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Blessed be the merciful Creator and Redeemer! Blessed is the Good and Merciful One, Who rejoices over us if we repent, and without reproach, joyfully accepts us out of His love. Blessed is the Good One, whose door is open for the good to enter into, and who does not close the door of His goodness even to the evil, if they turn. Blessed is He who gives the means to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven to all: to the righteous through good deeds, and to sinners through repentance. Blessed for sinners is He who gave Himself up to death and reproach, Who endured shame in order to give life to sinners. Blessed is He who created us in His mercy, who condescended to save us by the Cross and again came to resurrect us on the great day of His Coming. Grant me, O Good One, by Your goodness, to behold Your bounty on the Day of Judgment and, together with the righteous, to sing Your praise forever and ever! Blessed are those who have loved God and, out of love for Him, despise all earthly things. Blessed are those who weep day and night, for they will be delivered from the wrath to come. Blessed are those who voluntarily humble themselves, for they will be exalted. Blessed are those who are abstinent, for heavenly joys await them. Blessed are those who exhaust their bodies with vigils and deeds, for heavenly joy is prepared for them. Blessed are those who have cleansed themselves of evil thoughts, for the Holy Spirit dwells in them. Blessed are those who love God with all their souls more than the whole world, for they will be recognized as the friends of Christ. Blessed are those who voluntarily bore their cross and actively followed Christ, for they will reach the Jerusalem above. Blessed are those who have girded their loins with the truth and have their lamps ready, waiting for the Heavenly Bridegroom, for they will reign with Him in the Heavenly Kingdom. Blessed is he who acquired intelligent eyes for himself and steadily directed them to the contemplation of future blessings, for he will inherit them. Blessed is he who constantly has the Day of Judgment before his eyes and strives to be pleasing to God on it. Blessed is he who has become a conqueror of carnal pleasures, for on the last day of trial he will gain boldness. Blessed is he who wept on earth for God, for his fruits will be reborn in heaven. The soul says: “I lived in the inn of the body, and the Lord of the House sent for me, it is impossible for me to stay in it any longer, the messenger forces me: get out of your house, leave this dwelling! So, remain in peace, flesh, temporary abode, that I may see you with joy on the day of resurrection.” Those who caught me hastily came, but I didn’t even know that the one sent for me was already ahead, but I didn’t even feel it. Deliver me, our Lord, from the condemnation to which the devil, the hater of Your blameless sons, has fallen, and bring me into the Kingdom with Your saints, so that I may sing praise and glorify You with them! The soul says to the body: “How bitter is the cup dissolved by death for you! How terrible this time is and how difficult the hour of trial! Remain in peace, pleasant dwelling in which I dwelt, as long as it pleased the Lord.” What sorrow will fill the heart of a sinner at that hour when the Judge Christ sits on His terrible Throne, all generations will appear before Him and all the secrets of the heart will be revealed! The Judgment is terrible, the Judge is terrible, this hour is terrible! Blessed is the one whom Thy goodness will then cover, O Lord! I took You, the Son of God, as my way of life, and when I was hungry, I was satisfied with You, the Savior of the world. Let fire run from my members, let the stench of Your Flesh and Blood drive it away, let baptism be for me an unsinking boat! May I see you there, our Lord, on the day of resurrection! Who will I resort to? Save for Your name's sake! Alas for me, burdened with unparalleled sins! The number of my sins is greater than the number of the sand of the sea, and I am exhausted from them, as from many iron bonds, because I do not have the courage to look up to the heights of heaven. To whom shall I resort, besides You, O Lover of Mankind? Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity! I resort to You because of Your great goodness and Your compassion! I have angered You, and I am resorting to You out of Your great unforgettable malice. I have offended You, and I run to You because of Your great love for mankind and, begging, I cry: “Turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities! Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb!” I have nothing that I could bring to You: neither a good deed, nor a pure heart, but, trusting in Your generosity, I cast myself down so that You would lead me into contrition and constant doing of Your commandments and I would not fall into sins again with such ease, but from now on I served You in reverence and righteousness all the days of my life. To the Mother of God about intercession in life, death and after death Virgin Lady, Mother of the humane God! Bring my heart into contrition and humble it, fill my eyes with saving tears and enlighten them with the light of Your prayers, so that I may not sleep into death. Sprinkle and cleanse me with the hyssop of Your mercy, wash me with my tears, so that I may be whiter than snow. To her, Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ, accept this humble confession and my prayer, captivate my mind and keep the rest of my life in repentance without temptation. During the exodus of my humble soul from my body, when - woe is me! - at the gates I will have a word with the enemies, then, Lady, look at me with Your merciful eye, free me from the merciless torturers and terrible henchmen of the prince of this age, be my Protector and then destroy all the manuscripts of my sins. Unashamed and saved, lead me to the Throne of Your Son and His Beginningless Father and the All-Holy Spirit - the One Light-originating and Consubstantial Trinity. The saints themselves will be amazed at their glory Blessed is the man who will gain boldness on the day of the Last Judgment and hear with others: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!” Then everyone, seeing himself in the light, will begin to examine and reflect, saying: “Is it really me? And how did I appear here, unworthy?” The Angels will approach with great joy and begin to glorify the saints and praise their lives, exploits, abstinence, vigils, prayers, arbitrary poverty, complete non-covetousness, patience in thirst, firmness in greed, constant persistence in prayer, joy in nakedness for the sake of the love perfect for Christ - the Angels will tell the righteous about all this with great joy. And the righteous will answer them: “Not one day on earth did we have a single good deed.” The angels will again remind them of the places and times of affairs, and they will again, marveling at themselves, begin to glorify God, seeing that their bodies in heaven shine more than the light because they endured small arbitrary hardships and sorrows on earth. They found a treasure hidden in the village, and, having sold everything that they had on earth, they acquired it, found a beautiful pearl, and with patience they hid it with themselves, and, without noticing it, they prepared for themselves undefiled and incorruptible clothing. The labor of achievement is small, but the rest is great. The feat of abstinence is short-lived, but its repose in the paradise of sweetness will continue forever and ever. At the sight of death, the consolation of resurrection Christ the Resurrectionist will appear in glory from on high, will give life to the dead, and will raise up those in their tombs. The children of the earthy Adam will all rise up together and give praise to the Resurrector of the dead. Let not your hearts, mortals, grieve. The day of the Lord will come, awaken and rejoice us who have fallen asleep, the Guardians will move before the Lord, and the Angels will rejoice on the day of resurrection. May your soul not grieve, redeemed by the Cross and called into the Kingdom: the day of the Lord will come, He will give a voice to the dead, and the dead will rise and give praise. Let us give glory and worship Jesus, the Word of God, who out of His love came and saved us with His cross and will again come and resurrect the children of Adam on the great day when His greatness will shine! Do not mourn, mortals, over your destruction: King Christ will shine from on high and with His omnipotent wave He will raise the dead from their graves and clothe them with glory in His Kingdom. If death reigned and destroyed our nature, because Adam sinned and transgressed the commandment, then how much more will we be justified and saved by the sufferings of Christ, who conquered death and justified our nature? Our Lord gave hope and consolation to those who had died, for He Himself rose from the grave, conquered death, promised resurrection and life, and provided great benefits to Adam and all his children. Praise and glorification to the Father who created us, the Son who saved us with His Cross, and the Holy Spirit the Comforter - the All-praiseworthy, Incomprehensible Trinity, resurrecting the dead and investing their bodies with glory! Praise be to the Resurrector of the Dead All those who have died will rise at the sound of the trumpet and sing praise to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Resurrector of their bodies. Father, who created Adam from the dust, Son, who by His cross delivered the children of Adam from destruction, raise me up and place me at Your right hand, that I may glorify Your name! We bow to You, Christ, our Savior: You are the Resurrector and Savior of all those who have died, who were baptized in Your name, confessed Your cross and Your death. Blessed is Christ, Who promised life and resurrection to the children of Adam on the day of His appearance! And we will rise and glorify Him among the saints who have pleased Him. Praise be to You! By Your resurrection, You gave the hope of life and resurrection to the entire race of mortals. We also praise you: You are the Resurrector of all flesh! Glorify and praise, mortals, the One who, by His death, abolished the power of death and promised life and resurrection to the entire race of mortals! Let the soul that has sought refuge in Thy cross, the heir of an eternal, imperishable treasure, praise and glorify Thee together with the spirits in whose hosts it is numbered. We adore the Father, who sent His only begotten Son, Who saved our race from death and Satan, sits at the right hand of His Father and asks for generosity to everyone! You might be interested in: