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@BishopBarron - St. Augustine left you a letter.
"When, however, the danger of all, bishops, clergy, and laity, is alike, let not those who depend upon the aid of others be deserted by those on whom they depend. In that case, either let all remove together to fortified places,
"When, however, the danger of all, bishops, clergy, and laity, is alike, let not those who depend upon the aid of others be deserted by those on whom they depend. In that case, either let all remove together to fortified places,
or let those who must remain be not deserted by those through whom in things pertaining to the Church their necessities must be provided for; and so let them share life in common, or share in common that which the Father of their family appoints them to suffer."
"But if it shall happen that all suffer, whether some suffer less, and others more, or all suffer equally, it is easy to see who among them are suffering for the sake of others: they are obviously those who, although they might have freed themselves from such evils by flight,
have chosen to remain rather than abandon others to whom they are necessary. By such conduct especially is proved the love commended by the Apostle John in the words: Christ laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16"
"For those who betake themselves to flight, or are prevented from doing so only by circumstances thwarting their design, if they be seized and made to suffer, endure this suffering only for themselves; not for their brethren;
but those who are involved in suffering because of their resolving not to abandon others, whose Christian welfare depended on them, are unquestionably laying down their lives for the brethren."
"For this reason, the saying which we have heard attributed to a certain bishop, namely: If the Lord has commanded us to flee, in those persecutions in which we may reap the fruit of martyrdom,
how much more ought we to escape by flight, if we can, from barren sufferings inflicted by the hostile incursions of barbarians! is a saying true and worthy of acceptation, but applicable only to those who are not confined by the obligations of ecclesiastical office.
For the man who, having it in his power to escape from the violence of the enemy, chooses not to flee from it, lest in so doing he should abandon the ministry of Christ, without which men can neither become Christians nor live as such, assuredly finds a greater reward of his love
than the man who, fleeing not for his brethren's sake but for his own, is seized by persecutors, and, refusing to deny Christ, suffers martyrdom."
"What, then, shall we say to the position which you thus state in your former epistle: — I do not see what good we can do to ourselves or to the people by continuing to remain in the churches, except to see before our eyes men slain, women outraged, churches burned,
ourselves expiring amid torments applied in order to extort from us what we do not possess? God is powerful to hear the prayers of His children and to avert those things which they fear; and we ought not, on account of evils that are uncertain, to make up our minds absolutely
to the desertion of that ministry, without which the people must certainly suffer ruin, not in the affairs of this life, but of that other life which ought to be cared for with incomparably greater diligence and solicitude."
I could go on, but I suppose you must be familiar with St. Augustine's letter. For those who are not, here it is, in it's entirety:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102228.htm
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102228.htm
