosom! How blessed and joyful she opens her gates so that you may enter with assembled troops, bearing trophies from the defeated enemy! With the triumphant men come women who, fighting the world, have also conquered their own sex; virgins arrive with a double glory of their warfare, and children surpass their years through virtue. The multitude of the rest who stand follows your glory, tracing your footsteps with insignia of praise closely joined. The same sincerity of heart and the same tenacity of faith dwell in them. Rooted in the unshaken roots of heavenly precepts and strengthened by evangelical traditions, they were not terrified by prescribed exiles, destined torments, loss of family, or bodily punishments. Days were appointed to test their faith, yet whoever remembers that he has renounced the world knows no day of the world, and he who hopes for eternity from God no longer calculates earthly times.

No one, most beloved brothers, should mutilate this glory, nor should anyone weaken the incorrupt firmness of those who stand with malignant detraction. When the day appointed for those who deny has passed, whoever has not professed within that day has confessed to being a Christian. The first title of victory is to confess the Lord, seized by the hands of the Gentiles; the second step toward glory is to be reserved for the Lord by a cautious withdrawal. The former is a public confession, the latter a private one. The public confession conquers the judge of the world, while the private confession, content with God as its judge, preserves a pure conscience through integrity of heart. In the public confession fortitude is more prompt; in the private confession solicitude is more secure. The public confessor, with his hour approaching, has already been found mature; the private confessor, perhaps delayed, who abandoned his patrimony and withdrew because he would not deny, would certainly have confessed if he had also been detained.