11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.



Ver. 11. By the blood of the Lamb] By his merit and spirit, Christ’s blood (as Pliny saith of Polium) is a preservative against serpents.



And they loved not their lives] When one said to a certain martyr, Take heed, it is a hard matter to burn; Indeed, said he, it is for him that hath his soul linked to his body, as a thief’s foot is in a pair of fetters. (Acts and Mon.) In the days of that bloody persecutor Diocletian, Certatim gloriosa in certamina ruebatur, saith Sulpitius, multoque avidius tum martyria gloriosis mortibus quaerebantur, quam nunc Episcopatus pravis ambitionibus appetuntur. Those ancient Christians showed as glorious power in the faith of martyrdom, as in the faith of miracles; the valour of the patients and the savageness of the persecutors striving together, till both, exceeding nature and belief, bred wonder and astonishment in beholders and readers. {a} One martyr said, Can I die but once for Christ? Another, Had I as many lives as I have hairs upon mine head, they should all go. Hanc animam in flammis offero, Christe, tibi, saith Jerome of Prague.



{a} Non maiori unquam triumpho vicimus quam cum decem annorum stragibus vinci non potuimus. Sulp.