- of saint Gregory Palamas
About the chose ones in the Gospel it is mentioned: In my Father’s house are many chambers.[1] If all the righteous men had received in the same way the reward in that eternal bliss, there should have been a single place, not more. But they are many and the chosen ones will be divided in accordance with their worthiness for their righteousness and they will rejoice together. The fact that all those who were placed in the numerous chambers will take a dinar proves that the bliss they all share there is one but the reward they receive for their various deeds is not equal.
The Lord explained those relating to the Judgment Day and said about the sinners:
I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.[2] Thus the reapers, namely the angels, will tie the sinners together for tortures according to the likeness of their sins, the proud with the proud, the debauched with the debauched, the money lovers with the money lovers, the liars with the liars, the envious with the envious, the faithless with the faithless, to burn in the places of torture, thrown there by the angels.
Peter’s question:
Tell me please how does it happen that in these times are revealed so many things about the souls that were hidden before? Isn’t it this something to make us see the world to come shown in obvious revelations?
Gregory’s answer:
It is exactly as you think. The more is approaching the end of this world the more is shown the arrival of the future one by obvious signs. In the present world we don’t know each other’s thoughts. But in the world to come we’ll see each one of us everything we have in our hearts. That’s why this world is like night and the future world is like day. In the same way the night ends and the day breaks and before the sunrise the dark mingles somehow with the light until the darkness of the night disappears and the daylight takes hold of the earth the end of this world has already mingled with the sunrise of the future one and there are seen some dark things by mingling them with the spiritual ones. That is why we can understand many things of this world but we can’t know them completely. We only notice them as in an enlightenment of the mind as we see the sun before it rises.
- from the life of saint Euthymios
Our pious father Euthymios had already died and his suffering body tried in spiritual struggles was placed with the usual chants in the precious coffin and Dometian who had been indeed the best disciple of the great father and the most loyal follower and who had served him for more than fifty years did not go away but stayed near the coffin for six days thinking that he couldn’t live anymore and endure to see the light again.
After the seventh day passed Euthymios appeared in a vision with a shining face and told him: `Come and enjoy the glory prepared for you. Cause God blessed us to share together even this life. Dometian went to the gathering of the monks and told them about it. And he died rejoicingly and with the hope of the blessing to come.
- of saint Isaac the Syrian
The Savior when He says `many chambers of the Father`[3] refers at the limits of the minds of those sheltered in that place, meaning the differences between the things that delight those men in their minds. `Many chambers` do not refer at different places but at different spiritual gifts.
Exactly as everyone of us enjoys the visible sun depending on the purity of his sight and the sun doesn’t have more than one brightness, shining over all alike, in the same way it will be with the righteous in the age to come. They will all live in the same place but everyone of them will attract and will have in himself the radiance and the joy of the spiritual sun according to the measure of his own purity. Meaning the measure he is able to receive and embrace.
- of saint Gregory the Great
Peter:
It seems to me my honorable lord that because the mankind became enslaved by numerous passions the most part of the heavenly Jerusalem will be filled with infants.
Gregory:
We don’t doubt that all the baptized infants who die in their infancy go to the Heavenly Kingdom. But we must not imagine the same for those who start to speak because for many children the gate of the heavenly kingdom closes because of their parents who raise them in a wrong way.
Three years ago a man from this city known by everyone had a son who it seems to me that was five years old then. Loving him dearly he raised him without severity. Because of this the child got the habit when he desired something in his soul to curse the greatness of God[4] – and even to say this is dangerous. But he was affected by the plague that haunted this region three years ago so he was on the brink of death. While his father was holding him at his chest according to what was related by the witnesses the child saw the sly spirits coming to him and started to cry, trembling and closing his eyes: `Save me father, save me! And with these cries he turned his face to his father’s chest wanting to hide. His father seeing him trembling asked him what he saw and the child answered: Some black men came and they want to take me. Saying this he cursed the name of God’s glory and died. The almighty God wanted to show for what sin the child was given to such servants – sin his father hadn’t wanted to prevent when he had been alive and allowed it to be repeated. It was God’s righteous judgment to allow this child He had born to curse when he died to make his father understand his own sin. Since he hadn’t cared of the soul of his small son and had raised for hell a big sinner, not a small one.
- From Patericon
The elders said: `Raise your children strictly so that they won’t cause you any affliction`.
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[1] John. 14,2.
[2] Mt. 13,30.
[3] John. 14,2
[4] the child cursed the holy.
Excerpt from EVERGHETINOS – first edition 2007 Holy Monastery Vatoped vol. I, Theme 11 – „Metropolis Press”, Athens, Greece, 2007.
