Foretelling the fall of Jerusalem
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Patience brings happiness
Saint Anthony the Great, Teachings about moral life, 155, in Philocaly (2008), vol. 1, p. 34
`The man who endures troubles with a good heart and thankfulness will receive the crown of incorruption, virtue and salvation. The restraint of anger, of the tongue, belly and pleasures is of the greatest help for the soul.`
Saint John Cassian, Spiritual talks, Partea a III-a, Talk with father Piamun, Cap. XIII, 2-4, in Church Fathers and Writers (1990), vol. 57, pp. 635-636
`We all know that patience means to endure sufferings and that is why it is a sure fact that nobody can say he is patient except the one who endures without vexation the troubles he suffers. Solomon is right saying that: He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city. Who is slow at anger is rich in wisdom and who angers quickly shows his foolishness. That is why when someone affected by an injustice bursts with anger we must think that the reason of that sin is not the nuisance of the damage he suffered, but the disclosure of the hidden weakness, as that parable of our Lord and Saviour teaches us about the two houses built in the same way, but one with stone and the other one with sand […]But happy is the man who endures temptation as after being subjected to trial, he will receive the crown of life promised by God to His wise men.`
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