4

triumphing over all things; He comes, the true and sleepless eye, the impartial judge, the incorruptible examiner, who consumes every filthy deed and shameful pleasure, and sends it to Gehenna; He comes who loves peace, and hates every wicked word, and every theft, and every sin, and who eternally punishes those who cause scandal; He comes, from whose face the earth flees, the sea is dried up; the heaven is rolled up like a scroll, the stars fall, the air is shaken, the sun is darkened, the moon will not give its light, the powers of the heavens will be shaken, the Cherubim tremble, the Seraphim are beside themselves, angels shudder, archangels tremble, things above and things below are shaken, all things are quaked; 60.702 He comes who does not show partiality to a man, and does not pity a poor man in judgment; He comes who renders to each according to his works, who reproves and exposes the counsels and movements of every breath; He comes who has mercy on the merciful, and condemns the merciless, who is terrible in his counsels above the sons of men; He comes to whom every knee bends of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; He comes whose throne is a flame of fire, and its wheels a burning fire; He comes to save and glorify the righteous, but to punish the sinners; He comes to bless those who thirst, but to declare wretched those who are full; He comes to honor those who struggle and keep vigil in prayers and psalmody, in thanksgiving and supplication and patience; but the lazy and negligent He will send to torments and punishments; He comes to the sinners, terrible and harsh, and with many a threat He will punish; but to the righteous, meek and cheerful and gentle; and what does he say to them? Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; not because you acquired much wealth on the earth, nor because you had many male and female slaves, nor because you became noble and glorious; not because you inherited many fields and vineyards, not because you built storehouses and splendid houses, not because you possessed many yokes of oxen and flocks of sheep, nor because you enjoyed a rich and abundant table, nor because you put on splendid garments, nor because you anointed yourselves with myrrh and perfumes, nor because you were greatly honored by all; not because you were glorified and exalted and magnified, nor because you fasted or kept vigil; nor because you kept your virginity, or because you endured hardship; but because I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; you saw me a stranger, and you gathered me into your houses, and greatly comforted me; you saw me naked, and you clothed me; you saw me lying down in sickness, and you visited me, and deemed me worthy of much care; you saw me in prison, and with much eagerness you came to me.

And the righteous say to him: Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? or thirsty, and give you drink? or a stranger, and take you in? or naked, and clothe you? or sick or in prison, and minister to you? And the Judge says to them: Truly, truly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, the poor, the outcasts, the strangers, the humble, the despised, the maimed, those in hardship, those in need, those in affliction, those in famine, those in thirst, the wounded, the weary, the sick, the mistreated; inasmuch as you did it to one of all these, you did it to me, you warmed my limbs, you ministered to me, you gave rest to my soul; for this reason, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Come first, you who have kept the faith spotless and undefiled; come, you who for my sake became poor with a spiritual poverty; come, you in deserts and mountains and caves and in the holes

4

ἐπὶ πάντων θριαμβεύων· ἔρχεται ὁ ἀληθὴς καὶ ἀκοίμητος ὀφθαλμὸς, ὁ ἀπροσωπόληπτος δικαστὴς, ὁ ἀδωροδόκητος ἐξεταστὴς, ὁ πᾶσαν ῥυπαρὰν πρᾶξιν καὶ αἰσχρὰν ἡδονὴν καταφλέγων, καὶ εἰς γέενναν παραπέμπων· ἔρχεται ὁ ἀγαπῶν εἰρήνην, καὶ μισῶν πᾶν πονηρὸν ῥῆμα, καὶ πᾶν ἅρπαγμα, καὶ ἁμαρτίαν πᾶσαν, καὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὰ σκάνδαλα αἰωνίως τιμωρούμενος· ἔρχεται, οὗ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ ἡ γῆ φεύγει, ἡ θάλασσα ξηραίνεται· ὁ οὐρανὸς εἱλίσσεται ὡς βιβλίον, τὰ ἄστρα πίπτουσιν, ὁ ἀὴρ κλονεῖται, ὁ ἥλιος σκοτίζεται, ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς, αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται, τὰ Χερουβὶμ τρέμει, τὰ Σεραφὶμ ἐξίστανται, ἄγγελοι φρίττουσιν, ἀρχάγγελοι τρέμουσι, τὰ ἄνω, τὰ κάτω δονεῖται, τὰ πάντα σείεται· 60.702 ἔρχεται ὁ μὴ λαμβάνων πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπου, καὶ μὴ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν ἐν κρίσει· ἔρχεται ὁ ἀποδιδοὺς ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, ὁ ἐλέγχων καὶ στηλιτεύων πάσης πνοῆς τὰ βουλεύματα καὶ τὰ κινήματα· ἔρχεται ὁ ἐλεῶν τοὺς ἐλεήμονας, καὶ κατακρίνων τοὺς ἀσπλάγχνους, Ὁ φοβερὸς ἐν βουλαῖς ὑπὲρ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἔρχεται ᾧ κάμπτει πᾶν γόνυ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων· ἔρχεται οὗ ὁ θρόνος φλὸξ πυρὸς, καὶ οἱ τροχοὶ αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον· ἔρχεται τοὺς μὲν δικαίους σῶσαι καὶ δοξάσαι, τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτωλοὺς τιμωρήσασθαι· ἔρχεται μακαρίσαι τοὺς διψῶντας, τοὺς δὲ ἐμπεπλησμένους ταλανίσαι· ἔρχεται τιμῆσαι τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους καὶ ἀγρυπνοῦντας ἐν προσευχαῖς καὶ ψαλμῳδίαις, ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ καὶ δεήσει καὶ ὑπομονῇ· τοὺς δὲ ῥᾳθύμους καὶ ἀμελεῖς εἰς βασάνους καὶ τιμωρίας παραπέμψει· ἔρχεται πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς φοβερὸς καὶ σκληρὸς, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ἀπειλῆς κολάσει· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς δικαίους πρᾶος καὶ ἱλαρὸς καὶ ἥμερος· καὶ τί φησι πρὸς αὐτούς; ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· οὐχ ὅτι πλοῦτον πολὺν ἐκτήσασθε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὐδ' ὅτι πολλοὺς δούλους καὶ δούλας ἐσχήκατε, οὐδ' ὅτι εὐγενεῖς καὶ ἔνδοξοι ἐγίνεσθε· οὐχ ὅτι πολλοὺς ἀγροὺς καὶ ἀμπελῶνας ἐκληρονομήσατε, οὐχ ὅτι ἀποθήκας καὶ λαμπρὰς οἰκίας ᾠκοδομήσατε, οὐχ ὅτι πολλὰ ζεύγη βοῶν καὶ ἀγέλας προβάτων εὐπορήσασθε, οὐδ' ὅτι τραπέζης πλουσίας καὶ ἀφθόνου ἀπηλαύσατε, οὐδ' ὅτι ἱμάτια λαμπρὰ ἐνεδύσασθε, οὐδ' ὅτι μύροις καὶ ἀρώμασιν ἠλείφεσθε, οὐδ' ὅτι πολλὰ παρὰ πάντων ἐτιμήθητε· οὐχ ὅτι ἐδοξάσθητε καὶ ὑψώθητε καὶ ἐμεγαλύνθητε, οὐδ' ὅτι ἐνηστεύσατε ἢ ἠγρυπνήσατε· οὐδ' ὅτι παρθενίαν ἐφυλάξατε, ἢ ὅτι ἐκακοπαθήσατε· ἀλλ' Ὅτι ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· εἴδετέ με ξένον, καὶ εἰς τοὺς οἴκους ὑμῶν συνηγάγετέ με, καὶ μεγάλως με παρεμυθήσασθε· ἑωράκατέ με γυμνὸν, καὶ ἐνεδύσασθε· ἐθεάσασθέ με ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ κατακείμενον, καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με, καὶ πολλῆς θεραπείας ἠξιώσατε· εἴδετέ με ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς προθυμίας ἤλθετε πρός με.

Καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ δίκαιοι· Κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα, καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν; ἢ διψῶντα, καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν; ἢ ξένον, καὶ συνηγάγομεν; ἢ γυμνὸν, καὶ περιεβάλομεν; ἢ ἀσθενῆ ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ διηκονήσαμέν σοι; Ὁ δὲ Κριτὴς πρὸς αὐτούς φησιν· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, τῶν πτωχῶν, τῶν ἀπεῤῥιμμένων, τῶν ξένων, τῶν ταπεινῶν, τῶν ἐξουθενημένων, τῶν λελωβημένων, τῶν ἐν περιστάσει, τῶν ἐν ἀνάγκῃ, τῶν ἐν θλίψει, τῶν ἐν λιμῷ, τῶν ἐν δίψει, τῶν τετραυματισμένων, τῶν καταπονουμένων, τῶν ἀσθενούντων, τῶν κακουχουμένων· ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἐκ πάντων τούτων ἑνὶ, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε, τὰ ἐμὰ μέλη ἐθερμάνατε, ἐμοὶ διηκονήσατε, τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν ἀνεπαύσατε· διὰ τοῦτο, ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. ∆εῦτε ἐν πρώτοις, οἱ τὴν πίστιν ἄσπιλον καὶ ἀμόλυντον φυλάξαντες· δεῦτε, οἱ δι' ἐμὲ πτωχεύσαντες τὴν πνευματικὴν πτωχείαν· δεῦτε, οἱ ἐν ἐρημίαις καὶ ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαίοις καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς