Persecutors

From The Prologue from Ochrid:

What happens to the persecutors of Christ's Church? Ask Saul, the persecutor of the Church, what happened to him. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks (Acts 9:5), the Lord said to Saul; and Saul was baptized and became Paul. What happened to Herod, the first persecutor of Christians? What happened to Julian the Apostate? They died evil deaths and their efforts against Christ dispersed into nothing, like smoke. And so it was throughout all of history: some persecutors converted to Christianity and others died evil deaths; but always, the efforts of one or the other against Christianity are dispersed into nothing, like smoke. When he attacked Jerusalem, Emperor Hadrian sought revenge against the Jews and against the Christians, for he did not distinguish Christians from Jews. He dispersed the Jews throughout the world, and built an idolatrous temple on the spot where the Temple of Solomon had stood. He also renamed Jerusalem ``Aelia,'' after his own name [Aelius], and forbade that this city be called Jerusalem by anyone. He built a temple on Golgotha to the foul Venus, a temple to Zeus over the tomb of the Lord, and a temple to Adonis in Bethlehem. How sorrowful the Christians of that time must have felt, seeing their holy shrines mocked in such a manner. But what happened in the end? Emperor Hadrian died an evil death and, in the time of Empress Helena and Emperor Constantine, the pagan temples were torn down, and in their places beautiful Christian churches were built-and these are still standing, even today. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Oh, how desperate and hopeless is every struggle against Christ!