Icon of the Last Judgment, Mount Athos (http://www.pigizois.net/galery/telonismos/deftera_parousia_ag_oros.jpg)
Selected prophecies of St. Ephraim the Syrian on the Last Days
(words in quotes are from St. Ephraim, other words are from the author to give context)
St. Ephraim says: "At the time when the serpent [the Antichrist] shall come, there will be no calm on the earth; there will be great affliction, consternation, disorder, death and famine unto all the ends of the earth."
"He will come as one humble, meek, a hater (as he will say of himself) of unrighteousness, despising idols, giving preference to piety, good, a lover of the poor, beautiful to an extreme degree, constant, gracious to all... He will not accept bribes, speak with anger, show a gloomy countenance, but with a decorous exterior he will take to deceiving the world, until he has become king"
"When the many classes and the people see such virtues and power, suddenly all will conceive the same thought, and with great joy will proclaim him king, saying among themselves: 'Can another man so good and righteous be found?'"
"[Christ] will not leave the human race without His preaching, in order that all will be without answer at the Judgment"
[The Antichrist] will show partiality towards Christians, "promising them every sort of protection in return for their acknowledgment of his leadership." "Those not comprehending Christianity will see in him a representative and champion of the true religion and will join with him"
Those who remain faithful to Christ will incite his wrath "and then this serpent will become proud in his heart and vomit forth his bitterness"
Such will be the tribulation of that time that "all men will call blessed the dead and those already buried before this great sorrow came upon the earth".
The Last Judgment of Christ, with the Most-Holy Theotokos and the Precious Forerunner (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Gracanica/exhibits/digital/w1-n1s1/large/w1-n1s1-14.jpg)
"When the God of all comes to judge the living and the dead..." (amateur translation)
When the God of all comes to judge the living and the dead, and those fearful books will be opened, where are written our works and words and our acts, that which we said and did in this life, in other words, the thoughts and memories, for which we will have to give an account to the Judge.
Then He will seek from each of us the confession of faith and the order of baptism, and the faith pure from every heresy and the seal unbreakable and the garment undefiled...
After the grace (of holy baptism) he who does evil works, fell away from grace, Christ has no benefit for him, if he remains in sin. For it has been written, that all will appear before the throne of Christ, for each one of us to receive what is due for what he has done with his body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
For whoever has good works and good fruits, separated from the fruitless and sinners, will shine like the sun. These are those who kept the commandments of the Lord, the merciful, the lovers-of-the-poor, the lovers-of-orphans, the hospitable, the helpers of those struggling, the visitors of the sick, those who mourn now, as the Lord said, those who are poor now because the wealth is found with the orphans, those who forgive the offenses of their brothers, those who kept the seal of the faith unbroken and undefiled from every heresy.
Those then that are found at the left are the fruitless, those who have angered the Good Shepherd, those who passed that time for repentance playing and eating, those who have squandered in prodigality, all of the time of their live in drunkenness and ruthlessness, like that rich man, who never showed mercy to the poor Lazaros, and because of this was condemned, as merciless and uncompassionate and not having the fruits of repentance, nor oil for their lamps.
For you did not show mercy, thus now you will not be shown mercy, for you did not hear My voice, thus I will not hear your cries. For you did not serve Me, neither did you feed me the hungry, nor did you give drink to me the thirsty, neither did you show hospitality to Me, neither did you clothe Me the naked, neither did you visit me sick, neither did you come to Me when I was in prison. But firstly you became workers and servants, of the devil...
Then the rulers and uncompassionate rich people will groan, and will look everywhere in sadness, and there will be no one whom they can help. Neither does wealth appear, nor will flattery be found, nor will they find mercy, for they did not show mercy, nor will they be sent on ahead, for them to find...for the judgment of the merciless is not to be showed mercy.
Let no one doubt, [and think] that these are only words of mine about the judgment. But with exactness and safety let us all believe in the Lord, for there exists the resurrection of the dead and judgment and recompense for the good and evil, according the divine Scriptures. And seeing all of these beforehand, let us concern ourselves with them, that we may tend to all that concerns our apology and our representation before the dread judgment seat, and that terrible day and fearful hour...in which all of our life will he tried.
Alas for those who are infected with blasphemous heresies. Alas for those who scoff the divine Scriptures. Alas to those who soil the holy faith with heresies, or descend to the heretics.
For the life of St. Ephraim, see: http://goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=406, http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/01/st.html.
For many works of the Saint, see: http://www.voskrese.info/spl/XefremSyria.html.
For three sermons of the Saint Love, Psalmody and Prayer, see: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/01/st-ephraim-syrian-on-love-psalmody-and.html.
May St. Ephraim intercede for us all and help us! Amen!
St. Ephraim the Syrian - Commemorated on January 28th (http://vatopaidi.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/st-efraim-the-syrian.jpg)
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O Ephraim, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
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