Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vol. LIV: Augustini Epistulae Pars I

crying out: ‘It is my head, O citizens, that you seek; you give me as a substitute for her! If you are merciful, if you are compassionate, if you wish to save the condemned, I surely should not have to die, innocent as I am.’ The grieving spirit of the common people was struck by this lament, and a numbness crept through them all; and in a wondrous way, their will having changed, that which had before been a matter of piety to defend, now seemed a form of piety to allow her to be killed.

11. A new sword, therefore, is brought, and a new executioner. The victim stands, protected only by the favor of Christ. Struck once, she is shaken; struck again, she is jolted; struck a third time, she is felled, and — O majesty of divine power to be exalted! — she who had been struck a fourth time previously and remained unhurt, seemed to die a little, lest an innocent person perish for her sake.

12. The clergy, whose duty this was, wrap the blood-stained corpse in a linen shroud and, constructing a pit in the earth with stones, prepare a tomb according to custom. The sun in its hurried course seeks the sunset, and night arrives to conceal the mercy of the Lord. Suddenly, the woman’s heart beats, and as her eyes search for the light, her body is animated to life: she now breathes, she now sees, she is now lifted up and speaks, and she can now break into that voice: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do to me Psalm 117:6.