as a body, patient. A Such a one is blessed three times over: he is glorified on earth, he rises from the dead, and he rests in the heavens. Whoever is such as this is honored in three eminent orders; he has done thirty, so as to be in the heavens; sixty, so as to be among the angels; a hundred, so as to be with God. Such a man is meek, quiet, humble, merciful, patient, righteous, and a stranger to the world and to this life; he appears in this life only as an image, but he dwells in heaven in heart and in works. But others among those who think heretically, according to their own wicked opinion, construct a ladder of blasphemy with their words. What do they say? Faith in the Spirit produces thirty, faith in the Son produces sixty, faith in the Father produces a hundred; they are ignorant that while they wish to diminish the Holy Spirit, B they are trying to exalt Him. For they place the Spirit before the Father and the Son, saying: “He who believes, by believing in the Spirit produces thirty,” and thus they place the Spirit before the Father and then before the Son, and they put the Father as third. But we, thinking the contrary, say the contrary. For he who believes does not believe first in the Spirit, but in the Father. He who believes in the Father produces thirty; he who adds faith in the Son doubles the number and produces sixty; he who puts on the Holy Spirit has fulfilled the hundred, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
On the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on Almsgiving
After the assumption of our Lord Jesus Christ into the heavens, while the disciples were gazing into heaven, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, saying: “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in this same place, as you saw him going into heaven” (Acts 1.11). Come, beloved, I will announce to you what his second coming will be like, a coming terrible and horrendous, which will convict every spirit. For the sign of the Son of Man will appear first, upon which the Jews crucified him, borne by angels and shining like lightning; and before it, the archangel Michael shall sound the trumpet, C awakening those who sleep from Adam until the consummation of the age. And the dead shall rise, as if from sleep, from their tombs, just as the apostle Paul said: “The trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15.52). And the angels shall gather men from the four ends of the earth into the valley of wailing. That valley shall be moved, and judgments shall be revealed. A river of fire, full of immortal worms; bitter and unmerciful angels; the works of each standing in a circle, convicting the sinner. Therefore, the heavens shall be changed, and the earth shall be empty, and the glory of all things shall pass away like a shadow. Riches and all things shall perish, they shall fail like smoke: when the stars shall fall from heaven like leaves; and no one shall help another, nor shall he be helped by another; not a father his son, not a mother her daughter, not a brother his brother, not a friend his friend, not a master his servant, nor a servant his master; neither riches, nor silver, nor gold, nor precious clothing, nor houses with golden ceilings; but the works of each shall be bare, whether they be good or evil. And the heavens shall be opened, and behold the Son of God coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory: he shall descend into that heavenly Jerusalem, and into that incomprehensible Sion. And twelve thrones shall be set, of the twelve apostles and his disciples; and behold, he himself appearing like lightning from the East to the West; and because of his terror and threats, the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll. Then all the earth shall be shaken, the mountains shall be filled with dung, rivers of fire shall be prepared to receive the sinners, the worms with gaping mouths shall be like dragons, and all, thirsting for the blood of sinners, shall be tormented without end. Those shadows have no light. Consider, therefore, brothers, that day, terrible, great, and illustrious. For even the angels, who have sinned in nothing, think of that day with trembling: how great, then, is the trembling that shall seize sinners on that horrendous and D terrible day? Then there shall be bitter weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let no one, however, think that one might conceive of that day as in a mental delirium. For I know many who say that such will be the judgment, as if one were being tormented in sleep. Do not be deceived, O humans: for he who is tormented in sleep only imagines it; but his body and soul rest in bed. On that day, however, the body cannot be separated from the soul; but they shall go together to that tremendous judgment, where the books of works have been opened, the Judge accepts no person, the judgment is immutable; and with great glory he shall call all by name to judgment, and we shall all stand bare. There, there is no oratorical speech which may win the cause, no eloquence, but an examination of works. No use of gifts there, no advocates; but all shall bear their own burdens. There old age is not credited, no splendor appears, nobility is not sought; there the beauty of the face does not sway the Judge; but the dignity of virginity and other virtues entreats the Judge born of a Virgin. There great and small are judged with an equal balance. Often, however, in that judgment, children condemn their parents. For if you have children, and do not keep equality among them, but enrich one and hate another, then you shall pay the penalty. Then a servant stands before his master with confidence, and a maid before her mistress, and a disciple before his teacher. For here all are judged in the tremendous judgment, children with parents, wives with husbands, and the works of each are made manifest. Therefore the blessed apostle Paul, knowing these things, commands all things to all, saying: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord; and fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Servants, obey your masters” (Eph. 6.1, 4, 5); “masters, render to your servants what is just and fair. Husbands, love your wives; wives, fear your husbands” (Col. 4.1; 3.19); so that we may all stand blameless before the horrendous tribunal of the Lord Jesus Christ our God. Let us therefore shudder at that day, in which the shepherd is to separate the sheep from the goats, and shall place the sheep on the right, and the goats on the left. Then the King shall say to those who are on the right: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25.34, 35). Consider that joy and confidence before the angels, prophets, and apostles; “For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink,” etc. Come, you blessed of my Father, receive heavenly things for earthly, eternal for temporal. You clothed me; I, in truth, clothe you with eternal glory: you gave me bread; I, in truth, give you the food of paradise: in elections and offerings of fruits you brought us fruits; and I shall make you companions of the saints: you gave me cold water to drink; and I shall introduce you into paradise. Brother, when you hear these things, what do you expect, why do you delay to bestow your goods upon the needy and upon the churches? Rather, you are giving to God himself, as he says: “If you did it to one of these my least brothers, you did it to me” (Ibid. v. 40 and following). Whoever, however, have persecuted the poor, they have persecuted Christ; and therefore he shall set them on the left: and just as they persecuted the poor, so also the Lord shall persecute them, saying: “Depart from me, you cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink,” etc. Consider that shame before the assembly of angels. If anyone here has been convicted of sin before a friend, how does he cast down his face? How does he refuse to go out? How is he ashamed before friends, neighbors, and kin, because of the shame of an open fault? Consider that shame, where numberless angels, orders of prophets, choirs of apostles, the assembly of martyrs