On the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

 

 

On the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ

By St. Ephraim the Syrian

1. Attend and come, ye sons of light, and hearken to that blessed voice of our Savior, who says to us: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom of the heavens" (Mt 25:34). Look, my brethren: let none of you be deprived of this blessed inheritance. For, behold, he is at the gates. Light from Light has come down to us and has illumined us and brought us up toward the Light. He has come down to us by becoming as we are, that we might be made like him. The Immortal descended to mortals and, making them immortal, ascended again to the Father. Now he comes with the glory of the blessed Father to judge the living and the dead. He has become a Way for us, full of light and glory, that we might walk in light towards the Father.

Notes on the Apocalypse of John (Third Teaching of Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)

 

Below are summary notes I took while listening to the lecture below of Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol. This is the third of 20 video lectures on the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse.

First Chapter (cont.)

- In verse 9, John identifies himself as one who follows the same path as the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where his authority comes from. The Apostles were not rich and powerful men who sat back and directed and ruled the Church, but they suffered very much for the Church and with the Church in the same way Christ did. This is further illustrated by the fact that he says he was at the time of the writing of this book on the island of Patmos in exile for his testimony of Christ. Patmos was not the beautiful and touristy island it is today where people go for a vacation, but at that time it was a dry and difficult place to survive in. Despite his "tribulations", however, he was patient in the Lord and hoped in the future kingdom where Christ eternally reigns.

Saint Timothy of Kakhushta and the Delusional Apocalyptic Preacher

 

 

The following events took place in early-ninth century Syria, and are recorded in the biography of Saint Timothy of Kakhushta the Stylite, who is commemorated on January 4th.

There was once a wandering solitary whom the devil envied. Since he was untried and knew not the devil's attacks, the enemy came to him in the form of Christ, accompanied by hosts of angels and magnificent light. To him he said: "Know that you have won my favor in this world and have pleased me much. You have comforted me with your manner of living and have thus merited that I reveal to you now my secrets and that I come down from the heights of my holiness to inform you that in eighty days the whole world will pass away and be brought to an end. As for you, enter the city, the towns, and the villages. Proclaim among the people, preach, and inform them what you have been commanded."