Ramsho of Monday Posted

I've completed another Ramsho office, this one in particular having a strong focus on the reality of the fear we shall feel at Judgment.
To access the Vespers office of Monday, click here.

As a great quantity of Syriac prayers and hymnology, this office looks at Judgment. However, the particular aspect of Judgment it looks at is the terror we shall feel. The first qolo, which is looked at in the last post, asks God for mercy before the various occurrences at the end times. While sin is seemingly inevitable in the life of a human, and Eastern theology does not lend itself to be scrupulous, evil, Satan and Judgment are all very real events that contemporary soft-language religious texts tend to exclude in an attempt to not upset the sensibilities of the laity. However, doing so is patronizing in itself and counterproductive to the salvation of the faithful.

Punishment is not absent in the Scriptures, as illustrated by the Sedro. One of the first allusions to divine punishment is:

Do not be wroth with us, Lord, nor keep Your wrath of thistles.

This is in clear reference to the first consequences of sin received by Adam for his deliberate disobedience against the commands of God (Genesis 3:18). However, even in our judgment God shows us mercy. According to St. Ephrem's commentary on Genesis, once man had committed a transgression that separated him from God, his expulsion from the garden was to make the Fruit of Life inaccessible to him so that he would not live forever in separation from God. Instead, it was better that Adam die and be restored by the later coming of God-incarnate and the second institution of the Fruit of Life (the body of Christ given for the remission of sin and eternal life).

It is apparent that once the hour of judgment has past there is no opportunity for repentance. As the Sedro alludes to the parable of the Ten Virgins:

Let us come before Your mercy quickly, God; Lord, do not dismiss us and send us from before You with the foolish women into the outer darkness. Do not set us outside the door of Your bridal chamber in shame. Do not extinguish the lamps of our souls at Your banquet. Do not shut the door of Your goodness in our faces.

In the story of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-12) those who were ill-prepared left to see to their own needs. Because they did not make provisions when they had time they were left in the outer darkness when their lord had come and were excluded from the feast. In the same manner we must act perfectly as Christians so that we are not banished at Judgment. The Lord became incarnate, was baptized, taught, suffered, died and rose for the life of mankind and the remission of sin - Christ gave us an avenue of remission of sin. We must make use of it in gracious reception of the gifts our Lord has given us and not wait until there is no time left. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Our Lord, accept our service, our prayers, come to our aid and have mercy on us!