Book 8, Chapter 74: Chapter 74
And if Celsus would have us to lead armies in defense of our country, let him know that we do this too, and that not for the purpose of being seen by men, or of vainglory. For in secret,
and in our own hearts, there are prayers which ascend as from priests in behalf of our fellow citizens. And Christians are benefactors of their country more than others. For they train up citizens, and inculcate piety to the Supreme Being; and they promote those whose lives in the smallest cities have been good and worthy, to a divine and heavenly city, to whom it may be said, You have been faithful in the smallest city, come into a great one,
where God stands in the assembly of the gods, and judges the gods in the midst;
and He reckons you among them, if you no more die as a man, or fall as one of the princes.
English translation by Frederick Crombie, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. IV (eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson; Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885). Public domain. Digital text via New Advent Church Fathers.