Commenting on this, St. Jerome, whose heir methinks I am in the
endurance of foul slander, says in his letter to Nepotanius: "The
apostle says: 'If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ.' He no longer seeks to please men, and so is made Christ's
servant" (Epist. 2). And again, in his letter to Asella regarding
those whom he was falsely accused of loving: "I give thanks to my
God that I am worthy to be one whom the world hates" (Epist. 99).
And to the monk Heliodorus he writes: "You are wrong, brother, you
are wrong if you think there is ever a time when the Christian does
not suffer persecution. For our adversary goes about as a roaring
lion seeking what he may devour, and do you still think of peace?
Nay, he lieth in ambush among the rich."

Inspired by those records and examples, we should endure our
persecutions all the more steadfastly the more bitterly they harm
us. We should not doubt that even if they are not according to our
deserts, at least they serve for the purifying of our soul. And
since all things are done in accordance with the divine ordering,
let every one of true faith console himself amid all his
afflictions with the thought that the great goodness of God permits
nothing to be done without reason, and brings to a good end
whatsoever may seem to happen wrongfully. Wherefore rightly do all
men say: "Thy will be done." And great is the consolation to all
lovers of God in the word of the Apostle when he says: "We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God"
(Rom. viii, 28). The wise man of old had this in mind when he said
in his Proverbs: "There shall no evil happen to the just"
(Prov. xii, 21). By this he clearly shows that whosoever grows
wrathful for any reason against his sufferings has therein departed