O my beloved and greatly-desired brethren who have gathered in the Holy
Church of God, in order to serve the Living God in holiness and
righteousness, and, with fear, to partake of the holy, most-pure, and
immortal, awesome Mysteries of Christ: Hearken unto me who am lowly and
unworthy. For it is not I who am speaking to you and instructing you;
rather the grace of the Most-holy and Life-giving Spirit; for I speak
not from myself, but as I have been instructed by the divine canons, and
the God-bearing Fathers, as the Church received instruction from the
divine Apostles who received their wisdom from God, so do I myself
speak, who am lowly and least of all. I know not your works; I consider
not that which you have begun; and so, as one who fears God, I give
counsel to everyone among you, whether man or woman, whether great or
small, to anyone of you that may be guilty of sin, convicted by your own
counsels, that first you must repent and confess your sins, that you
may dare, considering yourself unworthy, to approach and touch the
Divine Fire Itself. For our God is a consuming Fire, and they,
therefore, who with faith and fear draw near to the God and King and
Judge of us all, shall burn and scorch their sins; and It shall
enlighten and sanctify their souls. But It shall burn and scorch with
shame, the souls and bodies of them that draw near with unbelief.
Therefore, many among you are ill and sleep in sickness, that is, many
are dying unconfessed and unrepentant. And furthermore, my brethren, I
beseech you, and I say: no one that swears oaths, nor a perjurer, nor a
liar, nor one that finds fault with others, nor a fornicator, nor an
adulterer, nor a homosexual, nor a thief, nor a drunkard, nor a
blasphemer, nor one that envies his brother, nor a murderer, nor a
sorcerer, nor a magician, nor a charmer, nor an enchanter, nor a robber,
nor a Manichean, shall, unconfessed and unprepared, approach, touch, or
draw near the dread Mysteries of Christ, for it is terrible to fall
into the hands of the Living God. For the Word of God is sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the joints and marrow and bones,
and thoughts and hearts. See, therefore, my brethren, that no one
approach, unrepentant or unprepared or unworthily, to partake of His
dread and most-pure Mysteries. For He Himself saith: I am He, and there
is no god besides me; I kill, and I make alive; neither is there any
that can deliver out of My hand; for I, Myself, am King forever: to Whom
is due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages, Amen.
- St. John Chrysostom
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