But it is not proper to sing all with both trumpets and to gather the whole assembly, and this privilege is given only to the priests and ministers of God, that everyone, hearing their voice, goes to the tabernacle of meeting, filled with the glory of the Lord, in order to see the works of God and to receive that lawful and eternal dwelling place for his hereditary possession. For then war is made and the enemy is driven away: when the grace of the spirit sings, the mind will sing also.

Those trumpets are saving, if you believe with your heart and confess with your lips: for with the heart they believe unto righteousness, and with the mouth they confess unto salvation (Rom 10:10), says the Apostle. With this special trumpet we reach that holy land, to grace, that is, to the resurrection, and for this reason let those trumpets always blow to you, so that you may always hear the voice of God, always let the angelic and prophetic utterances prompt you to zealously strive for the highest.

St. David always carried this thought in his mind, saying: "Because I walked in a multitude of people, I entered with them into the house of God with a voice of joy and praise of the celebrating assembly." For by the sound of these trumpets not only do the enemies conquer, but there can be no new moons, and there can be no feasts without them. (Psalm 41:5.) He who does not accept God's promises and does not believe in His word cannot rejoice and celebrate the new moons, cannot abandon the exercises of the age and desire to be filled with the light of Christ. Nor can the sacrifices themselves be pleasing to God without the oral confession of the priests, which induces the people to ask for God's grace.

Truly, let us praise the Lord with the voice of the trumpet, imagining of His power not something small and vile, but that which can fill the mind and penetrate into the mysteries of conscience: let us not consider that which is proper to the body as befitting the Divinity. Let us not measure the greatness of God's power by human strength: let us not seek how someone will be resurrected, with what body he will rise, or how what is destroyed will be united and what has fallen will be restored. For this will be fulfilled according to the will of God. Here it is not the sensual hearing of the trumpets that is expected, but the invisible heavenly power will act — also, in relation to God, "to will" is the same as "to act." Let us not seek how we shall be resurrected, but only await the result of the resurrection, which we will receive if, having renounced vices, we have the perfection of the spiritual sacrament, if the renewed flesh receives grace from the Spirit, and the soul takes from Christ the radiance of eternal light.

But these sacraments are also related to each separately. Take note of the foreshadowing of the law and of the order of grace. When the first trumpet sounds, the nobles and chosen ones gather from the east. When the second trumpet sounds, those of equal merit who dwell on Mount Lebanon and have left the games of the nations are gathered. When the third trumpet sounds, those are gathered together, who, as if agitated by the sea, are tossed by the waves of this world. At the sounds of the fourth, those gather who could not sufficiently soften the hardness of their minds with the Divine word.

Therefore, although all will be resurrected in the twinkling of an eye, all according to their merits. And therefore, first of all, those will be resurrected who have accepted the rays of the eternal sun for their piety and faith. Here I mean the forefathers according to the Old Testament or the apostles according to the Gospel. The second to be resurrected will be those who, having abandoned the customs of the pagans, have joined the Church. And therefore the former are of the fathers, and these of the Gentiles: from them began the light of faith, and in these the accepted faith will remain until the end of the world. The third and fourth will rise from the south and the north. These four divide the earth, these four contain the year, these four fill the world, these four gather the Church. For all who join the Holy Church will receive the advantage of the resurrection and the grace of eternal delight, for it is written: And they will come from the east and the west. and north and south, and they will sit down in the Kingdom of God. (Luke 13:29)

For Christ does not shine upon His world with a little light: from the end of the heavens is his departure (Psalm 18:7), and his procession to the ends thereof, and nothing is hidden from his warmth. He mercifully enlightens all, does not reject the wicked, but wants to correct them, He does not excommunicate the hardened from the Church, but desires to soften, and for this reason the Church calls them in the Song of Songs, and in the Gospel Christ calls them, saying: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. (Matthew 11:28-29.)

The Church also calls, exclaiming: Arise, O wind, from the north, and come from the south, blow upon my garden, and its fragrances will flow! (Songs. 4:16.) Let my beloved come into his garden and eat of its sweet fruits. (Song of Songs 5:1: In the modern Synodal translation: I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my fragrances, I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have poured my wine with my milk.

Blessed indeed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, which has revealed to us the resurrection with clear testimonies, saying: And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their works. Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead who were in them. (Revelation 20:12,13) Therefore, do not doubt how those who will be vomited out by hell and brought back by the sea will arise.

It is worthy of thy attention that grace is promised to the righteous: And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them; they will be His people, and God Himself will be God's with them. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more; There will be no more weeping, no wailing, no more sickness, for the former things have passed away.

Compare now, if you will, this life with that life, and choose, if you can, the eternal bodily life, united with labor, filled with changes, sorrows, boredom and displeasure. Was it pleasing to you, when He would that it should be eternal? For when life in itself is unpleasant, how much more should we desire eternal rest after the resurrection, where sin will not reign. (Rev. 21:3,4.)

Who is so patient in sickness, persistent in weakness, magnanimous in sorrow, that he would rather die than lead a life filled with weaknesses and sorrows? But when we do not like ourselves in this life, although we know that the end will befall us, how much more boring this life would be for us, when we foresaw that these bodily labors would be endless. Who, then, does not want to be a partaker of death? And what can be more painful than immortality filled with calamity? And if, says the Apostle, we hope in Christ only in this life, then we are the most miserable of all men. (1 Corinthians 15:19.) This does not mean that it is miserable to trust in Christ, but that He has prepared another life for those who trust in Him. For this life is subject to sin, and that is granted to reward.

How sorrowful and sorrowful is the very brevity of life! A lad desires to reach the years of youth, a young man thinks of maturity and, being dissatisfied with the blossoming years, desires the reverence of the old. And so we all by nature desire change, for everything present is unpleasant to us. And our very desires, after their fulfillment, do not please us, and what we desired to receive, we are half-abhorred.

Why was it not in vain that the holy men condoled over the continuation of their pilgrimage: David condoled for this, Jeremiah condoled, and Elijah also condoled. We see that the very ones in whom the Spirit of God spoke strove for the better: if we examine the opinions of others, how many were there who preferred death to disease, preferred them to fear? For they reasoned that the fear of death is heavier than death itself, so that death is not terrible in the consideration of its evils, but in the consideration of the calamities of life it is preferable; for we desire the lot of the dying, but we flee from the fear of the living.