Endless Persecution

Erras, frater, erras, si putas unquam Christianum persecutionem non pati: et tunc maxime oppugnaris, si te oppugnari nescis. Adversarius noster, tanquam leo rugiens, aliquem devorare quarens, circumit, et tu pacem putas? Sedet in insidiis cum divitibus, et in occultis interficiat innocentem. Oculi ejus in pauperem respiciunt. Insidiatur in occulto, sicut leo in spelunca sua: insidiatur ut rapiat pauperem; et tu frondosae arboris tectus umbraculo, molles somnos, futura praeda, carpis? Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola XIV, Ad Heliodorum Monachum Source: Migne PL 22 349

You err, brother, you err, if you think that at any time a Christian does not suffer persecution; then you are most assaulted when you do not know that you are assaulted. Our adversary, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour, and you think of peace? 1 'He sits in ambush with the wealthy and in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes fix on the poor, like a lion in his cave he lurks that he may seize the poor man;' 2 and do you loll beneath the leafy shade of a tree, softened by dreams, a future prey to be taken? Saint Jerome, from Letter 14, To the Monk Heliodorus 1 1 Pet 5.8 2 Ps 9.29-30