Fabiola; Or, The Church of the Catacombs

by Nicholas Patrick Wiseman

An Attack in the Catacombs.

“Dominus protector vitæ meæ; a quo trepidabo?”[149]

Then came a full chorus of voices, singing, like the sound of many waters:

“Dum appropriant super me nocentes, ut edant carnes meas; qui tribulant me, inimici mei, ipsi infirmati sunt et ceciderunt.”[150]

A mixture of shame and anger seized on the assailants as they heard these words of calm confidence and defiance. The single voice again sang forth, but in apparently fainter accents:

“Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum.”[151]

“I thought I knew that voice,” muttered Corvinus. “I ought to know it out of a thousand. It is that of my bane, the cause of all last night’s curse and this day’s trouble. It is that of Pancratius, who pulled down the edict. On, on, my men; any reward for him, dead or alive!”

“But, stop,” said one, “let us light our torches.”