Separation from the World

Exinde segregati estis ab ipso mundo, quanto magis a saeculo rebusque eius? Nec hoc vos consternet, quod segregati estis a mundo. Si enim recogitemus ipsum magis mundum carcerem esse, exisse vos e carcere, quam in carcerem introisse, intellegemus. Maiores tenebras habet mundus, quae hominum praecordia excaecant. Graviores catenas induit mundus, quae ipsas animas hominum constringunt. Peiores immunditias exspirat mundus, libidines hominum. Plures postremo mundus reos continet, scilicet universum hominum genus. Iudicia denique non proconsulis, sed Dei sustinet.Quo vos, benedicti, de carcere in custodiarium, si forte, translatos existimetis. Habet tenebras, sed lumen estis ipsi; habet vincula, sed vos soluti Deo estis. Triste illic exspirat, sed vos odor estis suavitatis. Iudex exspectatur, sed vos estis de iudicibus ipsis iudicaturi. Contristetur illic qui fructum saeculi suspirat. Christianus etiam extra carcerem saeculo renuntiavit, in carcere autem etiam carceri. Nihil interest, ubi sitis in saeculo, qui extra saeculum estis. Et si aliqua amisistis vitae gaudia: negotiatio est aliquid amittere, ut maiora lucreris. Tertullianus, Ad Martyres

So you have been separated from the world itself; how much more from the age and its affairs? Nor should it dismay you that you are separated from the world. If we recognise that the world itself is a greater prison we shall understand that you have rather gone out of prison than gone into prison. Greater darkness has the world which blinds the hearts of men. The world heaps on heaver chains which bind the very souls of men. A worse stench the world emits, the desires of men. More criminals the world contains, that is, the whole race of man. And it awaits the judgment, not of a proconsul, but of God. Therefore, blessed men, consider that you have been translated from a prison to a place, if you will, of safe keeping. It has darkness, but you yourselves are light. It has chains, but you have been released by God. From there a fetor comes forth, but you are a sweet scent. A judge is expected but you shall judge the judges themselves. Let him be sad there who sighs for the enjoyment of the world. The Christian, even when out of prison, has renounced the world; but, when in prison, the prison also. It matters not where you are in the world who are without the world. And if you have lost any of the joys of life, it is of this business that you part with something so that you may gain more. Tertullian, To the Martyrs