Basil

Modestus, I will not profess the Arian creed, and I will remain here with my people.

Why would the Emperor and Arian drag Christian bishops into his court to be mocked and made into heretics?

Are you a Christian, Modestus?

I will not go.

If you take away my possessions, you will not enrich yourself, nor will you make me a pauper.

You have no need of my old worn-out clothing, nor of my few books of which the entirety of my wealth is comprised.

Exile means nothing to me.

I am bound to no particular place.

This monastery is not mine, but every place is God's.

Who can torture me?

I am so weak that the very first blow would render me insensible.

Death would be a kindness to me, for it would bring me to God all the sooner.

What gives you the right to talk to a prefect of the emperor like this?

Insolence!

I am a bishop.

In all else, bishops are meek, the most humble of all.

But when it concerns God, a bishop must count everything else as nothing and look to God alone.

In such times, fire, sword, wild beasts, and iron rods that rend the body only serve to fill us with joy rather than fear.

You are obstinate!

What of you, Modestus?