da un sito in inglese(occorre traduzione) meditazione dei Padri con commento iconografico-prima parte

"All our predecessors suffered various torments, so that the status of the Church should come down to us intact. For the Lord Jesus Christ Himself Suffered so that He could establish it, and the Apostles preserved it by their suffering. There is nothing (to be gained) by resisting and nothing by struggling: only that we either live with justice or --- what is more glorious --- that we even die with justice." --St. Sixtus II the Martyr, Bishop of Rome [+258]

[Early Martyrdom Account of Sts. Sxitus, Laurence, Hippolytus, as found in "The Roman Martyrs: Introduction, Translations, and Commentary," by Michael Lapidge, pg. 190]

"He is the last Evangelist chronologically, but he is the first to begin with the Source of the Mystery, for he alone of the Four Rivers begins his course from the Very Highest and Divine Source, thundering forth from a lofty cloud: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' He rises higher than Moses, who with mental eye extends the boundaries of knowledge to the origin of the world and the beginnings of visible creatures. He flies higher than the other Evangelists, who begin the Gospel of the Resurrection with the human lineage of the Saviour, or from the prefiguring sacrifice of the Law, or from the prophetic proclamation of Christ's Forerunner, John the Baptist. He reached the very heavens and did not halt even at the Angels, but mounting above Archangels and all created beings--Virtues, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones---he guided his course with lofty mind to the Very Creator."
[St. Paulinus of Nola (+431), Letter 21 to Amandus, sec. 3]

Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist [August 29 (OS) / September 11 (NS)]

"For the righteous man begins to live the moment he is counted worthy of being killed for Christ. The martyr's life is transformed by this kind of death, it is not taken away by death. Rather, he was free from death, since he died so that he would live forever."---St. Peter Chrysologus [+450], Bishop of Ravenna; Sermon 174, On John the Baptist and Herod

"We must by our ever-ascending actions erect such a ladder as that which Jacob beheld in his dream, by which the Angels appeared to him descending and ascending. This descent and ascent signifieth nothing else than that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility. And the ladder thus erected is our life in the world, which, if the heart be humbled, is lifted up by the Lord to Heaven." [Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 7; written by St. Benedict (+547)]

My night hath no darkness, but all things grow bright in the Light."--St. Laurence the Martyr [+258], shortly before his death in Martyrdom

[From an early Roman Martyrdom account; taken from "The Roman Martyrs: Translations and Commentary, edited by Michael Lapidge, page 341]

"The word of God says, 'Judge none blessed before his death' [Sirach 11:28]; which is as though to say, 'Praise him when life is ended, magnify him when he hath finished his course.' There are two reasons why it is better to praise a man after his departure rather than while he is still living. As you praise the merits of his excellence and sanctity after his death, you will neither be influenced by flattery in praising him, nor will he who is praised be tempted to pride. Then praise him when the danger is over, and his praise is safe. Praise the skill of the sailors when the ship hath reached harbour; praise the courage of the general when he is brought home in triumph."
[Homily 59 of St. Maximus of Turin (+450), Second Sermon on St. Eusebius the Martyr, Bishop of Vercelli (+371)]