St. Porphyrios: God will say to me, "What are you doing here?"

 

Video with a recording of St. Porphyrios speaking, with English subtitles (source)

   

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"When the thrones are set up, and the books are opened..."

Icon of the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment (source)

  
When the thrones are set up, and the books are opened, and God comes to sit in judgment, O, what fear will be then! Angels stand around in fear, and the river of fire is drawn. O, what will we guilty people do then, who are in many sins? When we hear the calling of the blessed from the Father unto the Kingdom, the sinners will be sent unto perdition, and who will endure that terrible sentence? But You, O only Savior Who loves mankind, the King of the ages, before I reach my end, turn me back through repentance, and have mercy on me.


Having come to know the commandments of the Lord, let us do them. Let us feed the hungry, let us give drink to the thirsty, let us clothe the naked, let us enter in to the houses of the sick and visit those in prison, that He might say to us, when He comes to judge the whole earth: Come, the blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom that has been prepared for you.
-Idiomela from the Sunday of the Last Judgment
  
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Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of glory at His Second Coming, to judge the living and the dead (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Justin Popovich: "Every Holy Church is a piece of Heaven..."

Interior of an Orthodox Church (source)

  
"Every Holy Church is a piece of Heaven upon the earth. And when you are in Church, you are truly in Heaven. Thus, when the earth crushes you with its hell, run to Church, enter within, and behold, you are within Paradise! If people bother you with their evil, take refuge in Church, and kneel before God, and He will take you under His sweet and all-powerful protection."
-St. Justin Popovich
  
(source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Sophrony of Essex on the Building of Churches

Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow (source)

  
"It is difficult to built a church today. It will rouse up all the demons," said St. Sophrony of Essex, as he proceeded to tell a parable that he had heard in Russia: "Once, someone went to Hell, but there, he wanted a church so he could pray. Despite his sinfulness, he loved God and wanted to pray. He began to measure the space to lay the foundations. A demon asked him what he was doing, and he replied: 'I want to build a holy church in order to pray.' The demon responded that it was impossible to build a church in Hell, and he tried to hinder him. He then called other demons, and they were unable as well. They mentioned it to their leader, and then they gathered many demons and threw him out of Hell so that he might not build the church." And St. Sophrony continued: "Thus, we as well build churches in order to transform Hell into Paradise, and even if we are unsuccessful with this, we will succeed in the devil not accepting us in Hell."
(source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. John of Damascus on Eternity and God's Goodness

Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior (source)

  
"In eternity, God gives good things to everyone, because He is the source of good things. Every person, therefore, partakes of the goodness of God according to the manner that he formed himself in this life, receptive to this goodness...God even continuously gives good things to the Devil, but he does not want to receive them."
-St. John of Damascus
  
(Source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete: "God is everywhere present..."

Christ Pantocrator (Source)

  
"God is everywhere present. Wherever God is, there also is His Uncreated Light. The Uncreated Light of our Triune God fills all things. Therefore, no place is a place of darkness. All is all-bright with the Uncreated Light of our Triune God, Who shines with His Light and with his incomparable Divine Love. In other words, God bombards us with incomparable tons of His Divine Love. And woe to him who does not accept this Love, for he will experience it as incomparable hell, as incomparable hate and incomparable darkness in the other life.

"With this teaching, all of the thoughts of modern man are put into order, that say that, if God is incomparable love, how is it possible for us to go to hell for all eternity with so many torments? God neither condemns to hell, nor is hell His creation. God out of love made all things, and whatever He created is wholly light and love. Darkness and punishment were not created by God. We have created them with sin and with death, we have created darkness and hell. Therefore, God, does not condemn us to hell, but we self-condemn ourselves on our own.

"It is like the sun which shines wholly bright, and there are eyes of men who desire to go blind and do not wish to see the light of the sun, even forever. In this eternal self-blinding, one remains in darkness even though he was given the chance to see. Every human being has this pure choice and is free, and God honors this and does not intervene. And man lives his life and works his sins and God does not stand in his way, but unless he turns in repentance and chooses to follow His righteousness, then he can't condemn God for the hell that he will experience in the next life."
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete, Mount Athos

(source)

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"Panagia had a silent life..."

Copy of the wondrous icon of Panagia Vimatarissa of Vatopedi Monastery (source)

  
Panagia had a silent life. Within, however, she prayed ceaselessly! Her prayer of the heart did not have any measure of comparison. It is something inconceivable to men, and even to the Angels, and because of this Panagia is the rector of all of the teachers of noetic prayer.

A short time before Panagia left this world, the disciples of Christ entreated her to give them a unique teaching, as a spiritual inheritance. Panagia told them:
"Life is like trade, and man resembles a merchant. Blessed is he who trades rightly with the time of his life! Trade your life as my Son said, that you might gain the Kingdom of the Heavens."

We use our time, either doing good works to obtain the Kingdom of the Heavens, or working sins, towards our damnation.
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete
  
(source)

  

Most-holy Theotokos, save us!

"Flee from the flames, O my soul..."

Abraham and Lot fleeing the destruction of Sodom, while Lot's wife remained and turned to a pillar of salt (source)

  

The Lord once rained fire from heaven and consumed the land of Sodom.

Seek salvation on the mountain as did Lot, O my soul, and find thy refuge in Zoar.

Flee from the flames, O my soul, flee from the burning heat of Sodom, flee the destruction of the divine fire.

Thou knowest, O my soul, how the cities to which Christ offered the Gospel were cursed. Fear their example and their punishment, for the Master likened them to Sodom and condemned them all to hell.

-Excerpt from the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

  

(source)

  

The Destruction of Sodom (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Paisios the Athonite on Death, Prayer for the Departed and the Last Judgment

The classic iconographic type depicting the dormition of St. Ephraim the Syrian, with the choirs of his beloved fellow monastics coming from afar to venerate him and pray for him (source)

  
LIFE AFTER DEATH
by Saint Paisios of Mount Athos
  
--Geronda [Elder], when a person dies, does he become immediately aware of his spiritual condition?

--Yes, he does, and says to himself, "What have I done?" But the result in fayda yok, [An expression in the Turkish language, which means: "There is no benefit, there is no progress or success".) that is, this awareness is of no benefit. This can be likened to a drunk man who kills his mother and goes on singing and laughing, but who, upon becoming sober and realizing what he has done, will wail and lament and say, "What have I done?" In much the same way, those who commit wrongdoings in this life are like drunken men. They don't understand what they're doing; they don't have a sense of their guilt. But when they die, this "drunkenness" disappears and they become aware of their real condition. The eyes of their soul are opened and they realize their guilt, because the soul, when separated from the body, moves, sees and perceives with an inconceivable speed.

  
Some people ask when the Second Coming will take place. But for the person who dies, the Second Coming is, in a way, taking place, because he is judged on the basis of the state in which he is found at the time of death.
  
--Geronda [Elder], in what state are the souls of the tormented found at this time?
--They are indicted, imprisoned, and suffer in accordance with the sins they had committed; and they await the final trial, the future Judgment. There are those who have been indicted, facing heavy sentences, and those who have been indicted, facing lighter sentences.
  
--What about the Saints and the thief? (St. Luke 23:32-33 and 39-43)
--The Saints and the thief are in Paradise; but they have not received the final glory, just as those who have been indicted are in hell but have not received the final sentence. Even though God has taught us from centuries ago: "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand?" (St. Matthew 3:2 and 4:17) He extends the time more and more, because He waits for us (with the pronoun "us", the Elder means all of humanity) to correct ourselves. But we, by remaining in our (unrepentant) misery, are unjust to the Saints because they cannot receive the final glory, which they are to receive after the future judgment.
  

St. Paisios the Athonite (source)

  
PRAYER AND MEMORIALS FOR THE DEPARTED
  
--Geronda [Elder], can the indicted souls who await trial pray?
--They are aware of their condition and seek help, but they cannot help themselves. Those who are in Hades desire only one thing from Christ: to live for five minutes in order to repent. We, who live, still have time for repentance, but those unfortunate ones who have fallen asleep cannot improve their condition on their own; they await help from us. This is the reason why we have an obligation to help them with our prayer.
  

--It is my belief that only about ten percent of the indicted dead awaiting trial are, as the demons do. They don't seek any help, and they also reject all help. For what can God do for them? It's like a child who has alienated himself from his father, squanders all of his property, and on top of that, curses him. What can his father do for him? But the other indicted ones, who still have a little philotimo, are aware of their guilt. They repent and are tormented because of their sins. They ask to be helped and are helped through the prayers of the faithful. [Saint Nectarios, in his study, A Treatise on the Immortality of the Soul and on the Sacred Memorials, ed. Basil Regopoulos, Thessaloniki 1973, p. 202, writes as a conclusion to what he developed on the basis of the witness of the Holy Fathers: "On the basis of all the above, it becomes clear that the soul after death is unable to do any solitary deed and be relieved from the indissoluble bonds of Hades. Only the Divine Liturgies, the prayers of family members, of the just, which are offered for them, including charity, become instrumental agents of deliverance and freedom from the bonds of Hades."] In other words, God provides an opportunity for them, now that they are awaiting trial, to be helped until the Second Coming takes place. And just as in this life when one who's a friend of the king can intercede and request help for someone awaiting trial, so, too, if one is "a friend" of God, he can intercede with prayer to God, and He can transfer the indicted souls of the dead from one "prison" to another, better one, from one "detention-cell" to another, better one. Or God may transfer them to a "room" or to an "apartment".

Just as we provide some comfort to the imprisoned with the refreshments and other material goods we bring to them, so are the dead refreshed by the prayers and the charity we execute for their souls. The prayers and the sacred memorial offered by the living for the dead are the final chance that God gives to the dead to be helped until the Final Judgment takes place. After the Judgment, there will no longer be any possibility for help.
  
God wants to help those who have fallen asleep because He cares about their ultimate salvation; but He does not help because He has a noble spirit. He does not want to give the devil the right to say: "How can you save him, since he did not labor to achieve it?" But when we pray for those who have fallen asleep, we give God the right to intervene. God is moved more by our prayers for the dead than by those for the living.
  

Kollyva offered for memorial services on the Saturday of the Souls as a symbol of the Resurrection, and out of love and compassion for our departed brethren (source)

  

This is the reason why our Church has the sacred memorials with the kollyva. [Kollyva (κόλλυβα): boiled wheat kernels. The wheat kernels express belief in everlasting life, according to what Jesus said, "Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (St. John 12:24). It is a tradition among Orthodox Christians to bring a tray of boiled wheat kernels to church for the Memorial Service.] Memorials serve as the best attorney on behalf of the souls of those fallen asleep. They even have the power to bring a soul out of hell. At every Divine Liturgy, we should pray with kollyva for those who have fallen asleep. The wheat has a symbolic meaning: "It is sown in corruption; it is raided in incorruption" (1 Cor. 15:42) according to Sacred Scripture. Some people can't be bothered to boil some wheat and instead bring raisins, cookies or other pastries so that the priest may bless those things. Up on the Holy Mountain, there are some elderly monks who will prepare kollyva for every Divine Liturgy for those who have fallen asleep in the hope of the Resurrection and for the Saint commemorated that day, in order to have his blessing.

  
THE FUTURE JUDGMENT
  
--Geronda [Elder], how is the soul purified?
--When a person observes the Commandments of God, working to be cleansed of one's own passions, then the mind is enlightened; it attains spiritual vision, and the soul becomes as resplendent as it was before the Fall of man. This is the condition he will be in after the resurrection of the dead. But one can see the resurrection of his soul before the General Resurrection only if he is cleansed entirely from the passions. Then, his body will be Angelic, incorporeal, and will not be concerned with material nourishment.
  
--Geronda [Elder], how will the future Judgment take place?
--In the future Judgment, the condition of each person will be revealed in an instant, and each person on his own will proceed to where he belongs. Each person will recognize, as if on a television screen, his own wretchedness, as well as the spiritual condition of others. He will reflect himself upon the other, and he will bow his head, and proceed to the place where he belongs. For example, a daughter-in-law who sat comfortably with her legs crossed in front of her mother-in-law, who with a broken leg took care of the grandchild, will not be able to say, "My Christ, why are you putting my mother-in-law into Paradise without including me?" because that scene will come before her to condemn her..." (Note: Saint of Damascus writes: "For no one should imagine that there will be no recognition of one person by another on that fearful Day of the Judgment. Yes, truly each person will recognize his neighbor, not through the shape of the body, but by means of the vision of the eye of the soul.")
  

The Good Thief in Paradise (source)

  
THE FUTURE LIFE
  

--Geronda [Elder], I have brought some sweets for you to offer to your guests.

--Look how happy they are with that! In the other life we will be saying to ourselves, "In what foolish things we found joy! What things inspired us then!" While now our heart flutters over such things.
  

--Geronda [Elder], how can we understand this at this point in time?

--If you understand this from now, you will not say it in the next life. In any case, those who are to be found up there will be faring well. Have you any idea what handicraft they do there in Heaven? They constantly glorify God. (Note: Saint Symeon the New Theologian writes: "On the fearful Day of Judgment each sinful person will simply see, standing opposite them in the eternal life and in that inexpressible light, their fellow human beings; and they will be judged by them." On Repentance, Logos 5)

  
--Geronda [Elder}, in the other life will those in Hell see those in Paradise?

--Look, just as those who are out at night in the dark can see those who are in a lit room, so will those who will be in Hell see those in Paradise. And this will be an even greater hell for them. So, too, just as those who are in a lit room at night can't see those who are out in the dark, so will those who are in Paradise not see those in Hell. For if the saved were to see those who are condemned in Hell, they would be pained and grieved over their suffering, and would not enjoy Paradise, where "there is no pain..." And not only will they not see them, but they won't even remember if they had a brother or a father or a mother, if they, too are not in Paradise". The Psalmist says, "On that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalm 146:4). For if they are to be remembered, how can it be Paradise? Moreover, those in Paradise will have no awareness of that existence of others, nor will they remember the sins they had committed. For, if they were to remember their sins, they would not be able to bear, out of philotimo, the thought of ever having grieved God. (Source: The Family Life by Saint Paisios of Mount Athos, Spiritual Counsels IV)

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Icon of the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia: "The Jesus prayer gives you so much sweetness..."

Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior of the world (source)

  
The Jesus prayer gives you so much sweetness, so much joy. It’s short, but it’s got so much power. So much, that you say: ‘Even if I go to hell, I’m not afraid. I’ll just say the prayer there, as well’.
-Elder Ephraim of Katounakia
  
(source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Porphyrios: "God does not punish!"

The Second Coming of Christ (source)

   

“No, God does not punish! Man punishes himself, distancing himself from God. It is as if we said: 'Here is water, there is fire. I am free to choose. I place my hand in the water, and I am refreshed. I place my hand in the fire, and I am burned.'”

-St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

(amateur translation of text from source)

   

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

A revelation on the torments of hell to St. Makarios the Great

The vision of St. Makarios the Great of Egypt (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5vddWreubvzxTlTjpeAtsaOGbIDk_plNgIdjCNR4OgetDyJAGcNbAMnIvXsqC6ZJRI-45Bt_XWjXOT16l19YKUOWF_SuVVspkQslWzL4NHv8oBhas3h-Y8dWXkslvjjOqBiGg8NAOnB7/s1600/%25CE%259A%25CE%259F%25CE%259B%25CE%2591%25CE%25A3%25CE%25971.jpg)

  

A revelation on the torments of hell to St. Makarios the Great (amateur translation)

This icon is from the cemetary church of All Saints in the town of Perama, Rethymna, the seat of the municipality of Mylopotamou, by the iconographer Emmanuel Sephake.

St. Makarios of Egypt once was traveling through the desert, and accidentally uncovered a skull with his staff. He bent down, buried it with respect, and prayed for the man to whom it belonged. Then, the man's soul appeared to him, and informed him that, while he was alive, he was a worshiper of the devils (a priest of Isis), and now he was in hell. “And how is it there?” the Saint asked. “All are found amidst flames” the soul responded, “and we are bound back-to-back. However, when you pray for us, we see each other for the short time that you are praying.” We know from our holy Christian teachers that the fire which the soul mentioned is the Fire of God, which bathes all in the other world. Those with an attitude of egotism experience this as the “fire of hell”.

(http://proskynitis.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_6716.html)

  

"We are bound to each other back-to-back, but when you pray for us, we can see each others' faces" (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqI7lqu6G-YcvfQaUiIons2H4DcEo-VfwS1emhDeVnB4zpOwpffESyn2Tm8te-0uZ5nvTYJMZ8GQeBvrdMLTic5O2hqE5v6HACHmz7hy1-3Hm1yMhejq8O7_iz3Z7KRP1Syzn7K19dcqEQ/s1600/%25CE%259A%25CE%259F%25CE%259B%25CE%2591%25CE%25A3%25CE%25972.jpg)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Selected Quotes of the Fathers on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

The Rich Man at banquet, and the poor Lazarus, whose sores are being licked by the dogs (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Decani/exhibits/Collections/PublicMinistry/CX4K2408_l.html)

Selected Quotes of the Fathers on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
"We must observe also, that among the heathen the names of poor men are more likely to be known than of rich. Now our Lord mentions the name of the poor, but not the name of the rich, because God knows and approves the humble, but not the proud."
St Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome

"Lazarus is interpreted, "one who was assisted." For he was poor, and the Lord helped him.
St John Chrysostom

"This discourse concerning the rich man and Lazarus was written after the manner of a comparison in a parable, to declare that they who abound in earthly riches, unless they will relieve the necessities of the poor, shall meet with a heavy condemnation. But the tradition of the Jews relates that there was at that time in Jerusalem a certain Lazarus who was afflicted with extreme poverty and sickness, whom our Lord remembering, introduces him into the example for the sake of adding greater point to His words."
St Cyril of Jerusalem

But the insolence and pride of the wealthy is manifested afterwards by the clearest tokens, for it follows, and no one gave to him. For so unmindful are they of the condition of mankind, that as if placed above nature they derive from the wretchedness of the poor an incitement to their own pleasure, they laugh at the destitute, they mock the needy, and rob those whom they ought to pity."
St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

The death of the Rich Man (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Decani/exhibits/Collections/PublicMinistry/CX4K2416_l.html)

"Now if the wearing of fine and precious robes were not a fault, word of God would never have so carefully expressed this. For no one seeks costly garments except for vainglory, that he may seem more honorable than others; for no one wishes to be clothed with such, where he cannot be seen by others."

"And here we must narrowly watch ourselves, seeing that banquets can scarcely be celebrated blamelessly, for almost always luxury accompanies feasting; and when the body is swallowed up in the delight of refreshing itself, the heart relaxes to empty joys."

"But what means it, that when in torments he desires his tongue to be cooled, except that at his feasts having sinned in talking, now by the justice of retribution, his tongue was in fierce flame; for talkativeness is generally rife at the banquet. "
St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome

The Rich Man in the flame of Hades (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Decani/exhibits/Collections/PublicMinistry/CX4K2418_l.html)

"It may here be observed, that all who are offended by us are exposed to our view. But the rich man sees Lazarus not with any other righteous man, but in Abraham's bosom. For Abraham was full of love, but the man is convicted of cruelty. Abraham sitting before his door followed after those that passed by, and brought them into his house, the other turned away even them that abode within his gate."

"He [the rich man] died then indeed in body, but his soul was dead before. For he did none of the works of the soul. All that warmth which issues from the love of our neighbor had fled, and he was more dead than his body. But no one is spoken of as having ministered to the rich man's burial as to that of Lazarus. Because when he lived pleasantly in the broad road, he had many busy flatterers; when he came to his end, all forsook him. For it simply follows, and was buried in hell. But his soul also when living was buried, enshrined in its body as it were in a tomb."
St John Chrysostom

The soul of Lazarus being carried by Angels (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Decani/exhibits/Collections/PublicMinistry/CX4K2417_l.html)

"And here we must remark what fearful sufferings are heaped upon the rich man in flames. For in addition to his punishment, his knowledge and memory are preserved. He knew Lazarus whom he despised, he remembered his brethren whom he left. For that sinners in punishment may be still more punished, they both see the glory of those whom they had despised, and are harassed about the punishment of those whom they have unprofitably loved."
St Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome

"All this then is said to Him because he chose the happiness of the world, and loved no other life but that in which he proudly boasted; but he says, Lazarus received evil things, because he knew that the perishableness of this life, its labors, sorrows, and sickness, are the penalty of sin, for we all die in Adam who by transgression was made liable to death."
Blessed Augustine

"He says, You received good things in your life, (as if your due;) as though he said, If you have done any good thing for which a reward might be due, you have received all things in that world, living luxuriously, abounding in riches, enjoying the pleasure of prosperous undertakings; but he if he committed any evil has received all, afflicted with poverty, hunger, and the depths of wretchedness. And each of you came hither naked; Lazarus indeed of sin, wherefore he receives his consolation; you of righteous wherefore you endure your inconsolable punishment; and hence it follows, But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. "
St John Chrysostom

"Whatsoever then you have well in this world, when you recollect to have done any thing good, be very fearful about it, lest the prosperity granted you be your recompense for the same good. And when you behold poor men doing any thing blameably, fear not, seeing that perhaps those whom the remains of the slightest iniquity defiles, the fire of honesty cleanses."
 
"Whom does this rich man represent, this man so richly dressed, who enjoyed all those daily banquets? Is it not the Jewish people [or in another sense, hypocritical, false "Christians", for that matter], who made a cult of exterior things, using the delights of the law which they had received, for vain motives, not for true profit? And whom does Lazarus signify, covered in wounds, if not the Gentile peoples? These, when converted to God, were not ashamed to confess their sins, that is to say, they had many wounds and open sores. As when some infection comes from within the body to ulcers of the skin, so showing itself exteriorly, so when we confess our sins, it is in a sense an outbreak of our sores. In confession we manifest in a very profitable way the virus of sin which had concealed its venom within the soul. Exterior wounds bring to the surface the festering sore beneath, and when we confess our sins, we uncover this hidden sore. But the unfortunate Lazarus wished only to eat of the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one would give him any, because those proud people disdained to admit the Gentiles to the knowledge of their law.
St. Gregory the great, Pope of Rome

(http://www.orthodox.net/questions/luke_16_19-31_parable_rich_man_lazarus_22sunape.html)

Lazarus' soul in the Boosm of the Patriarch Abraham (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Decani/exhibits/Collections/PublicMinistry/CX4K2419_l.html)

  

Russian icon depicting the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Quotes from St. Isaac the Syrian on Sin, Hell and Repentance

Icon of St. Isaac the Syrian (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)

"As for me I say that those who are tormented in hell are tormented by the invasion of love. What is there more bitter and violent than the pains of love? Those who feel they have sinned against love bear in themselves a damnation much heavier than the most dreaded punishments. The suffering with which sinning against love afflicts the heart is more keenly felt than any other torment. It is absurd to assume that the sinners in hell are deprived of God's love. Love is offered impartially. But by its very power it acts in two ways. It torments sinners, as happens here on earth when we are tormented by the presence of a friend to whom we have been unfaithful. And it gives joy to those who have been faithful. That is what the torment of hell is in my opinion: remorse. But love inebriates the souls of the sons and daughters of heaven by its delectability.

"If zeal had been appropriate for putting humanity right, why did God the Word clothe himself in the body, using gentleness and humility in order to bring the world back to his Father?

"Sin is the fruit of free will. There was a time when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist.

"God's recompense to sinners is that, instead of a just recompense, God rewards them with resurrection.

"O wonder! The Creator clothed in a human being enters the house of tax collectors and prostitutes. Thus the entire universe, through the beauty of the sight of him, was drawn by his love to the single confession of God, the Lord of all.

“Will God, if I ask, forgive me these things by which I am pained and by whose memory I am tormented, things by which, though I abhor them, I go on backsliding? Yet after they have taken place the pain they give me is even greater than that of a scorpion's sting. Though I abhor them, I am still in the middle of them, and when I repent of them with suffering I wretchedly return to them again.”

"This is how many God-fearing people think, people who foster virtue and are pricked with the suffering of compunction, who mourn over their sin; yet human prosperity compels them to bear with the backsliding which results from it. They live between sin and repentance all the time. Let us not be in doubt, O fellow humanity, concerning the hope of our salvation, seeing that the One who bore sufferings for our sakes is very concerned about our salvation; God's mercifulness is far more extensive than we can conceive, God's grace is greater than what we ask for.

"Repentance is given us as grace after grace, for repentance is a second regeneration by God. That of which we have received an earnest by baptism, we receive as a gift by means of repentance. Repentance is the door of mercy, opened to those who seek it. By this door we enter into the mercy of God, and apart from this entrance we shall not find mercy.

"Blessed is God who uses corporeal objects continually to draw us close in a symbolic way to a knowledge of God's invisible nature. O name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open up for me the great door to your treasure-house, that I may enter and praise you with the praise that comes from the heart."
--St. Isaac the Syrian (taken from: http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2006/11/01/words-from-st-isaac-of-syria/)

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!