Imprisonments and Exiles No One Has Heard Of

I will touch on his other points, and set down the actual words of his letter: “Although my faith was proved by imprisonments and exiles, which I suffered because of the faith at the time of the persecution by the heretics, when I was living in the holy church of Alexandria.” I only wonder that he did not add, “The prisoner of Jesus Christ,” or, “I was rescued from the lion’s mouth,” or, “I fought with beasts at Alexandria,” or, “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” [a]

What exiles, what imprisonments are these that he describes? I blush for this open falsehood. As if imprisonment and exile could be inflicted without sentences from a court! I would like to have a list of these imprisonments, and of the various provinces to which he tells us he was forced into exile. There appear to have been many imprisonments and countless exiles; so he could at least name one of them all. Let the record of his sufferings as a confessor be produced, for until now we have known nothing about them. Then we may have the satisfaction of reading out his deeds along with those of the other martyrs of Alexandria, and he may meet the people who bark at him with the words, “From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks of our Lord Jesus Christ.”