Chapter 28
1 “And as she was being led away,” it says, “to die, God stirred up the Holy Spirit in a young lad, whose name was Daniel, and he cried out with a loud voice: I am clean from the blood of this woman.”
2 What then is it that has happened, beloved? Let us attend: for what reason did this visitation from the Lord not come about before she was condemned, but rather when she was being led off to perish? It was so that the majesty and the power of God might be displayed.
3 How so? When he wills to deliver one of his servants, he is able to deliver him and save him, whenever he wills and however he wills. But when he wills to take one to himself, he permits him to perish, so that, having endured the torments like a noble athlete, he may crown and glorify him.
4 For when Susanna had prayed and been heard, an angel of the Lord was sent forth as her avenger and became her helper, that he might destroy those who plotted against her.
5 Beholding his onset, the blessed Daniel—being a prophet and possessed of the Spirit of God—cried out, saying, “I am clean from the blood of this woman,” so that he too might not become guilty of murder, in the manner that Pilate also did in the case of Christ, who washed his hands with water, saying: “I am clean from the blood of this man.”