Vat.sir.369

that they might be helped by them, and how
they might be remembered in them, and they will be
for them a memorial, and for instruction,
and for discipline, and for radiance, and for the fear
of God, and for all good things by which
the soul is perfected and cleansed
from all the stains of sin,
and is illuminated by the light of knowledge,
and is brought to completion in eternal life.
And likewise also we, my brothers, when
we see all these good things
that are given to us from God
through the holy books, and through
the teaching of the holy fathers,
and through the lives and conduct of righteous
men, and through all those things
which are for the aid of our souls
and for eternal life: we are obligated
to be carrying the burden
of all these [things], and we must
be remembering them at all times,
and meditating upon them by day
and by night, so that we may be
saved from all the
afflictions of the evil one, and from
all the snares of Satan,
and from all sins, and we may be
made worthy of eternal life
by the grace and mercies
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory and honor,
and thanksgiving and worship, with
his Father and his Holy Spirit,
now and at all times and for ever
and ever, Amen.

And again we write a discourse
by the holy Mar Ephrem Ephrem the Syrian on
the fear of God, and on the end
of the world, and on the coming
of our Lord, and on the Antichrist,
and on the separation of the soul from
the body, and on the resurrection of the dead,
and on the general judgment, and on
the recompense of deeds, and on
the kingdom of heaven, and on
the Gehenna of fire. Mar Ephrem
says: O my beloved and my brothers,
and children of the faith, hear
my words with fear, and listen
to my discourse with diligence,
and know that the time urges us,
and the hour is near, and our Lord
comes, and the judgment approaches,
and everyone according to his deeds
is repaid, and everyone according to
his labor is crowned, and everyone
according to his seed reaps. Whoever sowed
in righteousness, reaps life,
and whoever sowed in iniquity, reaps
destruction. Whoever sowed in grace,
reaps glory, and whoever sowed
in evil, reaps torment.
Whoever sowed in the fear of God,
reaps the kingdom, and whoever sowed
in rebellion, reaps Gehenna.
And now my brothers, since we
know all these things, let us
be diligent in good deeds.