name was sufficient amongst the heathens to absolve them from every suspicion of crime. Have not pride, vanity, avarice, treachery, injustice, intemperance, impurity, reached their highest degree? Has not a beginning already been made of the dismemberment of the Roman Empire, which is one of the proximate signs of the approach of the end of the world? What more do we wait for? The coming of Antichrist? But for all we know he may be already in the world. His reign and persecution of Christians will last for three years and a half; we know not how long the interval is to be between that and the last day; and therefore it is quite within the bounds of possibility that some of us shall see the end of the world.
And though we die before it, our death is uncertain, and on that depends our happiness on the last day. But, be that as it may, perhaps we shall not live till the last day. To keep one’s self always prepared for that day means to profit by the warning signs, so as to be ready to withstand the temptations and persecutions with which Antichrist shall try to pervert mankind. But although we may be in no danger from him, and the world may last for another thousand years, yet it behooves each one of us to be always on guard, and to prepare most carefully so that all may go well with us in the general judgment. Hear what St. Augustine says: “In whatsoever state the end of life shall find each one, in that state too shall the last day of the world find him;”[1] for as a man dies, so shall he be judged on the last day. If I die in the state of grace, I need not fear judgment, but rather rejoice at it; the kingdom of heaven, the society of the elect is surely open to me. If I die in the state of sin, I have nothing good to hope for on the last day; the fire of hell amongst the reprobate is and will be my lot forever. Therefore the judgment that awaits me on the last day depends on my death and the last day of my life; hence, as I should always be prepared for that day, so, too, should I be always ready for the hour of death. Now, who can tell me when that hour shall come, or where it shall find me? God alone knows that; to no purpose should I expect a messenger to be sent to warn me. I know not whether it will be after ten or twenty years, to-day or to-morrow, or even in this very hour while I am preaching to you. One thing I know, and that is that the Lord has warned me and all men: “Wherefore be you also ready: because at what hour you know not the Son of man
- ↑ In quo quemque invenerit suus novissimus dies, in hoc eum comprehendet mundi novissimus dies.—S. Aug. Ep. 80, ad Hesich.
