October: Day 8: Teaching 2: Venerable Pelagia of Antioch

 

October: Day 8: Teaching 2:
Venerable Pelagia of Antioch
 
(The Last Judgment)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the feast day of Saint Pelagia, celebrated today in Church hymns and readings, who was once a great sinner then sincerely repented and died a righteous woman, thanks to the fact that she once listened to the teaching of the Holy Bishop Nonnus about the future judgment, it is most fitting to offer to your attention, my beloved listeners, a sermon by Saint Ephraim the Syrian on the Last Judgment. Perhaps, with the help of God's grace, it will awaken holy feelings in some listeners and at least somewhat shake off our carelessness about the salvation of our souls.

II. "My Christ-loving brethren!" thus begins our Venerable and God-bearing Father Ephraim the Syrian, this great teacher of repentance and tears for our sins before God and men, his wondrous depiction of the Dread Judgment. “Listen to the second and dreadful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I remembered,” he says of himself, “this hour and trembled with great fear, pondering what will then be revealed. Who can describe it? What language can express it? Then the King of kings, rising from His throne of glory, will descend to visit all the inhabitants of the universe and settle accounts with them. When I reflect on this, my limbs are seized with fear, my whole being is overwhelmed, my eyes shed tears, my voice weakens, my lips close, my tongue becomes mute, and my thoughts are taught to be silent. Such great and terrible wonders have not been seen since the beginning of creation, nor shall they be in all generations!

The time will come, the world's final hour will strike: a fiery river will flow with fury, like a ferocious sea, encircle mountains and wilds, and devour the entire earth and all that is upon it. And then, woe betide you, the stars will fall, the sun will darken, the moon will pass by, and the sky 'will roll up like a scroll' (Isaiah 34:4). Who can imagine this terrible change in the face of all creation?

Then a trumpet blast will be heard, surpassing all thunder, a sound that summons and awakens all who have fallen asleep since the beginning of time, both the righteous and the unrighteous. And in the twinkling of an eye, all people from the four corners of the earth will be gathered for judgment. For the great King will command, and immediately, with trembling, they will hastily surrender: the earth its dead, and the sea its own.

Behold, all are gathered, and in trembling silence they await the manifestation of the glory of the great God the Judge (Titus 2:13), Whose descent will be revealed by the appearance of the sign of the Son of man (Matt. 24:30), by the appearance of the cross, this scepter of the great King, seeing which all will understand that the King Himself will appear after it. And indeed, soon afterward will be heard from the heights of heaven: 'Behold, the bridegroom comes' (Matt. 25:6); behold, the Judge approaches, behold, the King appears, behold, the God of all comes to judge the living and the dead! Then, my brethren, at this voice the foundations of the earth will tremble; then fear and terror will fall upon every man from the expectation of what is coming upon the universe. Then the angels will flow forth, the choirs of archangels, cherubim, and seraphim will gather, and all the many-eyed will cry out with strength and might: 'Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come' (Revelation 4:8)! Then every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will cry out with trembling: 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' (Matthew 21:9)!

Then the heavens will be opened and the King of kings, our marvelous and most glorious God, will be revealed, like terrible lightning, with great power and incomparable glory, as John the Theologian also preached, saying: 'Behold, He comes from the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn for Him' (Rev. 1:7)! What fear and trembling will there be at that hour! Who can bear the sight of Him, from whose face heaven and earth will flee (Rev. 20:11)? Heaven and earth will flee! Who, after this, will be able to stand? And where will we sinners flee when we see thrones set up and the Ruler of all ages sitting; when we see countless armies standing in fear around the throne? For then the prophecy of Daniel will be fulfilled: 'I beheld until the thrones were established, and the Ancient of Days sat... A thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; thecourt was seated, and the books were opened' (Dan. 7:9, 10).

Those terrible books are opened, wherein are written our words and deeds, and all that we have said and done in this life, and which we thought to hide from God, who searches hearts and reins (Rev. 2:23). Oh, how many tears we need for that hour! Then with our own eyes we will behold, on the one hand, the ineffable Heavenly Kingdom, and on the other, the terrible torments being revealed; and in the midst, every human breath, from our forefather Adam to the one born last. All will await the terrible hour of judgment, and no one will be able to help anyone. Then everyone will give an account for themselves and their household, for their wife, for their children, for their male and female slaves. Then the kings and princes, rich and poor, great and small, will be questioned about all the deeds they have done: 'Let us all stand before the judgment seat of Christ' (Rom. 14:10), 'that each one may receive what he has done with the body, whether good or evil' (2 Cor. 5:10).

Then the Judge will separate us from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. The righteous will be separated from the sinners and will shine like the sun. These the Lord will set them at the right hand, but the goats (the sinners) at the left.

Then the Lord will say to those standing on the right hand: 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world' (Matt. 25:34). But those standing on the left will hear this bitter and stern sentence: 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels'! And these go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

I recall this disastrous separation, and I cannot bear it. Those who have tears and sorrow, weep: for in that terrible hour, all will be separated from one another by disastrous separation, and each will go to a place from which there is no return. Then will parents be separated from children, friends from friends, spouses from spouses, and even those who swore never to be separated! Then sinners will be led to the place of torment by merciless angels, gnashing their teeth, turning ever more often to see the righteous and the joy from which they themselves are separated. And they will see an ineffable light, they will see the beauty of paradise, which those who have striven for good receive from the King of Glory. Then, gradually drifting away from all the righteous, friends, and acquaintances, they will finally hide even from God Himself, having lost the ability to behold joy and that true light... Finally, they will approach the place of indescribable torment, and there they will be scattered and dispersed! Then they will see that they are utterly abandoned, that all hope for them is lost, and no one can help them or intercede for them. Then finally, in bitter tears, weeping, they will say: 'Oh, how much time we have wasted in negligence, and how our blindness has deceived us! There God spoke through scripture, and we did not heed; here we cry, and He turns His face away from us! What benefit have the ends of the earth brought us? Where is the father who begot us? Where are friends? Where is wealth? Where is human rumor? Where are feasts? Where are the crowded revelries? There is no help from anywhere; we are abandoned by everyone, both God and the saints. And there is no longer time for repentance, and tears are of no avail.' They would cry out: 'Save us, O righteous ones! Save us, O apostles, prophets, martyrs! Save us, O choir of patriarchs! Save us, O ranks of those who struggled! Save us, O honorable and life-giving cross! Save us, too, O Lady Theotokos, Mother of the God who loves mankind!' They would cry out thus; but they will no longer hear! And even if they hear, what good will it be? For the end has come to all intercession... In such torments of joyless despair, each one, even unwillingly, will be led away to the place of torment which he has prepared for himself by his evil deeds, 'where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched' (Mark 9:48).

Now you have learned what we have prepared for ourselves. Let us take care to appear without condemnation before the dread judgment seat, at that trembling and terrible hour. The Holy Prophets and Apostles foretold this terrible day and hour, to entreat everyone: look, pray, be merciful, repent, and be ready, for 'you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man comes' (Matt. 25:13). 'Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly' (Luke 21:34, 35). Keeping this day in mind, the holy martyrs did not spare their bodies; others, however, labored and still labor in fasting and virginity in the deserts and mountains. With this day in mind, blessed David bathed his bed with tears every night and implored God, saying, 'Lord, do not enter into judgment with Your servant!' For if You wish to do this, then 'no one living will be justified in Your sight' (Ps. 142:2). Let us also approach, brethren, and come before our God with confession, repentance, prayer, fasting, tears, and hospitality. Let us come before Him before He comes visibly and finds us unprepared. See that no one says, 'I have sinned greatly, there is no forgiveness for me!' God is a God of those who repent, and He 'came to earth to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance' (Luke 5:32). Have we sinned? Let us repent. Have we sinned a thousand times? Let us also repent a thousand times. God rejoices over the repentant soul: He receives it with His own hands and calls, saying: 'Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!'"

III. Master of life and immortality! Remove from our eyes the veil that prevents us from noticing the danger of losing eternal life, banish from our hearts carelessness and negligence about our salvation. Send to our souls the saving fear of Your terrible and righteous judgment, and by these same judgments, save us, even before we perish completely. This is all we can add to the words of the great father and teacher of the Church. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.