De salute animae

On the Salvation of the Soul. Beloved, all of you who have abandoned the vain and perishable things of life, strive so that you may not turn your mind back to them again. For wealth passes away, glory perishes, beauty withers, and all things change; they vanish like smoke, pass by like a shadow, and disappear like a dream. Therefore Solomon said: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity; and David says: Man walks in an image. Yet all who are anxious about the affairs of this present life are disturbed in vain; truly they are disturbed in vain, they are troubled in vain, they are tossed about in vain, gathering and hoarding things that are left behind after a short time; things which we cannot take with us, but leaving everything behind, naked as we were born, we will go to the fearful judge. Even if we gather all the treasures, naked, dark, pitiable, gloomy, with necks stretched, humbled, crushed, fearful, trembling, downcast, pained, with faces turned to the ground, and covering this with shame—thus we will go, thus we will rise, thus we will stand before that dreadful and bitter impartial tribunal, where angels tremble, where fearful thrones are set, where the books of deeds are opened, where the river of unquenchable fire is, where the savage worm is, where the lightless darkness is, where the unheated Tartarus is, where the gnashing of teeth is, where the unceasing tear is, where the unceasing groan is, where the inconsolable mourning is, where there is no laughter, but lamentation.

where there is no joy, but groaning; where there is no luxury, but judgment; where there is no sound, but trembling. It is truly fearful to hear, beloved, but more fearful to see the whole creation standing and giving account for word, for deed, for thoughts, by night, by day, of all that we have sinned. Great is the fear, brothers, then, great the necessity, such as never was nor will be until that day. Then angels run about, the trumpets blare, the stars fall, the sun is darkened, the heavens roll up, the earth is shaken, the powers rush forth, the Seraphim cry out, the things above, the things below, the things on earth, the things under the earth are thrown into confusion, the tombs are opened, the bodies rise and are gathered, the tribunal is prepared. Great is the fear, indescribable the trembling, incomprehensible the necessity that then occurs; great is that storm, great the pain, grievous the circumstance, unceasing the uproar, great the wailing. Listen then to Daniel saying: I beheld in a vision of the night, until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat down. His garment was white as snow, the hair of his head pure as wool; his throne was flame, his wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire flowed before him; a thousand thousands stood by him, and ten thousand thousands ministered to him; the tribunal was seated, and books were opened. Then my spirit shuddered. I, Daniel, saw, and the vision of my head confounded me. Alas! The prophet, seeing the vision of the future judgment, shuddered!

And what then shall we endure, when we come to these very realities? When, gathered together from sunrise to sunset, we stand naked, displaying the burden of our sins upon our neck to all? Then the tongues of blasphemers are set aflame, and there will be no one to cool them; then the teeth of slanderers are ground down by harsh angels; then the hands of the avaricious hang trembling and are scraped in agony; then the mouths of chatterers are stopped up by fire; then the eyes of those who wink are mercilessly gouged out. Where then are parents, where brothers, where father, where mother, where relatives, where friends? Where is the pomp of kings, where the authority of rulers, where the madness of tyrants, where the arrogance of judges? Where are the slaves, where the maidservants? Where the adornment of garments, where the hues of pearls, where the display of gold, where the clink of silver? Where the ornament of rings, where the tight-fitting shoe of the feet, where the silk garments, where the fine linens? Where the meats, where the perfumes and the vain fumigations? Where the hoarded treasures? Where the adorned couches? Where those who overlook the poor? Where those who disregard those in need? Where those who think themselves wise? Where those who drink wine with drums and dances? Where those who laugh continually and mock the pious? Where those who oppress slaves and despise the fear of God? Where are those who disbelieve in punishment and behave as if immortal? Where are those who say, "Let us eat and drink"?

For tomorrow we die. Where are those who say, “Give me today, and take tomorrow”? Where are those who say, “Let us enjoy the things here, and we will look to the things there”? Where are those who say, “God is philanthropic, and does not punish sinners”? Oh, how much will those who say such things repent! How much will they beat their breasts, and there is no one to pity them! How much will they groan, and there is no one to deliver them! How much, cutting themselves down, will they say, “Woe, woe, that we mocked ourselves! Woe, that we destroyed ourselves! We were taught, and we did not attend; we were admonished, and we despised; they testified to us, and we did not believe; hearing the Scriptures, we deceived ourselves. The judgment of God is just; for we receive what is worthy of what we have done. Woe to us, that for the sake of temporary pleasure we are punished eternally, that through a short time of negligence we are plunged into the eternal fire, that for vain glory we have fallen from the glory of God, that for a small luxury we have been deprived of the luxury of paradise, that for perishing wealth we have lost the wealth of the kingdom! In the vain age we enjoyed, but in it those who did not enjoy are delighted. Now those who fast luxuriate, those who have struggled dance in the heavenly bridal chamber, those who have scattered wealth reap in exultation, those who have wept rejoice eternally, those who have despised earthly things have received the heavenly; only we, the wretched, have been justly handed over to punishment; and now we cry out, and there is no one to pity; we groan, and there is no one to save.

Therefore, lest we also utter such words with those foolish ones in the future age, let us anticipate the thief of our souls; let us run while we have time; let us groan, let us repent, let us awaken, I beseech you, from the sleep of our indolence, from the weight of our sins and negligence; let us raise our hands to the one who can save us, and let us say: Lord, save us, we are perishing. Let us hasten only before the sun sets, before the door is closed, before night overtakes us. For once the festival is dissolved, no one transacts business; once the theater is dissolved, no one is crowned, no one contends. Therefore let us run; for there is need of a race, brothers, and a swift race, so that we may arrive, so that we too, having knocked, may not hear: I do not know you; let us put on swift shoes, let us be a little ashamed. How much do we dishonor the Master? How much do we anger the Benefactor? He bestows benefits, and we daily are ignorant; he shows compassion, and we reject him; he nourishes, protects, and provides for us, and we daily transgress his commandments, and we are not ashamed. Let us be ashamed then; for the time has drawn near, and the day has arrived, and we must render an account for our entire life. Let us therefore cease from excessive luxury and shameful laughter, so that we may not weep bitterly there; let us cease reviling, hating, and wronging our brothers; let us cease hoarding, living luxuriously, and fornicating; let us devote ourselves to prayers, supplications, readings, fasts, repentances; let us display a new life, let us confess, let us turn back.

for this is the time of turning back. Let us repent, let us weep, let us show to God a repentance full of care, and let us hate sin; let us suffer here, I beseech you, a little, that we may not be punished there greatly; let us struggle before the time, brothers, that we may not be tormented eternally. The time is short, but the judgment is long, and the end is near, and the fear is great, and there is no one to show mercy. For each one will seek the time which he spent badly, and will not find it. Woe to the slanderer, for he will seek drops of water while burning, and will not find them! Woe to the unbeliever, for he will be punished eternally! Woe to the negligent, for he goes to a harsh judge! Woe to the one who does not struggle, for he is handed over to severe angels. He who loses gold finds other gold; but he cannot find another time for repentance. Let us not spare, brothers, our own bodies, but let us wear them out, since blessed are those who hunger and thirst, blessed are those who mourn. For the body is clay; and an hour and a day will come, fearful and evil and inexorable, and earth will go to earth, and dust becomes dust again. Let us be sober, beloved, I implore you, let us journey, let us lift up our heads; for the hour will come, and it will truly come, the hour of our departure; and let us not deceive ourselves. Let it be, beloved, that we indulge ourselves, let it be that we are rich for fifty or even a hundred years; and after that, sickness and old age, and after that, what? Weakness and death, and that dreadful hour, expected and dreaded and neglected. Great fear arises then, brothers; and it is a great thing to see a soul being separated from the body.

Great is the necessity of that hour, when the tongue cannot clearly utter a word, when we turn our eyes here and there incessantly, and we recognize the friends and brothers standing by us, yet cannot speak to them. We hear those who mourn for us, and we cannot comfort them; we see our children lamenting and weeping, and bearing their pain, we depart. And why do I speak of children? For in that hour there is no thought for children, nor for brothers, nor does any other care hold us, except the awareness of our own transgressions, and how we shall meet the judge, and what sentence we shall receive, and what place will receive us. Then, as we ponder these things, suddenly stern angels stand before us. Then we, beholding them, if we are found unprepared, how we shall be troubled, and though we try to flee the bed, unable to do so, looking at them with pitiful eyes and a gloomy face, entreating, beseeching, supplicating, and saying: "Have mercy on me, angels and fearful attendants of the throne of God, and do not bring me, fruitless and unclean, before the Judge; do not separate me, a sinner, from my body; do not, I beg, I implore, be moved, be entreated, and allow me a little time to repent, to groan, to mourn, to give alms, since I have spent and wasted my life badly." Hearing these things, the angels say to us: "O wretched soul, you have lived all your days in negligence, and now you wish to repent?

O wretched soul, your sun has set, your time is completed; God has commanded that you be separated from your body. Come now, and be condemned to eternal fire according to your deeds; for there is no longer any hope of salvation for you, but only eternal punishment. Having heard these things, beloved, and believing that they are true and not myths, let us struggle before that hour; and even if we have been accustomed to sin, let us cut off these habits through repentance. Let us not be deceived, brothers; there is judgment and eternal punishment, unquenchable fire and an unending worm, outer darkness and Tartarus, gnashing of teeth and great lamentation, as the Lord mentioned in the Gospels; for the one who said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away," is truthful. Therefore let us fear and tremble, all who have lived in sins, and let us hasten to be found among the saints through repentance. Do not say, "I have stolen, I have murdered, I have fornicated, and God does not accept me"; say none of these things. For He accepts all, as He did the thief, as He did the tax collector, and as He did the prostitute; only let us not despair, I implore you, let us not be negligent. Let us knock through repentance and say: "Open to us, Lord, who are unworthy and sinful; by your holy name do not turn away from us, but be moved to compassion, and do not deprive us of your kingdom.

For you are God of the despairing, and salvation of all who flee to you; and yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, together with the beginningless Father and the all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.