St. Isidore: "Two kinds of martyrs"

“THERE are two kinds of martyrs, one in open suffering, the other in the hidden virtue of the spirit. For many, enduring the snares of the enemy and resisting all carnal desires, because they have sacrificed themselves in their hearts to almighty God, have also become martyrs in time of peace, and if they had lived in time of persecution, they would have been martyrs in reality.”

~St. Isidore of Seville: Etymologies, 7, 11.

St. Isidore of Sevilla, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

Oil on canvas, 1655; Cathedral of Sevilla, Spain.