Examples from the Bible and Saints who refused to commit mortal sin

October 29, 2021 • 2 min

From The Sinner’s Guide, page 319

Holy Scripture gives us a glorious example of this constancy in the mother of the seven sons, whom she exhorted to die manfully, and whose martyrdom she heroically witnessed before she gave up her own life for the law. [2 Mach. vii.]

Equally sublime was the fortitude of Felicitas and Symphorosa, who lived in the early age of the Church, and who had also seven sons each. These intrepid soldiers of Christ were present at the martyrdom of their children, and in accents of sublime courage besought them to endure their tortures with constancy. They had the heavenly consolation of seeing them die for Christ, and then, with a heroism born only of faith, they yielded their own lives to complete the sacrifice.

In his Life of St. Paul, the first hermit, St. Jerome tells of a young man whom, after the tyrants had vainly used many means to force him to sin, they finally bound in so helpless a condition that he could not escape from the wretched creature whom they brought to him to tempt him. Yet his courage failed him not, but, biting off his tongue, which they could not bind, he spat it into the face of his tempter, who fled in dismay. In this he was doubtlessly inspired by the Holy Ghost, as were so many of the Saints, who by every kind of bodily suffering subdued the violence of passions which would lead them to offend God.

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