His Own Condition

But I, O thou blessed woman, not being now so much my own master as in the power of others, am driven along by the varying wills of many adversaries,¹³⁷⁷ being in one sense in exile, in another in prison, and in a third in bonds. But I pay no regard to these things. Yea, by the injuries inflicted on me through them, I acquire all the more the character of a disciple, that I may attain to Jesus Christ. May I enjoy the torments which are prepared for me, seeing that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us."¹³⁷⁸