About mortality

The treatise “On Mortality” was written by Sschmch. Cyprian of Carthage in 252 at the height of the plague epidemic, which claimed the lives of many people. Some of the Christians showed cowardice, while others were embarrassed that the painful ulcer affected Christians along with the pagans. St. Cyprian explains what death means for a Christian. Freeing one from the suffering of temporary life, it leads to a meeting with Christ. Only those who do not want to go to Christ, who do not believe that they will begin to reign with Christ can fear death. None of the believers should be afraid of the transition from this world to paradise, to our Heavenly Fatherland, where the faces of saints, eternal bliss and loved ones await: “To see them, to hug them - oh, what a joy it is for them - together for us! What joy there is in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is no longer the fear of death, what the highest and everlasting bliss in eternal life! There is the glorious face of the apostles; there are hosts of rejoicing prophets; there are countless martyrs, crowned for victory in struggle and suffering; there are triumphant virgins who, by the power of abstinence, have conquered the lusts of the flesh and body; there, the benefactors who received the reward, who, providing food and generous alms to the poor, transferred their earthly inherited treasures to the heavenly treasuries.” The author calls not to lose heart during the pestilence, but to patiently endure the trial and help each other, no matter who he is, pagan or faithful. The essay depicts the greatness of a Christian who disregards dangers to save others: The fear of God and faith should make him ready for anything. St. Cyprian even points out the benefit and necessity of the epidemic in that it reveals the true mood of people and, teaching Christians not to be afraid of death, prepares them for the feat of martyrdom. *The title of the work in Latin is De mortalitate. Although very many of you, beloved brothers, have a strong mind, a strong faith, and a pious soul, so that in the face of real excessive mortality it not only does not waver, but like a strong, unshakable rock, without being crushed itself, crushes the stormy aspirations of the world and the ferocious waves of this age - is not so much overcome by temptations as tested by them; However, among the people I also notice those who, either because of cowardice, or because of malice, or because of attachment to temporary life, or because of the tenderness of sex, or, what is much worse, because of evasion from the truth, do not stand so courageously and do not reveal the Divine invincible power in their hearts. This circumstance should not be hidden and passed in silence, but it is necessary, as far as possible for our measure, with full strength and the word drawn from Divine reading, to put an end to the carelessness of the faint-hearted, so that the one who began to be a man of God and Christ remains worthy of God and Christ. In warring with God, beloved brothers, placed in the heavenly camp and seeking only the Divine, we must know ourselves so that the storms and turmoil of the world do not disturb and confuse us. After all, the Lord foretold that all this would happen; prudently convincing, teaching, preparing and encouraging the people of His Church to fully endure future evils, He clearly predicted that there would be wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilence in places, and in aversion to sudden and unexpected fear from Misfortunes, He previously instilled in us that disasters in recent times would begin to multiply more and more. And now what was said comes true! When what is predicted comes true, then what is promised will follow; and the Lord Himself gave the following promise: “When you see this happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:31). Thus, beloved brothers, the Kingdom of God is near: with the passing of the world, the reward of life will come, the joy of eternal salvation, eternal security and the possession of paradise, once lost; the earthly is replaced by the heavenly, the small by the great, the temporary by the eternal. What place is there for melancholy and anxiety? Who will worry and be sad at the same time, if not the one who lacks hope and faith? Only those who do not want to go to Christ can fear death; and not wanting to go to Christ is characteristic only of those who do not believe that they will begin to reign with Christ. Scripture says that the righteous lives by faith (Rom. 1:17). If you are righteous and live by faith; If you truly believe in Christ, then why don’t you, destined to be with Christ, with confidence in the promise of the Lord, not accept with love the call to Christ and greet yourself with liberation from the devil? Righteous Simeon - the truly righteous one, who fulfilled the commandments of God with full faith, was told from above that he would not die until he saw Christ - until the infant Christ was brought to the Church by Matter. And so, having learned in spirit that Christ, who had been foretold to him, had already been born, and that all that remained for him was to see the Born One and then soon die, he, rejoiced at the nearness of death and confident in his imminent calling, took the baby in his arms and, blessing the Lord, exclaimed: “Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:29–30). With these words, he showed and testified that for us, the servants of God, only then will there come peace, serene and quiet peace, when, having got rid of the worries of this world, we enter the haven of eternal home and security - when, having passed through death, we achieve immortality. This is where true peace is, true peace, constant, lasting and everlasting security! And in this world it is necessary to wage a daily war with the devil - in constant skirmishes to repel his spears and arrows: here we have a battle with the love of money, with debauchery, with anger, with vanity; here is a constant and difficult struggle with carnal vices and the delights of the age. The mind, besieged and surrounded on all sides by the attacking devil, can hardly resist and resist all this. If the love of money is cast down, then lust arises; if lust is suppressed, ambition arises; if ambition is defeated, we are embittered by anger, pride inflates us, we are attracted to drunkenness, enmity upsets harmony, jealousy destroys friendship. You are forced to slander, although this is prohibited by Divine Law, and to swear, although this is not allowed. Our spirit endures so much persecution every day! So many dangers oppress the heart! And it is pleasant to remain here for a long time, among the swords of the devil, when, with death quickly spreading, one should with all the more eagerness and desire hasten to Christ, Who says for our instruction: “Amen, amen, I say to you, that you will weep and weep, and the world will rejoice; You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20)! Who wouldn't want to get rid of sadness? Who would not hasten to enjoy joy? The Lord Himself explains the conditions under which our sorrow will turn into joy; He says: “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). So, if to see Christ is to rejoice; if there can be no joy for us without seeing Christ, then what kind of blindness of mind is it, what senselessness is it to love the hardships, sorrows and sorrows of the world and not rush to joy, which no one can take away from us? This happens, beloved brothers, from a lack of faith - because no one believes in the truth of what God has promised, Who is true and whose word is eternal and sure for those who believe. If a noble and important person promised you something, then you, of course, would believe his promise and would not think that you would be deceived by someone whom you always knew was steadfast in his words and actions. Now God Himself speaks to you - and you, treacherous, hesitate with distrustful thoughts? After leaving this world, God promises you immortality - but do you doubt it? This means not knowing God at all; this means to insult Christ, the Lord and Teacher of believers, by unbelief; this means being in the Church, in the house of faith, and not having faith! Meanwhile, the leader of our salvation and good, Christ, shows all the benefits of leaving this age; to the disciples who were saddened by the news of the imminent separation from Him, He said: “If they loved Me, they rejoiced quickly, for I said, I am going to the Father” (John 14:28), teaching and showing that we should rejoice more than grieve when the persons we love come from this age. Bearing this in mind, the blessed Apostle Paul expresses himself this way in his Epistle: “It is gain for me to live, O Christ, and to die” (Phil. 1:21); that is, he considers it the greatest acquisition for himself to no longer be held by the nets of the world, not to be subject to any carnal sins and vices, to get rid of severe sorrows, to be freed from the poisonous jaws of the devil and, at the call of Christ, to strive for the joy of eternal salvation. True, some are confused by the fact that the current painful ulcer affects us on a par with the pagans: as if a Christian only believed so that disasters would not touch him and he, while enjoying worldly temporary happiness, free from all evils, would be preserved for future joy! What confuses some is that the current mortality rate is common to us with others: what in this world, while, according to the law of the first birth, we still have common flesh, is not common to us with others? As long as we are here in the world, we are connected with the human race by the sameness of the flesh, but we are separated by the spirit. And therefore, until this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53); until Christ leads us to God the Father: until then all the infirmities of the flesh will be common to us with the entire human race. Thus, the lean land, not producing a harvest, produces general famine; Thus, when a city is conquered by an enemy, all citizens are captured. During a prolonged drought, the lack of water is felt equally by everyone; when a ship crashes on the rocks, everyone who sailed on it suffers shipwreck. In the same way, eye disease, feverish attacks, relaxation of all members cannot but be common to us with other people, while in this century we bear the same flesh with them. Moreover, if a Christian knows and remembers under what condition and obligation he believed, then he will also know what he must endure in this age more than others, since he is also faced with a great struggle against the slander of the devil. The Divine Scripture says this in our teaching and warning: “child, if you begin to work for the Lord God, prepare your soul for temptation. Whatever is dealt to you, accept it in the change of your humility and long-suffering; as gold is tempted in the fire, and men are accepted in the furnace of humility” (Sir. 2:1, 4-5). Thus, Job, deprived of property and children, covered with wounds and scabs, was not defeated, but only tested: showing pious patience in the midst of hardships and illnesses, he said: “naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked will I go; 21) And when his wife incited him, tormented by illness, to utter a complaint and murmur against God, he answered her: “Why did you speak only from foolish women? If good things are received from the hand of the Lord, will we not endure the evil ones? In all these things that happened to him, Job sinned nothing before God” (Job 2:10). That is why the Lord God testifies about him in this way: “Have you heeded your thoughts to my servant Job? There is no such thing as him on earth: a man is blameless, true, godly” (Job 1:8). In the same way, Tobias, when, after brilliant deeds, after many glorious deeds of mercy, he suffered blindness, he did not cease to nourish the fear of God in himself and to bless God in misfortune, so that his physical illness increased his merits even more. The wife tried to confuse him, saying: “Where is the essence of your alms and your righteousness? behold, everything is known with you” (Tob. 2:14); but he, steadfast and firm in the fear of God, supported by pious faith to endure severe suffering, did not succumb to the slander of a weak wife in disaster, and the more he deserved God’s mercy, the more patience he showed. And praising him, Angel Raphael says: “It is glorious to reveal the works of God. And when you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I offered the memory of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead... and when you were not lazy to rise and leave your dinner, and having gone away to cover the dead, you did not hide from doing good to me, but was with you. And now God has sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, who... enter before the glory of the Holy One” (Tov. 12:11-15). In general, the righteous have always been distinguished by patience, and the apostles were taught by the commandment of the Lord not to grumble in misfortune, but, no matter what happened to them in this century, to endure courageously and generously. After all, the Jewish people especially sinned because they grumbled against God, as God Himself testifies to this in the book of Numbers: “Let their murmuring cease from Me, and they not die” (Num. 17:10). So, beloved brothers, we should not grumble during disasters, but patiently endure whatever happens! The Scripture says: “a sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise” (Ps. 50:19). And in Deuteronomy, the Holy Spirit says through Moses: “The Lord your God... will tempt you, and make you embittered, and you will understand what is in your heart, whether you keep His commandments or not” (Deut. 8:2). And in another place: “The Lord your God will tempt you to lead you away, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 13:3). Abraham pleased God by the fact that, to please Him, he did not regret losing his son - he did not refuse to slay him. What would you do if you were ordered to slay your son when you do not want to lose him due to the law of mortality? The fear of God and faith should make you ready for anything. Neither the deprivation of property, nor the incessant and painful grief caused by serious illnesses of the body, nor the deplorable separation from your wife, from children, from dying friends - all this should not tempt you, but encourage you to exploits - all this should not shake and weaken your faith, but all the more clearly reveal your valor in battle: all present misfortunes should be despised, in the hope of future blessings. Without battle there can be no victory, and when victory is achieved in battle, then crowns are distributed to the winners. The helmsman is recognized during a storm; a warrior is tested in battle. There is nothing to boast about when there is no danger. The truth comes out during encounters with adversity. A deeply rooted tree is not shaken by the winds; a solidly built ship is not broken by waves. When bread is threshed on a threshing floor, large and full grains are not blown away by the wind, but empty chaff scatters at the slightest breath. That is why the Apostle Paul, after shipwrecks, beatings, repeated and painful exhaustion and suffering of the body, says about himself that he did not faint in adversity, but was strengthened, so that the more he was tempted, the more surely he achieved perfection. “I am here,” he says, “a dirty tricker of the flesh, an angel of Satan, let me do dirty tricks, let me not be arrogant. For this I prayed to the Lord three times, that he would depart from Me, And I said: My grace is sufficient for you: for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:7-9). So, when illness, infirmity, or any other befalls us devastation: then our virtue is perfected; then our faith, having remained strong in temptations, is crowned, according to the word of Scripture: “the furnace tempts the vessels of the poor; and the temptation of man is in his thoughts” (Sir. 27:5). on the contrary, disasters do not deviate from true faith and virtue, but strengthen them even more. The fact that relaxation of the stomach takes away our bodily strength, that the heat from within, which turns into laryngeal ulcers, poisons them, that continuous vomiting shakes the insides, the rush of blood causes inflammation in the eyes, that some hands and other members are cut off due to contagious putrefaction, that from relaxation of the body trembling occurs in the legs, hearing is blocked, vision is damaged: all this contributes to the advancement of faith. And what fearlessness - with all the strength of an indestructible spirit, to courageously resist all such pressures of deprivation and death! What a height to stand upright among the ruins of the human race and not bow down with those who have no hope in God! Why should we rejoice and value dearly the gift of the present time, in which we can show the strength of our faith, enduring its burden, come to Christ along the narrow path of Christ, and then at His judgment receive the reward of life and faith. Only those who, not being regenerated by water and spirit, prepare themselves as a sacrifice to the flames of Gehenna, who are not protected by the cross and suffering of Christ, who through the first death are transferred to the second, should fear death. Death should be feared by those who, upon leaving this world, will suffer forever and for whom continued stay here serves only as a temporary reprieve from suffering and lamentation. During real mortality, many of ours die, that is, many of ours will be cut off from this world. But this mortality, which serves as destruction to the Jews, pagans and other enemies of Christ, for the servants of God is a saving exit from the world. From the fact that, without any distinction, the righteous die along with the unrighteous, one should not conclude that the end is the same for both the good and the evil. No, the righteous are called to joy, and the wicked to torment; A quick reward is determined for the faithful slaves, and punishment for the treacherous. We, beloved brothers, are blind and ungrateful in judging the good deeds of God, so that we do not recognize much of what God sends to us even as a good deed. So the virgins come out of this world calmly and with glory, no longer fearing threats and desecration from the Antichrist who is about to come; Here young men avoid the danger of an age prone to sins and happily achieve the reward for abstinence and innocence; Now the weak wife is no longer afraid of persecution, or the hands and torment of the executioner, having prevented all this with a well-timed death. The fear of real mortality inflames the indifferent, curbs the depraved, awakens the careless; encourages apostates to conversion, induces pagans to faith, calls believers to rest; a new and numerous army appears, animated by courage, ready to fight without fear of death in the coming battle; because he goes to battle in the very hour of death. Finally, beloved brothers, is not all the benefit and necessity of a real pestilence, which seems so terrible and cruel, visible from the fact that it examines the righteousness of everyone and tests the thoughts of the human race, revealing: - whether the healthy serve the sick; do neighbors sincerely love their relatives; Are masters compassionate towards slaves who have suffered from weakness? whether doctors abandon patients begging for help; Do hard-hearted people tame their ferocity? Do predators extinguish within themselves, although out of fear of death, the insatiable flame of disastrous love of money; proud, do they bow their necks; Do the wicked soften their insolence? Do the rich, who die without an heir, refuse anything to their poor brothers? But even if this mortality did not produce anything like that, it brought very much benefit to Christians and servants of God by the very fact that we willingly began to desire martyrdom, having learned not to be afraid of death. Thus, this disaster serves as an exercise for us, and not destruction. It adorns the spirit with the glory of courage, teaching us to despise death, and prepares crowns for us. But perhaps someone will object: “Given real mortality, what saddens me is that, having prepared for confession and having decided with all my heart to endure suffering, I am deprived of martyrdom, being anticipated by death.” But, firstly, martyrdom is not in your power, but in the will of God, and you cannot say that you are deprived of martyrdom when you still do not know whether you would be worthy to undergo it. Secondly, God, who tests hearts and wombs, penetrates and comprehends the secret, sees you, praises and approves, and, seeing in you a readiness for exploits, will reward you for your exploits. Did Cain already kill his brother when he made a sacrifice to God? However, God, foreseeing the fratricide planned in his heart, preliminarily condemned him. Just as God then foresaw an evil thought and a destructive enterprise, just as now in the servants of God, ready to confess and suffer martyrdom. Judge God will crown the pious intention with glory. The lack of readiness for martyrdom is another thing, and the lack of martyrdom while being ready for it is another. How the Lord finds you when you are called to Himself is how He will judge you, as He Himself testifies, saying: “And all the churches will understand that I am the one who tests the hearts and the wombs” (Apoc. 2:23). God does not want our blood, but requires faith: neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob were killed; however, for their faith and truth, they were honored to be the first among the patriarchs, with whom everyone who is found faithful, righteous and worthy enters into cohabitation. We must remember that we are obliged to fulfill not our own will, but God’s, which is what the Lord commanded us to pray for daily. How foolishly and wickedly we act when, asking God that His will be done, we, while He calls and demands to Himself, do not immediately obey the demand of His will! We persist, resist, and are brought before the face of the Lord like wayward slaves, with lamentation and annoyance we leave this world according to the law of necessity, and not voluntarily, and at the same time we still want to receive heavenly rewards from Him to Whom we come under compulsion! Why should we ask and pray for the Kingdom of Heaven to come, when earthly captivity is pleasant to us? Why, in our often repeated prayers, do we ask for the speedy arrival of the day of the Kingdom, when we desire more and more ardently to work for the devil here on earth than to reign in heaven with Christ? But here is a case of the most obvious indication of Divine Providence that the Lord, foreseeing the future, cares about the true salvation of believers. When one of our colleagues and co-workers, exhausted by infirmity and embarrassed by the proximity of death, prayed, almost dying, for the continuation of life, a young man appeared before him, glorious and majestic, tall and bright in appearance, whose presence could hardly be noticed by the carnal human eye and whom only those who were already separated from this world could see; with some indignation and reproach he said to the dying man: “And you are afraid to suffer and do not want to die. What should I do with you? This is the voice of an accuser and at the same time of a friend, who, caring about the future, does not approve of the present disposition of people, both those who fear persecution and those who are dissatisfied with the calling of God. “Our brother and co-worker, close to death, heard what should have been said to others: the dying man heard in order to convey to others what he heard - he heard not for himself, but for us. For what was the purpose of studying for one who was close to departure? Thus, he learned this for us who remain alive, so that we, knowing about the reproach made to the priest of God who prayed for the continuation of life, would also know what serves each of us for the benefit. And to me, too, the least and last of God’s servants, how many times it was revealed, how often and clearly, by the grace of God, it was commanded to constantly instill and preach publicly that we should not mourn our brothers who, at the call of the Lord, renounce the present age, because they, as we know, do not perish, but only precede us, and when departing they precede us, like travelers and to seafarers. We must rush after them with love, but not complain about them in any way: we must not put on mourning clothes here when they have already put on white vestments there; Otherwise, we will give the pagans a reason to rightly condemn us for the fact that we, as completely lost, mourn those who, according to our words, live with God, and thus, not justifying with a heartfelt and sincere testimony of the faith that we proclaim and preach with our lips, we will become traitors to our faith and hope, and what we say will seem like pretense, fiction and hypocrisy. What is the use of showing respect for virtue in words, but destroying the truth in actions? The Apostle Paul reproaches and accuses those who mourn the death of their brothers. “I don’t want you, brothers,” he says, “to not talk about the dead, so that you don’t grieve, like others who have no hope. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so God will also bring those who died in Jesus with Him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). He says that only those who have no hope grieve for the dead. Why do we, who live in hope, believe in God, confess that Christ died and rose for us? Why, I say, we who abid in Christ, and through Him and are resurrected in Him, do not want to part with this world ourselves, and see off with weeping and sorrow our dying brothers, as if they were perishing, while Christ Himself, our Lord and God, speaks for our instruction: “I am the resurrection and the life: believe in Even if I die, I will come to life; and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26). If we believe in Christ, if, by believing in His words and promises, we shall not die forever; then we must go with joyful boldness to Christ, by whom we will always live and reign. After all, through temporary death we pass on to immortality, and eternal life can only come to us after our departure from here. Yes, this is not an exodus, but only a transition, or resettlement into eternity, at the end of the temporary path. Who wouldn’t rush to move on to something better? Who would not want to be changed and transformed into the image of Christ and quickly achieve heavenly glory? The Apostle Paul publicly says that “for our life is in heaven, therefore we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humility, so that he may be conformed to the body of His glory” (Phil. 3:20-21). Christ the Lord Himself promises to make us the same when He prays to His Father, that we too may be with Him, that we may live with Him in eternal settlements, and that we may enjoy bliss in the Heavenly Kingdom. “Father,” He says, “them which you have given to Me, I will, that even where I am, they also may be with Me; that they may see My glory, which you have given to Me... before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). So, he who has to move into the dwelling of Christ and into the glory of the Heavenly Kingdom should not cry and grieve, but, nurturing true faith in the promise of the Lord, should rather rejoice over such a transition and resettlement. We know that Enoch, who pleased God, was translated from here, as the Holy Scripture testifies to this in the book of Genesis: “Enoch pleased God, and not being found, God cast him away” (Gen. 5:24). The fact that he deserved to be removed from this world meant that he pleased God. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit, through Solomon, inspires us that those who please God will land in advance and quickly free themselves from here, so that, remaining longer in this world, they will not become infected with its corrupting breath. “He was delighted,” he says, “so that it would not be malice that changed his mind... For his soul was pleasing to the Lord; for this reason, struggling from the midst of wickedness” (Wis. 4, 11, 14). And in the psalms, the soul, filled with living faith in God, thus expresses its readiness to hasten to the Lord: “since Thy village is beloved, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and ends for the courts of the Lord” (Ps. 83:2-3). The desire to remain in the world as long as possible is characteristic only of those who are amused by the world, whom the evil and flattering age attracts to itself with the deceptive charms of earthly pleasure. But the world hates a Christian: why do you love someone who hates you, and don’t better follow Christ, Who redeemed you and loves you? John in his Epistle admonishes us not to be carried away by the lusts of the flesh and not to be addicted to the world. “Don’t love the world,” he says, “nor the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him; for all that is in the world, carnal lust, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of this world. And the world and its lust pass away; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (John 2:15–17), just as God abides forever. So, beloved brothers, with pure thought, with firm faith and constant valor, we will be better prepared to fulfill the will of God; Having removed the fear of death from ourselves, let us think about the immortality that follows it. Let us show ourselves to be true believers; Let us not mourn the death of our friends, and when the day of our own call comes, let us strictly and complacently follow the voice of the Lord calling us. This is what God's servants should always do; all the more so should this be done now, when the world is already being destroyed, engulfed in storms of hostile evils. Seeing the beginning of grave disasters and knowing that even graver ones will come, let us consider our speedy departure from here to be the greatest blessing for ourselves. If in your house the walls were shaking from dilapidation, the roof was shaking, the whole house, dilapidated and rotten, threatened imminent destruction, would you not move out of it as quickly as possible? If, during your voyage, stormy weather, raising waves, foreshadowed a shipwreck that would soon follow, would you not hasten to the pier? But now the world wavers and falls, testifying to its destruction not so much by dilapidation as by its approaching death: and you do not thank God and do not rejoice that, having been snatched from it early, you avoid the consequences of destruction, collapse and threatening troubles? We must reflect, beloved brothers, and often think about the fact that we have renounced the world and are here temporarily, as guests and strangers. Let us bless the day that brings each of us to our own home, which, having taken us away from the earth and freed us from worldly bonds, returns us to paradise and the kingdom of heaven. Who, being on a foreign side, would not rush to return to the fatherland? Who, hurrying to the ship to join his family, would not wish for a fervently favorable wind, so that he could soon embrace his friends? And we consider paradise to be our fatherland, the patriarchs have already become our relatives: why aren’t we in a hurry to see our fatherland as soon as possible, to greet our relatives? A great multitude of those dear to us awaits us there - a large host of parents, brothers, children, who, no longer fearing for their safety, are also concerned about our salvation. To see them, to hug them - oh, what a joy it is for them - together and for us! What joy there is in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is no longer the fear of death, what the highest and everlasting bliss in eternal life! There is the glorious face of the apostles; there are hosts of rejoicing prophets; there are countless martyrs, crowned for victory in struggle and suffering; there are triumphant virgins who, by the power of abstinence, have conquered the lusts of the flesh and body; there, the benefactors who received the reward, who, providing food and generous alms to the poor, transferred their earthly inherited treasures to the heavenly treasuries. Let us hasten to them, beloved brothers, with uncontrollable love, with a fiery desire - to be with them as quickly as possible, to come to Christ as quickly as possible. May God see our thoughts like this; May the Lord Christ, who has to pour out the richest rewards of His glory on those who have shown great devotion to Him, turn our attention to such an intention of our thought and faith! You might be interested in: