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[To those preparing in Jerusalem for enlightenment, spoken without preparation, in the words: and in one Holy Catholic Church, I believe in the resurrection of the flesh and eternal life. Also on the words of Ezekiel: And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me in the midst of the field: behold, it was full of human bones, and so on. (Ezek.37:1).] 1. The root of every good work is the hope of resurrection. For the expectation of reward strengthens the soul in good activity. Because every worker willingly endures labor when he anticipates payment for his labor; and for those who work without seeing pay, the soul and the body become exhausted before their time. A warrior, in anticipation of a reward, willingly goes against his enemies; on the contrary, no warrior, being in the service of an unreasonable king who does not pay soldiers for their work, wants to die for him. So every soul that believes in the resurrection preserves itself as it should; and she who does not believe in the resurrection is allowed to perish. He who believes that the body will be resurrected keeps these clothes and does not defile the body with fornication, but he who does not believe in the resurrection gives himself over to fornication, not caring about his own body as if it were someone else’s. So, faith in the resurrection of the dead is an important instruction and teaching of the Holy Catholic Church, important and very necessary; and although many contradict it, the truth confirms it. The Greeks contradict it, the Samaritans do not believe it, and heretics refute it. Contradiction is diverse, but truth is uniform. 2. The Greeks, together with the Samaritans, contradict us this way: a dead person goes into the earth and rots, turns into worms, and then the worms die. The body is subjected to such rottenness and destruction; How will it be resurrected? Those who drowned were devoured by fish, and they themselves were devoured. The bears and lions who fought with the animals were killed, crushing the very bones. Kites and crows, having eaten the flesh of the lying dead, scattered throughout the world. Where will the body come from? Of the birds that eat it, one will die in India, another in Persia, and another in the land of the Goths. Others who burned in the fire, and the very ashes were carried away by rain or wind. Where will the body come from? 3. For you, a human being, a very limited and weak creature, India is far from the land of the Goths, Spain is far from Persia; and for God, who contains the whole earth in a handful, everything is close. So, because you are weak, do not imagine God as weak, but rather pay attention to His power. The sun, not His great work, warms the whole world with one rush of rays; and the air that God created encompasses everything in the world; and God, the Creator of the sun and air, is really far from the world? Let various plant seeds be mixed (for you, weak in faith, I present weak examples); and these various seeds of plants will be in one handful of yours; Is it difficult for you, a person, or, on the contrary, is it easy to distinguish what is in your handful, and to separate the seeds of each plant according to their properties and give them their own place to grow? So, you can discern and restore to its previous state what is in your hand; But can God really not discern and restore to its former state what is contained in His handful? Understand what I say; Is it not a wicked thing to reject this? 4. Delve into the very law of justice and turn to yourself. You have different slaves: some of them are good, others are bad; Of course, you honor the good ones, but punish the bad ones. And if you are a judge, then you praise the good and punish the lawbreakers. So, in you, a mortal man, justice is observed; But does God, the eternal King of all, really have no just retribution? It is wicked to deny it. Consider what I say: many murderers died unpunished on their beds; where is God's justice? Often a murderer is guilty of fifty murders; but one of his heads is cut off; where will he accept punishment for forty-nine murders? If there is no judgment and retribution at the end of this world, then you will accuse God of injustice. However, do not be surprised at the slowness of the trial. Every ascetic, after completing a feat, is crowned or put to shame; and those who determine the reward for the ascetics never crown them during their exploits, but wait until all the ascetics have completed them, so that after everything has been sorted out, they can give decent rewards and crowns to everyone. In the same way, God, when this feat is still ongoing in this world, although he helps the righteous as much as necessary, but gives them a perfect reward afterward. 5. If, in your opinion, there will be no resurrection of the dead, then why do you blame those who rob the dead? If the body has perished and there is no hope of resurrection, then why will the one who robs the dead be punished? You see that although you deny the resurrection with your lips, however, in your conscience its truth remains invincible. 6. A tree that has been cut blooms again; and a man struck by death will not blossom? What we sow and reap is preserved on threshing floors; and when man is reaped from this world, will he not be preserved in the threshing floor of the next world? Having been completely cut off and planted, the branches of grapes or other trees come to life and bear fruit; Is it really possible that man, for whom even trees exist, will not be resurrected after he goes into the earth? If we compare the difficulty of a thing, then which is harder: to first sculpt a statue, or to restore a fallen one to its previous form? Will God, who created us out of nothing, be able to resurrect those who exist when we die? But you, Hellene, do not believe what Scripture says about the resurrection; consider this object from the nature of things and understand it from what you see before. Wheat is sown, if it happens, or some other kind of seed: the fallen seed dies, rots and becomes unfit for food. However, having rotted, it appears in greenery, and, having fallen in a small form, it now appears in a beautiful form; but wheat was created for us. For wheat provides seeds for our use, and was not created for them. Thus, what was created for us, having been killed, comes to life; and we, for whom this was created, having died, will we not rise again? 7. It's winter time now, as you see; the trees stand as if they were dead, for where are the fig leaves? Where are the grape brushes? However, they are dead in winter, but turn green in spring; and when the time comes, then it is as if deadness itself imparts life to them. God, foreseeing your unbelief, every year reveals the effect of resurrection in what you see, so that you, looking at what is happening to soulless things, would believe this also regarding inspired, rational beings. Flies and bees, mostly smothered in water, are resurrected in due time, and some genera of earthly animals, remaining motionless in winter, are resurrected during summer. Since your concepts are weak, I present you with examples consistent with them. So, He who supernaturally imparts life to dumb and despicable animals, does not He really deign to give it to us, for whom He created them? 8. However, the Hellenes want to be even more clearly convinced of the resurrection of the dead; they say that although those animals are coming to life, they are not yet completely rotten. They clearly want to see an animal completely rotten and resurrected; God foresaw the unbelief of people and for this purpose he created a bird called the phoenix. She, as Clement writes and many others narrate, being alone in her kind, after five hundred years, flying into the Egyptian country, shows the resurrection, not appearing in empty places, where the mystery taking place would be unknown, but in the midst of the city, so that one could touch what they do not believe. Having made herself a nest from Lebanon, myrrh and other fragrant substances and at the end of these years having sat down in it, she clearly dies and rots. Then, from the rotted flesh of the dead phoenix, a certain worm is born. When he grows up, he becomes a bird. (You must not disbelieve this. For you see that bees are formed in the same way from worms; you see that feathers, and bones, and the compositions of birds are made from the most liquid eggs.). Then the phoenix, about which I spoke, covered with feathers and became exactly the same as the phoenix it was before, flies into the air in the same form in which it died; and in this way he very clearly shows people the resurrection of the dead. The phoenix bird is amazing, but it is a dumb bird and has never praised God. She flies through the air, but does not know the Only Begotten Son of God. So, the dumb animal, not knowing the Creator of all mortals, is granted resurrection; Will we really not be granted resurrection when we glorify God and keep His commandments? 9 . But since the phoenix, the sign of the resurrection, is distant from us and appears rarely, and they still do not believe its existence, then you have proof of the resurrection in what you see every day. For a hundred or even two hundred years, where were all of us who are now speaking and listening? Don't we know the original composition of our bodies? Don't you know that we are born from weak, ugly and uniform substances? And from this uniform and weak substance a living person is formed; from this weak, when it takes on flesh, strong nerves and clear eyes are formed, and nostrils for smelling, ears for hearing, a tongue for speaking, a beating heart, arms for working, and legs for running, and all other members. And this weak thing is done by the builder of ships and houses, and by the architect and artist in every art, and by the warrior, and by the legislator, and by the king. Is it really not possible for God, who created us from unformed substances, to resurrect the dead? Will He who forms a body from the weakest substance really not be able to resurrect a dead body? He who created what did not exist before will not resurrect what already existed and died? 10. Here is another clear proof of the resurrection of the dead in heaven and in the luminaries, which is confirmed every month. The lunar body, which completely ceases its light, so that it is no longer visible at all, is again filled with light and returns to its previous state. And in order to completely prove this point to you, after several years the moon becomes eclipsed and clearly turns into blood, and then again takes on a light-like body. God arranged this so that you, a man made of blood, would not be in disbelief regarding the resurrection of the dead, but so that you would believe the same when you reason about what you see on the moon. Use such evidence against the Hellenes. Fight those who do not accept what is found in the Holy Scriptures, not with the weapon of Scripture, but only with conclusive explanations. For they do not know who Moses is, who Isaiah is; neither the Gospel nor Paul are known. 11. Go now to the Samaritans, who, accepting only the law, do not accept the prophets; For them, the current reading from Ezekiel is also unconvincing, for, as I said, they do not accept prophets. How can we convince the Samaritans? Let us turn to what is written in the law. This is what God says to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:6, 15–16); there is no doubt that He is the God of being and real existence. For if Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ceased to be, then obviously God will be the God of those who do not exist. Does the Tsar ever say that he is the Tsar over the soldiers he does not have? Does anyone show off wealth that he does not have? So, we must assume that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob really exist, so that God will be the God of those who exist. He did not say: I was, but: their God is. And that there will be judgment, Abraham speaks about this to the Lord: Will the Judge of all the earth act unjustly? (Gen.18:25)? 12. But the foolish Samaritans again contradict this and say that the souls of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can exist, but their bodies cannot be resurrected. It is possible for the rod of righteous Moses to be a serpent; Is it really impossible for the bodies of righteous people to come to life and be resurrected? This was not according to the law of nature; and according to the law of nature, won’t it return to its state again? And Aaron's rod, cut off and withered, flourished without the moisture of the water; and, moreover, being under the roof, he produced what grows in the fields, and, lying in a dry place, in one night he brought forth the fruits that were produced in the places that had been fertilized for many years. Aaron's rod seemed to have risen from the dead; will Aaron himself not rise? To give him the high priesthood, God performed a miracle over a wooden rod, but does he really not deign to resurrect Aaron himself? The woman is supernaturally made salt, and the flesh is turned into salt; Can’t flesh really become the same flesh again? Lot's wife became a pillar of salt; and will not Abraham's wife rise again? By what force did Moses’ hand change, which in an instant became white as snow and returned to its previous state again? Without a doubt, by Divine command. Yes! Then the Divine command was strong, but now is it really no longer strong? 13. Moreover, from what was man created in the beginning, the Samaritans, the most foolish of all people? Open the first book of Scripture, which you also accept: And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7). Finger turns into flesh, but will not flesh still become flesh? We must ask you: what are the heavens and the earth and the seas made of? What is the sun, and the moon, and the stars made of? How did birds and fish come from the waters? How did all animals come from the earth? Such myriads are brought from non-existence into existence; and will we really not be resurrected, people who have the image of God? Truly, the thought of the Samaritans is filled with unbelief, and great condemnation will follow for those who do not believe. Abraham says to the Lord: Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25). And those who study the law do not believe this. It is written that man was created from the earth; and those who read the law do not believe. 14. This is said for them, the unbelievers, but for us, the believers, there is evidence from the prophets. Since some, reading the prophets, do not believe what is written in them, and oppose to us, firstly, these words: the wicked will not stand in judgment (Ps. 1:5), also: so he who goes down to the pit will not come out (Job. 7: 9), also: Neither the dead will praise the Lord ( Ps. 114:25) (it is written well, but they explain it poorly), then it is necessary in passing, and as much as possible now, answer them to this. When it is said that the wicked will not stand in judgment, this means that they will be resurrected not for judgment, but for condemnation. For God does not need a long-term test, but at the same time as the wicked are resurrected, punishment will follow. And when it is said: Neither the dead will praise the Lord, this shows that the time of repentance and remission of sins is limited only to this life, during which those who received it will praise You, and those who ended their life in sins after their death will no longer be able to praise You like those who receive a benefit; they will have to weep, for praise is appropriate for those who give thanks, but weeping is appropriate for those who are punished. Therefore, the righteous will then praise God, but those who have died in sin will no longer have time to praise Him. 15. As for this place: so the one who descends into the underworld will not come out (Job.7:9), then read the following words. It is also written here: he will never return to his house again (Job.7:10). When the whole world passes away and every house is destroyed, what other house will he enter, for the earth will be new? But they should have listened to these words of Job: There is hope for a tree that, even if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and branches will not cease to come out from it: even if its root has grown old in the earth, and its stump has died in the dust, but as soon as it senses water, it gives off shoots and sends out branches, as if newly planted. And man dies and disintegrates; left, and where is he? ( Job 14:7–10 ). By this he seems to shame and reproach. For with questioning one should read the words: where is he? A tree, he says, falls and rises; will not the very man for whom the trees were created rise up? And so that you don’t think that I’m changing the meaning of the speech, for this, read what follows. After he said with a question: the man has departed, and where is he, he says: When a man dies, will he live again? And then he says: All the days of the time appointed for me, I would wait until my replacement came (Job 14:14). And in another place: And I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise this decaying skin of mine from the dust, and I will see God in my flesh (Job 19:25-26). And the prophet Isaiah says: Your dead will live, your dead bodies will rise! (Isa.26:19). The prophet Ezekiel also speaks very clearly: I (the Lord) will open your graves and bring you out (Ezek.37:12). Daniel also says: And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to eternal life, others to everlasting reproach and disgrace (Dan.12:2). 16. And Scripture testifies many times to the resurrection of the dead. For in many other places it speaks about this; Therefore, we only mention in passing the resurrection of the four-day-old Lazarus, and in passing, due to the shortness of time, we also mention the resurrected son of the widow. As a reminder, we just introduce the daughter of the synagogue leader. For one reminder, let us also say that the stones disintegrated, and many bodies of the departed saints were resurrected (Matthew 27:52), while the tombs were opened. It is especially necessary to mention that Christ rose from the dead. I’m not talking about Elijah, the widow’s son, who was resurrected by him; I’m not talking about Elisha, who resurrected twice: once during his life, the other after his death. He, while alive, performed the miracle of resurrection with his soul. However, so that not only the souls of the righteous would be revered, but they would believe that the bodies of the righteous also have such power, then the dead man who fell into the tomb of Elisha, touching the dead body of the prophet, came to life. The dead body of the prophet did the work in place of the soul. While it was dead and lying in the tomb, it gave life to the dead; and having given life, it itself remained dead as before. For what? So that this work would not be attributed to one soul, when Elisha was resurrected, but to show that even then, even if the soul is not in the body, some miraculous power resides in the body of holy people, since for many years a righteous soul lived in it, to which it was submissive. And we should not, like children, not believe this as if it had not happened. For if handkerchiefs and towels located outside the body, touching the sick, raised the sick, then wouldn’t it be more convenient for the body of the prophet to raise the dead? 17. One could talk a lot about this, telling about the miracles of each incident that happened, but due to the fatigue that comes from the long fast that happened on Friday, and from vigil, let’s say about this in passing, not throwing much seed, so that, following the example of the good soil, having received the seed, you would bear abundant fruit. Let us also remember that the apostles raised the dead: Peter raised Tabitha in Jopia, Paul raised Eutychus in Troas, and all the other apostles, although not everything is written that each of them performed miraculous things. Bring to your mind everything that Paul writes in the First Epistle to the Corinthians against those who say: How will the dead be raised? and in what body will they come? (1 Cor. 15:35). He says: for if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised (1 Cor. 15:16). And he called the unbelievers crazy: bring to mind all the teaching about the resurrection of the dead that is there, and what he wrote to the Thessalonians: I do not want to leave you, brethren, ignorant about the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). And all the rest, and especially this: and the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thess. 4:16). 18. But especially notice that Paul, as if pointing with a finger, says: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53). For this body will not rise in the state of weakness in which it is now; the same thing will rise, but will be changed, having been clothed with incorruption; will change just as iron becomes fiery from fire, or, better, as the resurrecting Lord knows this. The same body will rise, but not in the same state, it will be eternal. There will no longer be a need for our food to support life, nor for ladders to climb. It will be spiritual, wonderful, one whose properties we cannot explain properly. Then the righteous, says Scripture, will shine like the sun (Matthew 13:43) and the moon and like the lights in the firmament (Dan.12:3). And God, foreseeing human unbelief, gave the smallest worms during the summer the ability to emit a light-like shine from their bodies, so that people, judging by what they see, would believe what they expect. He who gives a few can give all: He who made the worm shining will all the more enlighten the righteous man. 19. So we will rise and we will all have eternal bodies, but not all of them will be the same. If anyone is righteous, he will receive a heavenly body in which he can deal with the Angels as he should; if anyone is a sinner, he will receive an eternal body, which must endure torment for sins in order to burn forever in fire and not be destroyed. And God will reward both of them righteously. We do nothing without the body. We blaspheme with our lips and pray with our lips, we commit fornication with our bodies and keep our bodies pure; we steal with our hands and give alms with our hands, and everything else as well. So, since the body cooperated with the soul in everything, then in the next century it will receive retribution according to its deeds. 20. So, brother, let us guard our bodies, let us not use them for evil, like strangers; Let us not, like heretics, say that this bodily clothing is someone else’s, but let us keep it as if it were our own. For we must give an account to the Lord for everything that we have done in the body. Do not say: no one sees me, and do not think that there is no evidence of your deeds: there is often no human witness, but the Creator, the true witness, remains faithful in heaven (Ps. 89:38) and sees your deeds: moreover, the filth of sin remains on the body. For just as a wound that occurs to the body, even though it is somehow healed, nevertheless leaves a sign of itself, so sin wounds the soul and body, and the signs of former wounds remain in both, and are erased only from those who receive baptism. God heals the previous ulcers of the soul and body through baptism, but from now on we all must be careful in order to keep this bodily clothing clean and so that for the sake of short-term fornication and sensuality or any other sin committed, we do not lose heavenly salvation, but in order to inherit the eternal Kingdom of God, which may God vouchsafe to all of you with His grace. 21. This had to be told to us in order to prove the resurrection of the dead. And the confession of faith, which we repeated to you, during our very reading, you must pronounce and remember with all care. 22. The spoken Creed contains the following words in order: into one baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and into one Holy Catholic Church, and into the resurrection of the flesh, and into eternal life. I spoke about baptism and repentance in the first teachings, about the resurrection of the dead I now speak in these words: and into the resurrection of the flesh; Now it remains for us to say these words: and into one Holy Catholic Church. There is a lot that can be said about it, but we will say it briefly. 23. The Church is called Catholic because it is located throughout the entire Universe from the ends of the earth to the ends of it, that everywhere and in full it teaches all the teaching that people should know, the teaching about things visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly, that the entire human race leads to the true faith: leaders and subordinates, scientists and ordinary people - and that everywhere it heals and heals all kinds of sins committed by the soul and body, has in itself every kind of perfection that appears in deeds, words and in all spiritual gifts. 24. The church (i.e., convocation or assembly) is called according to the thing itself, since it convenes and gathers everyone together, as the Lord says in the book of Leviticus: and gather the whole congregation to the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting (Lev.8:3). It is remarkable that the word gather is used for the first time in Scripture when God appointed Aaron as high priest. And in the book of Deuteronomy God says to Moses: Gather the people to Me, and I will proclaim My words to them, from which they will learn to fear Me (Deut. 4:10). The name of the Church is also used when talking about the tablets: and on them [were written] all the words that the Lord spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the meeting (Deut. 9:10). Moses seems to say this more clearly: on the day on which, having been called by God, you gathered together. And the psalmist says: I will glorify You in a great congregation, among a multitude of people I will praise You (Ps. 34:18). 25. First, the psalmist sang: in the church in the congregations, bless God the Lord, you are of the seed of Israel! (Ps.67:27). But from the time when the Jews, due to evil intent against the Savior, were rejected from grace, the Savior created another, from the pagans, our Christian Holy Church, about which he said to Peter: And on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (cf. Matt. 16:18). While prophesying about both of them, David clearly spoke about the first rejected one: I hated the gathering of the evil-minded (Ps. 25:5). About the second, which must be created, he speaks in the same psalm: Lord! I have loved the habitation of Your house (Ps. 25:8), and then immediately: in the assemblies I will bless the Lord (Ps. 25:12). For when the first Jewish church was rejected, then throughout the Universe the churches of Christ are already multiplying, about which the psalms say: Sing to the Lord a new song; Praise be to Him in the assembly of the saints (Ps. 149:1). According to this, the prophet also said to the Jews: I have no favor with you, says the Lord of hosts (Mal. 1:10). And then right there: For from the east of the sun to the west my name will be great among the nations (Mal.1:11). Paul writes to Timothy about this Holy Universal Church: so that... you may know how you ought to act in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). 26. Since the name of the church is used in various cases, such as, for example, about the people who were at the spectacle of Ephesus, it is written: Having said this, he dissolved the assembly (Acts 19:40), (Church); rightly and truly can be called the church of the evil gatherings of heretics, that is, the Marcionites and Manichaeans and others - therefore, the Creed of precaution now teaches you this way: and into one Holy Catholic Church, so that you flee from these nasty gatherings, and would always remain in the Holy Universal Church, in which you were reborn. When you come to a city, don’t just ask where the church of the Lord is. For other wicked heretics also call their caves churches of the Lord; and don’t just ask where the church is, but where is the Universal Church. For this is actually the name of this Holy and universal Mother of our Church, who is the Bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. For it is written: just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, etc. (Eph.5:25). She bears the image and likeness of the Jerusalem above, which is free: she is the mother of us all (Gal.4:26). She was formerly barren, but now she has many children (see Gal.4:27). 27. After the rejection of the first in this other Universal Church, according to Paul: And God appointed others in the Church, firstly apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers; further, to others he gave miraculous powers, also gifts of healing, help, government, different tongues (1 Cor. 12:28) and every kind of all virtues, that is, wisdom and understanding, chastity and truth, alms and philanthropy and invincible patience amid persecution. This Church, with the weapon of righteousness in the right and left hand, in honor and dishonor (2 Cor. 6: 7-8), at first, amid persecutions and misfortunes, decorated the holy martyrs with various and varied crowns for patience, but now, in times of peace, by the grace of God, it receives due honor from kings and rulers and from people of every condition and kind. Kings of countries and peoples have limits to their power; one Holy Universal Church throughout the world has unlimited power. For God, as it is written, establishes peace within your borders (Ps. 147:3). If I intended to say everything about her, it would take me a lot of time to explain it. 28. In this Holy Universal Church, by accepting instruction and leading a good life, we will receive the Kingdom of Heaven and inherit eternal life, for which we endure all labors in order to receive it from the Lord. For our intention is not unimportant; eternal life is the subject of our care. Therefore, in the confession of faith after this: and in the resurrection of the flesh, i.e. the dead, which we talked about, we learn to believe in eternal life, for which we, Christians, strive. 29. So, the essential and true life is the Father, who through the Son in the Holy Spirit pours out heavenly gifts on everyone. According to His love for mankind, eternal life was not falsely promised to us; there should be no doubt about the possibility of this. We must look and believe not at our weakness, but at God’s power, for with God all things are possible. And that this is possible and we should expect eternal life, says Daniel: and those who turn many to righteousness are like the stars forever and ever (Dan.12:3). Paul also says: and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17). For to always be with the Lord means to live forever. The Savior says very clearly in the Gospel: And these will go away into eternal torment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:46). 30. There is a lot of evidence regarding eternal life. And for us who wish to receive eternal life, Divine Scripture offers the very means to obtain it. Regarding them, now, due to the length of the word, we will not offer much evidence, leaving others to thorough research. Sometimes faith is provided as such a means, for it is written: he who believes in the Son has eternal life, etc. (John 3:36). And in another place the Savior Himself says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life (John 5:24). Sometimes the means is the preaching of the Gospel; for He says: He who reaps receives his reward and gathers fruit for eternal life (John 4:36). Sometimes the feat of martyrdom and confession of Christ, for Christ says: he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life (John 12:25). Also, Christ’s preference for property and relatives: And everyone who leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, etc. inherits eternal life (Matthew 19:29). And keeping the commandments: do not kill, do not commit adultery, etc. (Matthew 19:18), which follows in the Savior’s answer to that young man who, approaching, says: Good Teacher! What good thing can I do to have eternal life? (Matthew 19:16). It is also a means of abandoning evil deeds and serving God, as Paul says: But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life (Rom. 6:22). 31. And there are many different means to obtain eternal life, which I did not mention because of their multitude. For the Lord, being a lover of mankind, opened not one, not two, but many doors for entry into eternal life, so that everyone would receive it, since there are no obstacles on His part. Now I have briefly spoken about eternal life, which in the confession of faith constitutes the last subject of teaching and the end. May all of us, both those who teach and those who listen, be worthy to receive it by the grace of God. 32. Finally, beloved brothers, I ask all of you in this educational conversation to prepare your souls to receive heavenly gifts. By the grace of the Lord, I told you about the holy and apostolic faith handed over to you for confession, as much as could be included in the catechetical instructions, in the past days of Lent. These are not the only ones I should have said, for I have omitted much, which perhaps requires more and, moreover, better teachers of reasoning. However, when the day of Holy Pascha comes and when you, beloved, are enlightened in Christ by the washing of rebirth, then again you will hear, if God pleases, a decent teaching about with what reverence and preparation you should be called to enter the Church; why are all the holy mystical rites of Baptism performed, with what reverence and preparation after Baptism should one approach the holy altar of God and partake of the spiritual and heavenly Mysteries at it, so that your soul, having previously been enlightened by the word of teaching, may recognize in every thing the greatness of the gifts sent down to you from God. 33. On the holy and saving day of Easter, from the second day on every day of the week, when you gather at the holy place of resurrection, you will listen to other teachings, if God wills. From them you will learn an explanation of everything that will happen to you, and you will hear evidence of this from the Old and New Testaments. You will first learn about what happens just before Baptism, then how you received from the Lord the cleansing of sins by the washing of water through the word (Eph. 5:26); how, having been sanctified, you became partakers of the name of Christ, and how you were given a seal through the communication of the Holy Spirit; You will learn about the mysteries of the New Testament performed on the altar, which received their beginning here, and what is revealed about them in the Divine Scripture, what their power is, how to approach them and when and how they should be used; in conclusion, how you should behave in words and deeds in the future, worthy of this grace, so that it is possible for all of you to receive eternal life. If God pleases, I will tell you about this. 34. However, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord (Phil. 3:1); and again I say: Rejoice (Phil.4:4). For your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28), and the heavenly angelic army awaits your salvation, and a voice is already crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord (Matt. 3:3). And the prophet exclaims: Thirsty! Go all of you to the waters (Isaiah 55:1). And then right there: Listen to Me attentively and eat good things, and let your soul enjoy fatness (Is. 55:2). And after a little time you will hear good words: Arise, shine, [Jerusalem], for your light has come (Is. 60:1). The prophet said about this Jerusalem: then they will say about you: “a city of righteousness, a faithful capital” (Is. 1:26). For out of Zion will come the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Is. 2:3), which from here poured out over the whole world like rain. Turning to Zion, the prophet says about you: Lift up your eyes and look around: they are all gathering, coming to you (Is. 60:4). And Zion answers, saying: Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their dovecotes? (Isa.60:8) Clouds - because they are spiritual, doves - because they are kind. And in another place: Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen anything like this? did the country arise in one day? Was a people born at one time, like Zion, as soon as she began to suffer from childbirth, she gave birth to her sons? (Isa.66:8). Everything will be filled with unspeakable joy, because the Lord said: I make Jerusalem joyful and her people joyful (Is. 65:18). 35. Let us say about you today: Rejoice, O heavens, and be glad, O earth, and so on. for the Lord comforted His people and had mercy on His sufferers (Is. 49:13). This depends on the love of the Lord, who says to you: I will blot out your iniquities like a cloud, and your sins like a cloud (Is. 44:22). And you, being worthy of the name of the faithful, about whom it is written: And He will call His servants by another name, by which anyone will bless himself on earth (Isa. 65:15-16), you will say with joy: Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3), in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Eph.1:7), which He has given us in abundance, etc. (Eph.1:8); and again: God, rich in mercy, according to His great love with which He loved us (Eph. 2:4), also made us alive together with Christ when we were dead in trespasses, etc. (Eph.2:5); like this, praise the Lord of all good things, saying: When the grace and lovingkindness of our Savior God appeared (Titus 3:4), He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5), which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:6), so that by His By grace we have become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7). So that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to the knowledge of Him, and may the eyes of your heart be enlightened (Eph. 1:17-18), and may He cause your deeds, words, and thoughts to always be good. Glory to Him, honor and power, by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, now and always and throughout the endless ages of ages. Amen. Some writers take this bird only as a symbol or image of the resurrection of the dead, not allowing for its true existence in the world. You might be interested in: