Cornelius a Lapide: Commentary on Isaiah
The reward of the martyrs mentioning his former pupil John Ogilvie SJ
Christ, therefore, in his Passion stood unmoved, unbeaten, unshaken… as a rock against which the waves dashed themselves only to be flung back in foam. He was as the adamant which the blows of iron cannot break, but which shivers the hammer itself. So should we be on Christ’s behalf.
Such were the soldiers whom the heavenly Captain used to lead into battle. They were true as steel; they even spurred on their torturers whose hands had tired, for they counted relief but a delay in their path to Christ.
Such also was Ogilvy, a martyr in Scotland, at one time my catechumen at Louvain, and lately of our Society. It is clear from the account of his martyrdom that he astonished the Calvinists, for though unconquered by torture and still bold and ready in debate, he opened not his mouth against his tormentors.
What do deeds such as these mean to us? We praise these men like heroes, we long to be like them. But only at the altar, only in words no further than in penance. Well did John à Kempis say (as it is put in his life): ‘We like to be humble without humiliation, to be obedient without being under authority, to be poor but to lack nothing, to be virtuous without a struggle, to be loved without goodness, to be thought much of without holiness.’ But Christ our God did not, nor was this his teaching. He promised heaven to those who do violence to self; he will reward with glory and honour those who endure injury, and he will leave no evil deed unpunished.
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