Chapter 9.–That All the Miracles Which are Done by Means of the Martyrs in the Name of Christ Testify to that Faith Which the Martyrs Had in Christ.

To what do these miracles witness, but to this faith which preaches
Christ risen in the flesh, and ascended with the same into heaven? For
the martyrs themselves were martyrs, that is to say, witnesses of this
faith, drawing upon themselves by their testimony the hatred of the
world, and conquering the world not by resisting it, but by dying. For
this faith they died, and can now ask these benefits from the Lord in
whose name they were slain. For this faith their marvellous constancy
was exercised, so that in these miracles great power was manifested as
the result. For if the resurrection of the flesh to eternal life had
not taken place in Christ, and were not to be accomplished in His
people, as predicted by Christ, or by the prophets who foretold that
Christ was to come, why do the martyrs who were slain for this faith
which proclaims the resurrection possess such power? For whether God
Himself wrought these miracles by that wonderful manner of working by
which, though Himself eternal, He produces effects in time; or whether
He wrought them by servants, and if so, whether He made use of the
spirits of martyrs as He uses men who are still in the body, or effects
all these marvels by means of angels, over whom He exerts an invisible,
immutable, incorporeal sway, so that what is said to be done by the
martyrs is done not by their operation, but only by their prayer and
request; or whether, finally, some things are done in one way, others
in another, and so that man cannot at all comprehend
them,–nevertheless these miracles attest this faith which preaches the
resurrection of the flesh to eternal life.