Слово о втором пришествии Господа нашего Иисуса Христа

Come and approach, sons of light, hear the blessed and blessed voice of our Savior, telling us: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit... the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 25:34). See, my beloved, that none of you shall be deprived of the blessed inheritance. For now, “at the door!” (Matthew 24:33). The Light from the Light descended to us and, illuminating us, led us to the Light. He condescended to us, becoming like us, in order to make us like Himself. The Immortal descended upon mortals and, having made them immortal, again ascended to the Father. Now he comes in the glory of the blessed Father to judge the living and the dead. The path of life became full of light and glory for us, so that we would walk in the light to the Father. Come, beloved, let us enter the path that the Lord showed us, so that we may reach His Kingdom with joy. Therefore, let us take with us everything we need for the journey, and oil in our vessels, because the distance of this journey is considerable. Having girded our loins with purity and truth, like people waiting for their ruler, let us light our lamps and watch courageously, because we expect to receive our Lord from heaven. Let us not slumber, lest our lamps go out. For suddenly this cry will be heard: “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming, come out to meet Him” (Matthew 25:6) all who love Him and who have prepared themselves to see Him in glory! He will fill all who love Him with joy in that bright and eternal chamber. So, take heed, my friends, be careful, lest, when this cry is heard, any of you find yourself with a darkened lamp, without oil, and, as one clothed in a sad garment, do not be condemned “to outer darkness,” to endless and eternal punishment, where “weep and grind your teeth” (Matthew 25:30). Let us protect ourselves, my beloved, because we do not know when our Lord will come. “Like a thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10), like a snare, so the terrible day will come. And like the fastest lightning, so will the coming of the Lord be. “The trumpet will sound, and the dead will arise” (1 Cor. 15:52), and the earth will shake in its foundations, and the heavens and “the powers of the heavens will move” (Matthew 24:29). Woe is me, my beloved! Who will be brave at this hour? Every breath will tremble and be horrified. But the grace of the Savior will strengthen and rejoice the hearts of the righteous: and they will be “caught up... to meet the clouds” (1 Thess. 4:17). And lazy and careless people like me will remain on earth in trepidation. Let us at least lift ourselves a little from the earth, my beloved, and comfortably ascend to heaven! What benefit will this world bring to us who have bound ourselves to its concerns? Or what will we gain by the decoration of our clothes, except unquenchable fire? Or what will the delicacy of food bring us other than eternal torment? Know, my beloved, that if we do not struggle in this short time, we will have to repent and suffer there forever and ever. Why are we negligent, my dear brothers? Why do we indulge in laziness and do not prepare ourselves? The day of the Lord is already close to us - great and terrible. Why don’t we throw off all useless worries and lighten ourselves from the burden of earthly things? Do you not know that the door is narrow and strait, and that the covetous cannot enter through it? God loves those who are not covetous, who voluntarily, for the sake of Christ, subjected themselves to sorrows, in labor, in vigil and much suffering, and who prepared themselves to see the Immortal Bridegroom in glory. Such will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Behold, beloved, the door calls us: “Come, hasten your procession towards me.” So our mother, Jerusalem, says with love: “Come, my beloved children, come to me; may your number be multiplied, and in the bridal chamber of the Lord may your faces be magnified in the light with the holy angels. May I see you in glory and splendor, in joy and gladness. Love me, my children, as I love you. Do not acquire anything on earth, do not worry about anything, but work tirelessly. “Behold, the Bridegroom comes!” He is ready to go out on the clouds of heaven in the glory of the blessed Father; He will call each of you by name, repose him, according to his labors, in the rank of saints, in unspeakable light, in unchangeable, immortal and eternal life, from where sickness, sadness and sighing have fled.” Knowing all this, let us work, I beg you, my children, let us work in this short time. Let us not be careless here, my beloved, so as not to repent for endless centuries, where tears and sighs will not bring us any benefit, where there is no repentance. Moreover, my beloved, the Angels and Archangels rejoice over our diligence, but the enemy rejoices and rejoices over our laziness. So, work hard, my beloved children, I beg you, work hard so that I can rejoice in you and you in me for eternal times. I fall before You, my Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God: grant to me and to all who love You to see You with glory and joy in Your Kingdom, and to inherit it with those who desire and love You! If we are careless here, my beloved, then we will have no excuse on that terrible day. We will not even find an excuse to apologize for our sins. For, after the descent of our Lord and Savior to us, every excuse was taken away from us, because He gave us eternal life. We were enemies, and our Lord is our reconciliation; were earthly, but became heavenly; were mortals, but became immortal; were sons of darkness, but became sons of light; were captives, and were found; were slaves of sin - and were freed; were lost and wasted, and were collected; were weak, and were healed; were not pardoned, and were pardoned; were sinners, and were saved; were dust and ashes, and became sons of God; were naked - and covered; even became heirs of the Son of God. All this was given to us by our Lord, who came to earth and became incarnate for us. For all this, what shall we, beloved, render to Him, who for our sake accepted spitting and scourging, was crucified, strangled, and abused by unclean and lawless, sinful and most unfortunate people? How can we, poor and sinners, repay the Lord for all this? Woe to us if we are careless, because we have no justification before Him! So, my beloved, let us cast off all care and concern about this vain and transitory age, and with great zeal and zeal let us serve Him alone, because He is our Lord and Master. Behold, His day is truly at hand and His coming has undoubtedly befallen us. Come, my friends, let us prepare ourselves and begin to watch, waiting for our Lord, the Immortal Bridegroom. Behold He shines (illuminates with light)! It's already coming! A lot of night has passed, the day is approaching. Sons of Light, hasten to the Light. Go out with joy, meet the light of our Lord, show Him your virtues, bring Him your deeds, your tears and all the sorrows that you have endured out of commitment and love for Him! Don't be lazy, don't procrastinate. Be patient a little longer, and let none of you look back, but raise your gaze to the mountain, to this heavenly beauty, to this joy of the Immortal Bridegroom, so that your soul will be satisfied with the glory of contemplating Him, His lightness and beauty. Let the abstinent one not be faint-hearted, because the table of the Kingdom awaits him. Let him who is thirsty take courage, for heavenly joys are prepared for him. He who watches, sings, prays, weeps, let him be strong, for the pleasures of the bridal chamber of his Lord will comfort him. So, knowing all this, let us not gain anything for ourselves on earth, my beloved brothers, because on that day each of us must show what virtue he acquired here, or what labors, or what feat, or what vigil. Therefore, my brethren, when the martyrs show the wounds of their suffering and torment, and the ascetics show their feat, their abstinence, patience, their sorrows, their lack of covetousness and their tears, then what will the careless and lazy boast of, having wasted their lives without benefit? Truly, woe to them for being careless! Woe to them for being careless! Come, my friends, come, let us work; come, let us fall to Him; Without shame, let us cry and shed tears before Him day and night in our prayer, in our psalmody, so that we may be given the enlightenment of our souls to understand the machinations of the enemy, our adversary, who hates everything beautiful! For he places in our path stumbling blocks, temptations, harm, the distraction of this age, carnal pleasure, hope for the longevity of real life, fear during asceticism, laziness in prayer, sleep and carnal tranquility during psalmody. But no matter how zealous he is, we are so careless. And the more he deceives, the more we are careless, although we know that our days are shortened, time is passing, and the Lord of glory is coming in the splendor of His beauty and with the terrible power of His Kingdom to reward everyone according to his deeds. I am afraid, beloved, that the word of the Lord will not be fulfilled on us: “And they will come from the east and the west and the north and the south... and will lie down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,” but you will be “cast out” “into outer darkness” (Luke 13:29. Matt. 8:11–12). So, I beg You, Christ, Light of truth, Birth of the blessed Father, Image of His Hypostasis, sitting at the right hand of His Majesty, incomprehensible Son of God, unsearchable (incomprehensible) Christ, praise and joy of those who desire and love You, joy and joy of those who wait for You, my life, Christ, my Light Lord, save me, a sinner, in the Kingdom Yours! The laboring worker hopes to receive a reward from You. Alas for me! My tongue works, hymning You, Savior, but do not repay me for what I have done, and do not be angry with me for my deeds; save me according to Thy grace, and protect me according to Thy mercy. For You are blessed together with Your blessed Father and with Your Holy and Life-giving Spirit, the Comforter, now and always, and forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: