"he imagined that he was steadfast, because he experienced himself as ardent"

St. Peter "imagined that he was steadfast, because he thought of himself as [(expérimentait qu’il était)] ardent; but he did not consider that steadfastness comes from grace, and not from the efforts of nature.  [And all of this] to such a degree that, being altogether both weak and presumptuous, and duped by self-regard [(son propre amour)], he promised much, yet [(et)], overtaken by an unforeseen weakness [(surprise par sa faiblesse)], accomplished nothing.  On the contrary, he [thrice] repudiated his Master, and while the cowardice of others allowed them to avoid the shame of repudiating him by th[e shame] of flight, the feeble courage of St. Peter induced him to follow him, only to abandon him [yet] more shamefully, in such a way that it seems that his love enlisted him in a greater struggle only to cause him to fall in a manner more ignominious.
     "In this way they seduce themselves, they who love Jesus-Christ not with the emotions [(sentiments)] that he demands, that is to say, they who love not the cross; who expect from him temporal prosperity; who praise him when they are content; who abandon him on the cross and in agony.  Their love comes not from the charity that seeks God alone, but from an accommodation that they make [(complaisance qu’ils ont)] for themselves.  This is why they are rash [(téméraires, temerarious)]:  because nature is always conceited [(orgueilleuse, orgulous)], just as charity is always modest [(modeste)]. . . .  But we [will] see St. Peter’s love purified and fortified by the tears of repentance."

     Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, "Panégyrique de l'apotre saint Pierre" (c. 29 June 1661), Bossuet:  oraisons funèbres panégyriques, ed. L’Abbé Bernard Velat, Biblioteque de la Pleiade 33 (Paris:  Librairie Gallimard, 1950), 568 (561-572), translation mine.  Cf. also Pascal.  And yet St. Peter, having become humble, became therefore invincible.

"having become humble, he then becomes invincible"

"étant devenu humble, il devient ensuite invincible."

     Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, "Panégyrique de l'apotre saint Pierre" (c. 29 June 1661), Bossuet:  oraisons funèbres panégyriques, ed. L’Abbé Bernard Velat, Biblioteque de la Pleiade 33 (Paris:  Librairie Gallimard, 1950), 568 (561-572), translation mine.  Background.

"far be it from me to glory except in the cross"

"We want to be powerful in the world, that is why we are weak according to Jesus Christ; and the love of the cross of Jesus being extinguished among the faithful, the whole force of Christianity has vanished [(toute la force chrétienne s'est évanouie)]."

     Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, "Panégyrique de l'apotre saint Paul" (30 June 1657), Bossuet:  oraisons funèbres panégyriques, ed. L’Abbé Bernard Velat, Biblioteque de la Pleiade 33 (Paris:  Librairie Gallimard, 1950), 402 (385-407), translation mine.  "I will be restricting myself [(me réduis)] to making you see the weaknesses of this great apostle" (386).

"life has dominion over them

"That is why the dead, now under the dominion of one who has risen to life, are no longer dead but alive.  Therefore life has dominion over them. . . ."

"Igitur mortui quibus, qui vixit, dominatur, non sunt amplius mortui, sed viventes; et idcirco dominatur eis vita. . . ."

     Anastasius I of Antioch (d. 598), Oratio 5 de resurrectione Christi 6, as trans. in the Office of readings for the dead, Liturgy of the hours.  Latin (translation?) from PG 86, col. 1358C.  vixit is a challenging perfect here, but the reference is clearly to Rom 6:9, not to mention vv. 2, 8, 1-11, and 13, where vivo also occurs in the context of a discussion of the resurrection:

Therefore the dead over whom he has dominion who lives are no longer dead, but living; and for that reason life has dominion over them. . . .

"the infirmities of that great apostle"

St. Paul "knew that if this great world, and what it encloses in its vast bosom, is the work of [God's] power, he made a new world, a world redeemed by his blood and regenerated by his death, that is to say, his holy Church, which is the work of his weakness."

     Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, "Panégyrique de l'apotre saint Paul" (30 June 1657), Bossuet:  oraisons funèbres panégyriques, ed. L’Abbé Bernard Velat, Biblioteque de la Pleiade 33 (Paris:  Librairie Gallimard, 1950), 387 (385-407), translation mine.  "I will be restricting myself [(me réduis)] to making you see the weaknesses of this great apostle" (386).

"in order to be faithful to such a grace one must prepare to suffer"

"And so we must learn, from the continual setbacks that—from the point at which Jesus Christ was entrusted to his protection—put Saint Joseph to the test, that one cannot preserve such a [(ce)] deposit without pain, and that in order to be faithful to such a [(sa)] grace one must be prepared to suffer."

"Car c’est ainsi qu’il nous faut apprendre, par les traverses continuelles qui ont exercé saint Joseph depuis que Jésus-Christ est mis en sa gardé, qu’on ne peut conserver ce dépôt sans peine, et que pour être fidèle à sa grâce, il faut se preparer à souffrir."

     Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, "Panégyrique de saint Joseph" (19 March 1656), Bossuet:  oraisons funèbres panégyriques, ed. L’Abbé Bernard Velat, Biblioteque de la Pleiade 33 (Paris:  Librairie Gallimard, 1950), 376 (360-384), translation mine.  Bossuet then procedes to enumerate some of the ways that Joseph and Mary were, though poor, far better off than in the wake of their fiat.  This sermon is headed by 1 Tim 6:20:  "Depositum custodi. | Gardez le dépôt", "guard what has been entrusted to you."