Faith And The End

Κριτής τις ἦν τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος... Ἐπισυνάπτει γοῦν καὶ παραβολὴν τὴν περὶ τοῦ κριτοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας, πρὸς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐκκακεῖν. Τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν· Ἆρα ἐλθὼν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; ἔκλειψιν δηλοῖ τῆς πίστεως, ὡς μηδένα πιστὸν εὑρεθήσεσθαι, ἢ εἴ που ἄρα σπάνιόν τινα κατὰ τὸν τῆς δευτέρας αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας χρόνον. Ὅπερ μέγα τεκμήριον τυγχάνει τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς ἀποστασίας, ἐν ᾧ σπάνιος ἔσται ὁ εὑρεθησόμενος πιστός· τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ εἷς ἔσται, διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν παραληφθήσεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ καταλειφθήσεσθαι τοῖς ἀετοῖς παραδοθησομένους· οὕτω τε ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐκλειπούσης τῆς πίστεως, αὐτὸς λοιπὸν ἐπιστήσεται τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ποιησόμενος τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνῃρημένων. Ἐν τάχει δὲ ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν, διὰ τὸ βοᾷν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας· βοᾷν δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐδίδαξε διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς τοῦ κριτοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν Ἐπαγγελιον, Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 24.588c-d

There was a certain judge who did not fear God...1 He adds the parable of the wicked judge, that one should always pray and never cease on account of weariness. And when He says, 'When the Son of Man comes shall he find faith on earth?' 2 He reveals the future lack of faith, so that there is no one who is faithful, or that such a man will be very rare around the time of His second coming. Thus this shall be a great sign of the time of apostacy, when it is rare to find one who has faith. However perhaps there will not be one, because some shall have been taken up and some shall have been left behind, and indeed handed over to the eagles. 3 Therefore when there is no more faith among men, He shall come and His holy ones who have been separated from the ruin of the wicked will be vindicated. In a moment He shall be avenged, for which the former cry out to him day and the night. And that we should cry out to Him He teaches in the parable of the wicked judge. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary On the Gospel of Saint Luke, Fragment 1 Lk 18.2 2 Lk 18.8 3 Lk 17.34-37

The Ark And The End

Sicut erant in diebus Noe ante diluvium, comedentes et bibentes... Scilicet gulae dediti, nubentes et nuptui tradentes, id est persistentes, et hoc usque ad eum diem quo intravit Noe in arcam, et contemnentes Dei judicium, non cognoverunt, id est cognoscere noluerunt, Noe etiam praedicante, donec venit diluvium, et tulit omnes, ita erit et adventus Filii hominis. Sed nota, quia ubi dicit: Comedentes et bibentes, et nubentes, et nuptui tradentes, non alimenta et nuptias, sed immoderatum illorum arguit usum. Mystice arcam Noe aedificat, cum Dominus Ecclesiam de veris fidelibus, quasi lignis levigatis adunando construit, quam perfecte consummatam ingreditur, cum hanc in die judicii praesentia suae visionis aeternus habitator illustrat, sed cum arca aedificatur, iniqui luxuriantur. Cui modo non creditur, quia qui sanctis hic certantibus insultant, eis illic coronatis aeterna damnatione plectentur. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput XXIV Source: Migne PL 162.1455c-d

As they were in the days of Noah before the flood, eating and drinking... 1 Obviously devoted to gluttony, marrying and giving in marriage, that is, persisting in them, even to that day when Noah entered into the ark, scorning the judgement of God, and they were ignorant, that is, they had no wish to know, even though Noah preached, until the flood came, and swept them all away, and even so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. But note that when He says, 'Eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage,' He does not condemn food and marriage but the immoderate use of such things. Noah builds the ark in a spiritual sense when the Lord builds from the truly faithful ones, as from smoothed wood, the one Church, which perfectly enters into consummation, when on the day of judgement the eternal occupant illuminates with the presence of His vision, but while the ark is being built, the wicked luxuriate. Concerning which it must not be believed that they who vex the holy with strife here, shall have crowns there, who are punished with eternal damnation. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 24 1 Mt 24.37

Seas and Rivers

Increpans mare, et exsiccans illud et omnia flumina ad desertum perducens. Juxta litteram Dei potentia describitur, qui vindicaturus est de adversariis Israelem, quod non grande sit ei Asyyrios destruere, cujus majestatis sit etiam elementa mutare. Vel certe quia semel de consummatione mundi esse diximus prophetiam, et hoc simpliciter accipite: cum venerit mundi consummatio, et pertransierit coelum et terra, mare quoque et fluvies siccari. Sed mihi legenti illud in Psalmis: 'Hoc mare magnum et spatiosum: ibi reptilia quorum non est numeras: animalia parva cum magnis; ibi naves perambulant. Draco iste quem formasti ad illudendum ei, dignum videtur bonitate, et clementia Dei, omnem amartiduinem et salsuginem maris, sua comminatione destruere: et regnantem in aquis humiliare draconem, et malitiae exsiccare gurgites in quibus parva natant reptilia, quorum non est numerus: neque enim digna sunt numero quae cum dracone versantur. Flumina quoque ad desertum perducens, omnem fulsi nominis scientiam, quae se contra Deum erigens, flumine eloquentiae utitur, et volubilitate verborum, et tumentes contorquens gurgites, cum miraculo spectantium fertur in pronum. Vide Platonem, specta Demosthenem, Tullium quoque philosophum pariter et oratorem, et haereticorum principes intuere, de quibus fuit Valentinus, Marcion, Bardesanes, Tatianus, et de fluminibus non ambiges. Sed haec omnia consumet Dominus Jesus spiritu oris sui, et destruet illuminatione adventus sui, et ad deserta per ducet. Simulque cerne quod juxta titulum, qui inscribitur Assumptio Ninive: liber visionis Naum Elcesaei, recte et in Ninive mundus figuraliter intelligitur, et mare ejus eloquentiae flumina in consummatione siccantur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Naum Prophetam Source: Migne PL 25.1234d-1235b

At His rebuke the sea shall dry up and all the rivers become desert. 1 According to the letter the power of God is described here, who shall be revenged on the enemies of Israel, for whom it is no great thing to destroy the Assyrians, He whose majesty transforms even the elements. Or certainly because we have spoken once concerning the prophecy of the consummation of the world, this also should be simply understood: when comes the consummation of the world, heaven and earth pass away, and the seas and the rivers shall dry up. But there comes to me those lines of the Psalm: 'This great and spacious sea where there are reptiles without number, animals great and small, there where boats sail. The dragon whom you formed to play with,' 2 and it seems worthy that by goodness, even the mercy of God, that He destroy with His threat all the bitterness and salinity of the sea and humiliate the dragon ruling in the waters, and that He drain the floods of wickedness in which the little reptiles swim, of which there are a countless number, for they are not worthy of numbering who swim with the dragon. He also turns the rivers to desert, that is, the knowledge of every celebrated name, which flows against God, which uses the river of eloquence and the volubility of words, and swells into a fearsome flood, which is a wonder to those who see it brought to heel. See Plato, look at Demosthenes, Cicero also, together with all the philosophers and orators, and mark there the princes of the heretics, among whom were Valentinus, Marcion, Bardesanes, Tatian, and be in no doubt concerning these rivers. All these the Lord Jesus shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, 3 and he shall destroy them by the radiance of His coming, and lay them to waste. And at same time, see according to the title of the book, which is written as 'An oracle about Nineveh, the book of Nahum of Elkosh,' that Nineveh is rightly understood as a figure of the world, and in its end, with its sea, the rivers of eloquence dry up. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Nahum 1 Nahum 1.4 2 Ps 103, 26-26 3 2 Thes 2.8

The Two Trumps

Exsurgent, inquit Isaias, mortui, et resurgent qui in monumentis sunt. Et Dominus: Veniet hora quando mortui audient vocem Filii Dei; et qui audierint, vivent. Ad haec Apostolus: In momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba; canet enim tuba, et mortui resurgent incorrupti. Quae ista tuba, quae inferis infert bellum, sepulchri resolvit moles, intonat mortuis vitam, resurgentibus in lucem perpetem dat triumphum? Quae est? Illa quam superius Dominus dixit: Mortui audient vocem Filii Dei. Tuba non quae arctato spiritu per concavum cornu ligni vel aeris trsitem bellantibus dat mugitum, sed quae de corde Patris, ore Filii, vitalem simul et inferis et superis dat clamorem. Et in novissima tuba; tuba quae in principio mundum vocavit ex nihilo, ipsa in novissimo mundum revocabit ex perdito; et quae initio hominem suscitavit ex limo, ipsa in fine hominem resuscitabit ex pulvere. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CIII, De Filio Viduae Excitato a Mortuis, deque Corporum Resurrectione Source: Migne PL 52 487c-488a

'The dead,' says Isaiah, 'will come forth, and those who are in the tombs shall rise.' 1 And the Lord: 'The hour will come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.' 2 And the Apostle says, 'In a instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trump, the trump shall sound and the dead will rise imperishable and we shall be changed.' 3 'At the last trump.' What is this trump, which wages war on the underworld, dislodges tombstones from graves, signals life for the dead, and bestows victory on those who rise to perpetual light? What is it? It is what the Lord said above: 'The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.' This trumpet is not a horn of wood or bronze that gives a grim bellow to the soldiers by a breath compressed through its hollows, but from the heart of the Father and the mouth of the Son it sends forth a summons to life, simulataneously both to those in the underworld and to those above. 'At the last trump.' The trump which in the beginning called forth the world out of nothing, is the same one which on the last day will call the world back from destruction, and the trump which in the beginning raised man from the mud, is the same one that in the end will raise man again from the dust. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 103, On The Son of the Widow Raised from the Dead and the Resurrection of the Body 1 Is 26. 29 2 Jn 5.28 3  1 Cor 15.52

Advice for the End

Τῆς τελευταίας ἀνάγκης τὰ σημεῖα, ἄπερ ὁ Κύριος πρὸς εἴδησιν ἡμῶν ἀπεκάλυψε, σαφηνισθῆναι σοι ἀξιώσας διὰ τοῦ γράμματος, ταχέως τὴν τούτων μάνθανε δύναμιν. 'Οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ φευγέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὅρη,' οἱ ἐν τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ ἐρηρεισμένοι (τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ Ἰουδαία ἑρμηνεύεταἰ)· ἐπὶ τὴν ὑψηλὴν καταφυγὴν ἀφοράτωσαν, ὑπὸ τὴς οἰκείας ὁμολογίας φρουρούμενιοι. 'Ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος, μὴ καταβάτω ἄραὶ τι ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ.' Ὁ τῆς παρούσης περιφρονήσας οἰκίας, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐνταῦθα καταπατήσας σκηνὴν, καὶ ὑψηλὸς τῷ βίῳ γενόμενος, καὶ τὰ ἔνοικα πἀθη ἀποπεμψάμανος, μηδὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπισπάσθω, μὴ ὅρεξιν πλοὐτου, ἄπερ ἀφ' ὕψους ἐστὶ κατάβασις. 'Ὁ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, μὴ ἐπιστρεψάτω ἆραι τὸ ἱμάτιον αὐτοῦ.' Ὁ τὸν παλαιὸν ἀπεκδυσάμενος ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τοῖς σαρκίνοις ἀποταξάμενος, τὸν νέον φορείτω, ὅς αὐτὸν εἰς ἐπιγνωσιν Θεοῦ ἀνεκαίνισε, καὶ τῆς ἱλύος ἐκάθηρεν. Ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ἔξει τὸ πρὸς ἐκείνην τὴν μεγάλην κάκωσιν ἀνεπίβουλον. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΙ', Χριστοδορῳ

The signs of the necessary end times, which the Lord revealed to our knowledge, I shall explain to you through words, as far as I am able to grasp it. 'Those who are in Judea, flee to the mountains' 1 That is, those who are firm in piety (for this is what Judea means) should look to flight to the heights, guarded by the house of confession. 'And he who is on on the roof, should not descend into the house to get anything.' 2 That is, he who has contempt for the house of present things and treads down every trash here, he who has attained life's height, and is rid of common passions, with nothing dragging him down, unmoved by riches, a thing far below the heights. 'And he who is in the field, let him not turn to take up his outer garment.' 3 That is, he who has stripped off the old man, ridding himself of corporeal matters, taking on the new, the man renewed in the knowledge of God, from filth cleansed. Because of these things he is untroubled by the great calamity. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 210, to Christodorus 1 Mt 24.16   2 Mt 24.17   3 Mt 24.18

The Judgement of Men

Ἐκ τῶν ἀγγελικῶν ταγμάτων, καὶ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων, αἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κρίνονται προθέσεις. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὁ πρωτοστάτης, τῶν δὲ ὁ προδότης ἐχωρίσθη. Ταυτὸ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ νῦν εὑρήσεις τελούμενον. Τῶν μὲν συντονίᾳ καὶ ἀγρυπνίᾳ προσεχόντων· τῶν δὲ ῥᾳθυμί καὶ ἀμελείᾳ θρυπτομένων· ἐκ τούτων, οἱ μὲν παταλαμβάνονται· οἱ δὲ, καταλείπονται, ὅτε ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ παραγίνεται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΠΓ', Πετρῳ Ἀρχιμανδριτῃ

From the ranks of the angels and the company of the Apostles men are judged. For among them one holds the first place, and from among them the traitor has been removed. Thus even now may you be found perfect. For some attend to exertions and vigils, others languish in indolence and negligence, and it will be that when the Lord comes in glory, the former shall be taken up and the latter forsaken. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 283, To Peter the Archimandrite

Thought for the Future

Εἰ οὐρανὸς ὡς βιβλιον ἐλίσσεται, καὶ τὰ ἄστρα πίπτει, καὶ Ὠριον καὶ γῆ, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ κατακαίεται, καὶ πάντα γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα τῇ μεγάλη ἡμέρᾳ τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου παρουσίας ἐτοιμὰζεται· τοῦ χάριν αὐτὸς ἀμελεῖς, καὶ οὐχ ὡς εὐθύνας ὑφέξων εὐτρεπίζῃ, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀνέγκλητος λησόμενος, ἀναβάλλῃ τὴν μεταμέλειαν; Ὅρα οὐν μὴ τότε σοι ἐπέλθῃ ἡ μετάγνωσις, ὅτε μόνη πάρεστιν ἡ ἀπογνωσις.  Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΠΗ', Ἀσκληπιῳ

If the heavens are rolled up like a scroll and the stars fall, and Orion and the earth, all things burning up in it, stripped and laid open, on that great day prepared for the coming of the Lord, will you be careless for favour, not having prepared yourself for the promised investigation, like one blameless to be passed over, having no thought of penitence? Look to it, then, lest penance come to your mind when there shall be only a place of despair. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 188, To Asclepius

Be Prepared

Quotidie operemur bonum, dum tempus habemus; ne nos tenebrae comprehendant, nec imparatos illa metuenda dies inveniat. Tu vero pastorali pietate ac sacerdotali auctoritate, non solum meam suscitare litteris socordiam studeas, sed etiam omnibus te audientibus pia paternitate, ut vigilent, praedicare non cesses. Si lingua sacerdotalis clavis est coelestis regni, decet ut guttur illius tuba sit aeterni Regis, dicente propheta: Clama, ne cesses; exalta sicut tuba vocem tuam. Quis se parat ad bellum, si praeco in castris non clamat? Quis hostibus succinctus in armis obsistit introitum, si speculator in celso turris fastigio dormit? Quis gregem a luporum rabie defendit, si pastor in silvestribus luxuriae dumis latitat? Quis florentis ruris pascua gregi demonstrat, si ductor vagabundis per foveas vestigiis errat? Alcuinus, Epistola LXX, Ad Speratum Episcopum. Source: Migne PL 100.242b

Let us do good every day while we have time; let not the darkness comprehend us, let us not be found unprepared on that fearful day. Truly you with your pastoral piety and priestly authority should not only study my letters at your leisure but even with pious paternity cease not to preach to every one who will hear that they should be vigilant. If the tongue of a priest is the key to the kingdom of heaven, it befits that his throat might be a trumpet of the eternal king, with the prophet saying, 'Cry out, do not cease; raise up your voice like a trumpet.' 1 Who is prepared for battle if the herald in the camp does not call them? Who will be girded to resist the entry of the enemy if the watcher in the high tower sleeps? Who defends the flock against the ravening wolves if the shepherd is skulking in the thorn bushes of the woods? Who shows to the flock the fields of flowers, if their leader has gone off with wandering feet toward the pit? Alcuin of York, from Letter 70, To the Bishop Speratus 1 Isaiah 58.1

What Gifts Will You Bring?

Praeparemus nos in occursum magni Regis, ut pium inveniamus quem nullus effugere valeat. Quid vero muneris in manibus feramus, quotidie cogitandum est, dicente Scriptura: Non appareas vacuus in conspectu Domini Dei tui. Nulla ibi metallorum species, nullus gemmarum fulgor, nulla vestium vanitas, nullus saeculi luxus, ipso aequissimo Judice, acceptabilis erit. Nisi sola eleemosynarum largitio, et meritorum multiplicatio bonorum proderit. Quidquid hic geritur, illic dijudicatur. Et omnis bonitas praemio coronabitur perpetuo, omnisque iniquitas aeternis damnabitur tormentis. Haec animis inhaereant nostris, hoc prudens praevideat cautela. Ne illa die inops bonorum meritorum lugeat anima; sed ut de simplici gaudeat bonitatis fructu, maxima cura cogitandum est. Alcuinus, Epistola LXX, Ad Speratum Episcopum Source: Migne PL 100.241d-242a

Let us be prepared for the coming of the Great King, that we may be found holy by Him whom no one is able to escape. What gifts we will bring in our hands must be daily thought upon, as Scripture says: 'Do not appear empty handed in the sight of the Lord your God.' 1 There no display of metal, no brightness of jewels, no pride of garments, no luxury of the world, shall be acceptable to the most just Judge. Only an abundance of mercy and good works will profit one. Whatever you have done here shall be judged there. Every goodness will be crowned with perpetual reward, every iniquity damned to eternal torment. Let these things be fixed in our souls, let the prudent foresee for his caution. Let it not be that on that day there is the lamentation of a soul poor in good works, but rather let it be that a soul rejoices with the simple fruit of goodness; this must be thought to be our greatest care. Alcuin of York, from Letter 70, To the Bishop Speratus 1 Sirach 35.4

The End Times

ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις πληθυνθήσονται οἱ ψευδοπροφῆται καὶ οἱ φθορεῖς, καὶ στραφήσονται τὰ πρόβατα εἰς λύκους, και ἡ ἀγάπη στραφήσεται εἰς μῖσος. αὐξανούσης γὰρ τῆς ἀνομίας μισήσουσιν ἀλλήλους καὶ διώξουσι καὶ παραδώσουσι, καὶ τότε φανήσεται ὁ κοσμοπλανὴς ὡς υἱὸσ θεοῦ, καὶ ποιήσει σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα, καὶ ἡ γῆ παραδοθήσεται εἰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποιήσει ἀθέμιτα, ἃ οὐδέποτε γέγονεν ἐξ αἰῶνος. τότε ἥξει ἡ κτίσις τῶν ἀντρώπων εἰς τὴν πύρωσιν τῆς δοκιμασίας, καὶ σκανδαλισθήσονται πολλοὶ καὶ ἀπολοῦνται, οἱ δὲ ὑπομείναντες ἐν τῇ πίστει αὐτῶν σωθήσονται ὑπ’ αὐτου τοῦ καταθέματος.  Ἡ Διδαχή

For in the last days false prophets and the corrupt will abound, and the sheep will turn into wolves, and love will be turned into hate. As lawlessness increases, they will hate and persecute and betray one another. And then will appear the deceiver of the world like a son of God, and he will perform signs and wonders, and the earth will be delivered into his hands, and he will do abominations, things never done in all the ages. Then the world of men will be judged by fire, and many will be scandalized  and perish. But those enduring in the faith will be saved by the one who was cursed. The Didache