I am
exhorting the brethren to constancy and not to abandon their flocks,
but to imitate the pastors of the first three centuries and withdraw
to some corner of their districts until the storm passes. I shall
retire to a hut in some wood or mountain in my diocese with some
candles and books…We shall not abandon our flocks unless compelled
to do so, we shall first try out the prisons and other torments,
already we have suffered so much on the mountains, in huts and in
caves, and have acquired the habit of suffering to the extent that it
will be less inconvenient in the future…For if the captains fly, it
is in vain to exhort the single soldiers to stand in battle.
-- Saint
Oliver Plunkett
