Thursday. [II Cor. 4:1-6; Matt. 24:13-28]

   But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. However, not everyone who endures will be saved, but only he who endures on the Lord’s path. This life is given to us for that reason—to endure; everyone endures something, even through to the very end. But enduring does not lead to benefit if it is not for the sake of the Lord and His holy Gospels. Step onto the path of faith and the Gospel commandments; occasions to endure will multiply, but from that moment endurance will begin to bring forth crowns. That endurance, which before was empty, will be made fruitful. With what blindness does the enemy surround us, that only the endurance which is encountered on the path of good seems heavy and unbearable; but what he inflicts on those who serve the passions seems light and free, although it is actually heavier and more dismal than what people bear in struggling with the passions and opposing the enemy! But we are blind, and do not see this… We labour, endure, and strain ourselves to the breaking point for the sake of the enemy, and unto our own perdition.

Friday. [II Cor. 4:13-18; Matt. 24:27-33, 42-51]

   Watch; for ye know not, what hour your Lord doth come. If only this were remembered, there would be no sinners. But it is not remembered, although everyone knows that it is unquestionably true. Even the strictest ascetics were not strong enough to easily keep this in mind, and made efforts to fix it in their consciousness so that it would not leave—one kept a coffin in his cell, another begged his co-ascetics to ask about his coffin and grave, another kept pictures of death and judgment, another in other ways. If death does not touch a soul, the soul does not remember it. But in no way can what immediately follows death not touch a soul; a soul cannot but be concerned about this, since it is the judgment of its fate for eternal ages. Why does a soul not remember this? It deceives itself that death will come not soon, and that perhaps somehow things won’t go badly for us. How bitter! It goes without saying that a soul which abides in such thoughts is careless and self-indulgent. So, how can it think that judgment will go favorably for it? No, one must behave like a student who is facing an exam: no matter what he does, the exam does not leave his head; such remembrance does not allow him to waste even a minute in vain, and he uses all his time to prepare for the exam. When will we acquire a mindset like this!