Coptic homilies in the dialect of Upper Egypt/Sermon 4

The Discourse of Our Holy Father, Apa Theophilos, the Archbishop, Which He Pronounced Concerning Repentance and Continence, and Also How a Man Must Not Neglect To Repent Before the Last Times Come Upon Him.

The prophet spoke saying, ' My tears have been unto me bread by day and by night '; ^[1] and again, ' The heart which is contrite and abased God will not reject.' ^[2] Now therefore, my brethren, let us afflict our souls with fastings, and let us give our bodies unto death by means of manifold sufferings, until we make ourselves companions of the Angel of Repentance, in order that he may divert his path from us. The saints delivered their bodies over unto death until they vanquished that which was opposed to them, according to what is written, ' For your sake they put us to death all the day long, they accounted us as the sheep for the slaughter.' ^[3] And again the Apostle taught us saying, 'Put to death that which is in the members which are upon the earth, that is to say, fornication, uncleanness, passion, [and] evil lust.' ^[4]

Now when we deliver ourselves over to misery through fastings, and prayers, and long nights of vigil, we crucify both our bodies and our souls. Let us apply to ourselves that which the Psalmist David spoke saying, 'You have consumed wickedness of heart.' Then the Angel of Repentance will come, and he will root out the plants which are evil, those which the Devil has sent into our hearts. And he will plant in their place the fruits of the

Spirit, according to that which the Apostle spoke saying, 'The fruit[s] of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, gentleness of heart, purity,' ^[5] and the [others] which come after these.

Then, O brethren, straightway Repentance will enter quickly into us, and it will fill all our members, and it will cleanse us from all our sins, and it will burn up in us all pride of heart, and all anger, and all wickedness, and everything which is evil, and every thought (or, remembrance) of the Evil One, and will compel the spiritual excellences to come, and to enter quickly into our souls, and it will plant each one of them in its proper place. And straightway it will root out wrath, and plant in its place gentleness of heart; and it will root out pride of heart, and plant humility in its place; [and] it will root out enmity, and plant peace in its place. It will make hatred to flee from us, and will drive it forth out of our hearts; and it will make peace and love to become a crown upon our heads. It will carry away from us carelessness and slothfulness, and it will rouse us up to prayer, and to nights of vigil, and to meditation on the Psalms, and to the singing of spiritual hymns.

Consider further, O my brethren, this Repentance, and observe what a great abundance of fruit it is wont to produce in the man who repents, and how it makes all the members to shoot forth and to blossom, even as the tree which is planted by the waters.

O Repentance, how great are your consolations ! You are the joy which has its being in grief, and the merriment which has its being in tears. The fruits of Repentance ripen fully in the strength of the Spirit. For even if the man who has repented holds his peace, the fruits of the Spirit are manifest in his face. O Repentance, in your gracious gentleness, and in your soft speech, and in your quiet behaviour, you are a rebuke to every man; for you are that which has pointed out the way for all the saints into the fight and into suffering.

Moreover, come, O my brethren, and adorn Repentance with the adornments of your fastings, and anoint her with the sweet unguents of your prayers, and put a crown upon her head with the abasement of your tears, so that if there be any other spiritual excellences which do not appear in the beauty of the adornments wherewith you have adorned her, they will then be gathered together, and will come and make merry with those which are [already] in the soul. Further, when these take up their abode in your hearts they will make you to be without sin. Where, moreover, are now the carelessness and heaviness of the body? Where are the disturbing emotions which are in passion, and the profane thought, and every thing which is evil? Where are envy, and hatred, and contentiousness? Where are wrath and wickedness? Where are pride of heart and the words which are cruel? Where are fornication, and impurity, and adultery? Where are the things of vain glory and the apparel of splendour? Where are luxury, and eating, and feasting, and winebibbings, and lewd drunkenness? Where are the idle words and the filthy jests? Who is there that would not wish to be a companion of Repentance, and to make himself a stranger unto all these evil things, which blind the eyes of our hearts so that they are unable to see the marvellous light?

For Repentance makes a man to spread out his wings like the eagle, and makes him to penetrate into the heights of heaven through her spiritual excellences. Now, he who has repented, and has been exercised in endurance, and in hunger, and in thirst, awaits eagerly the good things of heaven which will continue for ever and ever. Therefore also, O my beloved, let us bring into subjection our bodies by fastings, and by prayers, and by nights of vigil, in order that we may enjoy Plis promise [of the things] which are in the heavens, according- to what He spoke saying, 'You are those who have endured patiently with Me in My temptations, and I, even I, will establish with you the kingdom, even as My Father has established the kingdom with Me, and you will eat, and you will drink with

Me at My table in My kingdom.' ^[6]

Moreover, we must understand, O my brethren, how honourable is the condition of Repentance, and we must understand the gifts of grace which she has given unto us. O Repentance, who are the food of those who suffer hunger, and a fountain of the waters of life unto those who are athirst ! O Repentance, who are the consoler of those who are passing their nights in vigil, who adornest them with the fruits of their sufferings ! O Repentance, whose tears are the pleasure and the sweet perfume of the angels of God ! O Repentance, who are the helper of those who have given themselves over to despair !

Let us consider the fellowship which she made with the men of Nineveh, when she invited them to her in her love for man, and when they made haste to open unto her in great abasement, and in tears and sackcloth. Now, it was not only men who put on sackcloth, but also the cattle and sheep. And when the Almighty, the Good, and Merciful, and Man-loving God, saw such great fruits as these in the hand of Repentance which she laid down before the throne of mercy, not only did He reverse His sentence of doom, but He also made His word to the prophet Jonah to be a lie, and He did not destroy the city.

And now, O my beloved, do not abandon Repentance, for what will you find which will adorn you in your sufferings like Repentance? Nay, on the contrary, let us give unto her honours in the place of the good things which she has brought unto us from on high. And, moreover, of what kind are the good things which she has brought unto us from on high? Again, of what kind are the good things which we will give unto her? They are fasting, and the prayer which is pure, and our hands will be stretched out in prayer, and our hearts will be in the height of heaven. Give unto her humility, and sighings, through which the angels become the counterparts of men. Give to her the [ tears which will be abundant through the threat of [the fire of] Gehenna. Give to her the faith, and the hope, which make a man to draw close unto God. Give unto her mercifulness, and the love [which we must show] towards each other, and the works of charity which cover entirely a multitude of sins, and blot them out at the judgement. Moreover, after all these good things which are thus, let not any one of us be deceived, and turn a second time to the filthiness of sin after repentance, like the dog which is wont to return to his vomit, wherefor he is held in abomination.

Now I call upon you, O my beloved, in order that you may guard yourselves with exceedingly great care, and that you may not omit to do anything which can benefit (?) our treasures. For our Enemy takes counsel against us at all times, and the Thief in his lair is wont to make plots [against us] at all times. This being so, O my beloved, and as the Comforter and the Spirit are looking upon us with merciful kindness, let us give our tears to God each and every day, in order that they may act for us as messengers before our faces, before we depart from the body. Let us repent as much as we are able, and the saints will be fellow-petitioners with us in our supplications. Let us not restrain ourselves, but let us seek after Repentance and fail not to find her.

Let us not permit ourselves to fall into tribulation, [for] He will not hearken unto us in that Other World. Let us not allow ourselves to come into the hands of those who are without mercy, whereby we will endure suffering, for even if we cry out, they will not hearken unto us. Let us not allow them to cast us into Gehenna. Let us follow after Repentance [in this world], for there is no repentance in that Other World. And the avenging angels will answer and say unto us, in anger and with threatenings, ' Wherefore do you cry out for nothing? This is not the place in which to cry out.' And they will chide us for the [offences] which we have committed, and they will rebuke us because of the things to which we have listened, and the saints, in despair (?), will make complaint to God concerning us saying, ' We endured, and we cried out [until] our throats could cry no longer.'

Straightway in that hour the angels of wrath, who are [set] over the punishments, will bind in chains the souls of the sinners, and will cast them into the Tartaros of Hades, and will inflict upon them their punishments to their utmost strength. And if we suffer pain, and weep there, who will hearken unto us? Or who will show compassion upon us in that Other World? Or who will take our tears from us and carry them to the place of compassion? Or who among the Saints is there that will make entreaty before God on account of our tribulation and the necessity wherein we will find ourselves, supposing that we die before we have repented of our sins? The things which we have left undone in this world, whilst we were in the body, where will we find them to give us help in that Other World? Neither gold, nor silver, nor vineyards, nor [any] possession will afford us help in that Other World. Neither will the father have the power to seek out his son in that Other World, nor will the mother have the power to seek out her daughter, nor will a son have the power to give help to his parents, nor will a brother have the power to give help to his brother. No one of these will become the redeemer of our miserable souls, but each man will himself bear his own burden of punishments whereto he will be condemned.

And moreover, the Saviour proclaimed saying, ' Whosoever will love father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whosoever will not forsake son and daughter, and take up his cross, and follow Me, is not worthy of Me, and he will not inherit the kingdom which is in the heavens.' ^[7] And O how awful and terrible a thing is it to fall into the hands of the Living God ^[8] in the hour of our visitation! Now the holy Apostle explained unto us these words when he spoke saying, ' I am indeed a wretched man ! Who is he that will deliver me from the body of this death? ' ^[9] O what great terror, O what great tribulation will come upon all souls in that moment wherein they will bring them forth from our members !

In [that] hour the deepest darkness will enshroud us, and the blackness of the night will be upon our eyes, and it will spread itself over all the light. And our hearts will be disturbed exceedingly by reason of those beings who will come for us, and by the horror of their forms which will benumb us, and by the terrifying aspect of their faces, and by the gnashing of their teeth, and by the wrath of their eyes, and by the quakings of their limbs, and by the stridings of their legs, and by the roarings of their lips, and by all the forms which they have, and by their rushing in upon us because they wish to devour us.

When we see all these things before us, what will we say? Or what words will we utter? Or what will our mouths declare? And whither will we flee? Or in what place will we hide ourselves? Now it will be impossible to escape from their hands, and it will be impossible to flee into any place, where the face of God is not. For it is written, 'Whither can I flee from your face, or whither can I flee from your mercy? ' ^[10] Now therefore let us know what is the medicine whereby we may cure ourselves of this great sickness, or with what we may cover (or, protect) ourselves during an affliction which is so exceedingly great. Neither silver, nor gold, nor possessions, nor riches [can do so], for none of these is able to work our healing; and neither the whole world, nor what therein is will be able to render us help. And we will find no medicine which will cure us except prayer, and fasting, and humility, for it is these which have the power to cover (or, protect) ourselves in the hour of our necessity.

Let us keep in remembrance the Lord of All, Jesus, the Son of the Living God, Who fashioned every being which breaths, and the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the rivers, the Lord of whatsoever is in the heavens, and of whatsoever is on the earth, unto Whom alone belongs Power. He has His being in the Father, and the Father has His being in Him. He cried out saying, 'My Father, deliver Me from this hour.' And again, ' My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me, nevertheless let your will be done, and not Mine. And He prayed until the third time saying, 'If this be your will, let it come to pass.' ^[11]

Observe and consider these awful words which the Lord of All spoke, the Lord Who was not afraid of death, for it is He Who has the power over death, and it is He Who is the Lord thereof. On the contrary, it is because He is God, and because He lives in the glory which is exalted, that He took the lowly form of man, in order that He might taste death on behalf of all; and it was fitting that He should do so, and that they should deliver Him over into the hands of sinners. For this reason He made known unto every one, that the necessity for the death, which had to come upon every soul of man in the hour of their visitation, was very great. Now that day will be a day of tribulation, and of necessity, and of sighing until we will have passed by this great danger which is full of terror.

Now if we will have set Repentance to be a fellow-worker with us, we will find it straightway, and we will proclaim it at the feet of God, the Father of Good, Who will deliver us from all these necessities, and from the tribulations which will come upon us, and it will lift us out of the hands of these angels who are our pitiless adversaries. And if we will have set humility to be a fellow-worker with us, it will never cease to make supplication to God, until He has scattered these adversaries and has taken us in gladness to the bosom of the saints in the Country of the Living. And if we will have set love to be a fellow-worker with us, it will never cease to cry out to the Merciful One, the Father of Compassion, until He has driven these adversaries from us, and has taken us with gladness into the glorious sanctuary of the Jerusalem of heaven, and has given us as gifts to the Beloved One.

If, however, we have none of these things with us as fellow-workers, then know ye that when we are in torture, and cry out under the punishments, and weep in misery, no mercy of any sort whatsoever will be to us [there]. On the contrary, the avenging angels will be wroth against us, and they will revile us mercilessly, and they will inflict most just punishments upon us. Moreover, in that Other World there will be no mercy wherewith to show compassion to souls, but the appointed work of those pitiless adversaries will be to inflict torments on the souls of sinners.

O what a terrible thing it will be to fall into a place from which there is no delivery, even as it is written, 'He who fears not will be in the places which he deserves forever, and he will never be delivered from there.' ^[12] O what a wretched state ! And in what manner will you take your stand, O you who have borne the sacred names of priests and monks, and have, nevertheless, treated with contempt the commandments of God? The sinners who will be enduring punishment there will revile you, and will say unto you, ' It was necessary for us to commit sin because we were involved in the cares of the business of life, and we were led astray through the error of the matter of our bodies. But as for you, what do you do in this place? And why are you suffering these punishments, which are endless? Are you not those who wore the garb of piety (i. e., of the ascetic life) in the world? ' O how great will be the disgrace in that World, for to it no end has been assigned, and it will continue for ever. O my beloved, God forbid that this great state of misery will come upon us. But let us strive against it with all our might, in order that we may obtain for ourselves the great glory which is in that Other World, wherein all the saints are arrayed. Pray, O my brethren, that we may attain unto this glory, for it is the glory which endures forever.

Let us repent then, O my beloved, and, O my brethren, let us weep at all times before the Saviour until His voice come to us in joy saying, ' Your sins are forgiven to you. ^[13] For the shedding of tears of repentance makes the compassion of God to have regard unto you, and to show mercy unto you. The shedding of tears of repentance makes the Holy Spirit to enter quickly into a man, and to take up His abode in him. By the shedding of tears of repentance God makes you to become a new creature a second time, and He brings back to you the fruit of your health-giving suffering. For the shedding of tears takes not place without the turning of the heart, and the turning of the heart does not take place in those who pass their lives in lewdness and in jesting. Neither does repentance flourish in the man who is sated with sluggishness; but through the suffering of fasting, and the vexing (?) of the flesh, your heart will be in a state of humility, and you will seek after repentance, and you will sigh by reason of your sins.

And now, O my beloved, let us take the greatest care of our lives at all times, so that we may make supplication, and that, through God, we may become faithful. See how very many sufferings our Lord and Saviour Christ endured on our behalf! For what evil thing did He do, and who in all creation is there who will rebuke Him for sin? Nay, He endured all these sufferings on behalf of us sinners in order that He might bestow upon us this great salvation of repentance.

Let the eyes of onr heart contemplate the nails which were driven through His holy hands; and His hanging upon the wood of the Cross for our sins; and His side, which they pierced with a spear, and there flowed forth blood and a water; and the reed wherewith they smote Him on His head; and the shameless servant who spat in His face, and He was silent. And when He was athirst on the Cross, they had no compassion upon Him, but they gave Him to drink vinegar mixed with gall in His thirst. In fulfilling all these things He bore Himself in patience and in love to man, [for] He wished to make us partakers with Him in His sufferings, in order that we might inherit with Him the kingdom which is in the heavens. And He spoke saying, ' He who loves Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'^[14]'l And moreover, the Apostle Paul himself knew the honour of the Cross, and therefore he cried out saying, 'Let it not be to me that I should boast myself except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein the world is crucified unto me, and I myself also am crucified unto the world.' ^[15] And again he spoke saying, ' I myself am crucified with Christ, but I do not live, for it is Christ Who lives in me.' ^[16] And again, ' Without sufferings a man is not able to please God.' And again, ' If it be that we receive sufferings with Him, then we will

reign with Him.'^[17]'

Therefore, also, O my beloved, let us be prudent, and let us watch, for our Adversary the Devil moves about roaring like the lions, seeking to devour our souls, and wishing to make us strangers to these great good things. Blessed, then, are those who will resist him firmly in the faith, for they are those who will receive glory with Jesus, according to that which He said, 'You are those who have endured patiently with Me in My temptations. And I will establish you in the kingdom even as My Father has established Me in the kingdom. You will eat and you will

drink with Me at My table in the kingdom.'^[18]'

Blessed is he who has endured sufferings in fastings, and in prayers, and in nights of vigil, and in sighings. For Christ will magnify him, and he will eat and will drink at the feasts of the saints with openness of face.

Blessed is he who has showed himself to be a compassionate man, and a lover of his neighbour in the love of God, for he will enjoy consolation in the bosom of Abraham, in the kingdom which is in the heavens.

Blessed is he who is soaked with tears which he has shed for his sins that he has committed, for he will escape the place of weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.

Blessed is he who has sorrowed for his sins, for he will rejoice with God and His angels in the kingdom of light.

Blessed is he who has given his bread to him that is an hungered, for he will be filled full of the Bread of Life in the heavens. Blessed is he who has clothed him that is naked, for his sins will be covered on the Day of Judgement.

Blessed is he who has shown mercy to the poor, for mercy will be shown unto him, and he will be held worthy to hear these gladsome and joyful words, ' Come, ye who are the blessed of My Father, and ye will inherit the kingdom which they have prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' ^[19] And again He says, 'Whosoever will give one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, Amen, I say unto you, be will in no wise lose his reward.' ^[20]

Blessed is he who will forgive his neighbour when he sins against him, for if he does, the note of hand which has been written against him, and the deed of obligation which he has to every one will be destroyed.

Blessed are those who will frequent the church both morning and evening daily, and especially at the time of the receiving of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For by means of these will a man become united unto the angels who are in the heavens, and he will see them face to face, and he will answer with them mouth to mouth in their salutation of Alleluia '.

Therefore, O my beloved, we must not give sleep to our eyes, or slumber to our eyelids, either by day or by night, so that we may escape all evil. For the Enemy lies in wait for us, and he comes against us in a multitude of crafty sins. If he comes not in carelessness, he will come in ignorance; if he comes not in pride of heart, he will come in wrath; if he comes not in vain-glory, he will come in fornication; if he comes not in remissness, he will come in hatred; if he comes not in fornication, he will come in complaining; if he comes not in theft, he will come in false swearing and robbery; if he comes not in the passions he will come in evil thoughts. In short, Satan will never cease from us. He lays a snare for us with error of heart, he leads us craftily to a perverted judgement, and he sends carelessness therein; now Hades is filled through carelessness.

Let us therefore keep in mind when [righting] these battles the various forms of craft and deceit which the Enemy spreads out before us. Let us gird on the armour of righteousness, that is to say, prayer, and fasting, and purity, and peace, and love, and humility, and charity, and love towards each other, and courteous converse with every man in the fear of God; for by means of these we will be able to do battle against the loose and foolish talk of deceit. Especially let us fear the awful judgement hall of God. Let us cast away from us the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, ^[21] in order that we may inherit the habitation of the saints which is in the heavens, and of the sons of the light, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be glory, and with Him the Father and the Holy Spirit for [all] ages and for ever. Amen.

1. Ps. xlii. 3.
2. Ps. li. 17
3. Ps. xliv. 22; Rom. viii. 36
4. Col. iii. 5.
5. Gal. v. 22.
6. Luke xxii. 28-30.
7. Matt. x. 37, 38; xix. 29.
8. Heb. x. 31.
9. Rom. vii. 24.
10. Ps. cxxxix. 7.
11. Matt. xxvi. 39-44.
12. Compare Isa. lxvi. 24; Matt. xiii. 40, 42; xxv, 41, 46.
13. Matt. ix. 2; Mark ii. 5, 9; Luke v. 20, 23; vii. 48.
14. Matt. xvi. 24.
15. Gal. vi. 14.
16. Gal. ii. 20.
17. 2 Tim. ii. 12.
18. Luke xxii. 28-30.
19. Matt. xxv. 34
20. Matt. x. 42.
21. Rom. xiii. 12.