4 Maccabees 15:16

¹⁴At the racking and roasting of each one of them, the observant mother was prevented by religion from changing.

¹⁵She beheld her children’s flesh dissolving around the fire; and their extremities quivering on the ground, and the flesh of their heads dropped forward down to their beards, like masks.

— 4 Maccabees 15:16 —

¹⁷O thou only woman who hast brought forth perfect holiness!

¹⁸Thy firstborn, expiring, turned thee not; nor the second, looking miserable in his torments; nor the third, breathing out his soul.