Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume IV/Donatist Controversy/Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist/Book II/Chapter 72

159.&#160; said:&#160; "&#8216;Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness&#8217; sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.&#8217; &#160; You are not blessed; but you make martyrs to be blessed, with whose souls the heavens are filled, and the earth has flourished with their memory.&#160; You therefore do not honor them yourselves, but you provide us with objects of honor."

160.&#160; answered:&#160; The plain fact is, that if it had not been said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness&#8217; sake," but had been said instead, Blessed are they who throw themselves over precipices, then heaven would have been filled with your martyrs.&#160; Of a truth we see many flowers on the earth blooming from their bodies; but, as the saying goes, the flower is dust and ashes.