The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 51:4 Yorum

We read that this happened frequently in the passions of the martyrs. Like the three young men, who remained unhurt in the intense flames of the furnace, they also would not have suffered harm from the consuming flames. But since this has not been granted to all the martyrs of God, since many of them were burned bodily by the fire, though their souls arrived freely in the heavenly places, it is better to understand this fire and this flame as the intense heat of persecution, which, although it can afflict the saints of God for a little while, cannot go so far as to cause them to lose their souls.