“I am at a loss to know whether to weep more for those they killed or those that are captured: or indeed for these men themselves whom the devil has taken fast for his slaves.”

Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus (c.450?)
Context: Because of all this, I am at a loss to know whether to weep more for those they killed or those that are captured: or indeed for these men themselves whom the devil has taken fast for his slaves. In truth, they will bind themselves alongside him in the pains of the everlasting pit: for "he who sins is a slave already" and is to be called "son of the devil."

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Saint Patrick 35
5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop … 385–461

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