"We much through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).
The Lord Jesus both prophesied this and proved it true by His own example. The apostles also said this and by their example they proved it. All the God-bearing Fathers of the Church, the confessors and the martyrs also said this and proved it by their example. Therefore, is there any need to doubt that it is through a narrow door that one enters the Kingdom of God? Should we hesitate for a moment as to whether we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God? No, there is no basis or justification for doubt. Can sheep live among the wolves and not be attacked by them? Can a candle burn amidst crosswinds and not be bent to and fro? Can a fruitful tree grow alongside the road and not be disturbed by passersby? Thus, the Church of pious souls cannot but be persecuted again and again--by heathens, by idolaters, by heretics, by apostates, by passions and vices, by sin and transgressions, by the world, and by demons. Thus, not one devout soul can remain without persecution, be it external or internal, until it is separated from the body and the world. Someone may take issue with this and try to prove something different, according to his own calculation and logic. But here neither the mind nor the logic of one man is of any avail. Thousands who were crucified speak otherwise, thousands who were burned alive cry out otherwise, thousands who were beheaded prove otherwise, and thousands who were drowned witness otherwise. O my brethren, the Christian Faith is mighty not only when it agrees with sensual reasoning and sensual logic, but when (and especially when) it contradicts sensual reasoning and sensual logic.
Those who want to live a godly life will be persecuted. This the Apostle prophesied at the beginning of the Christian era, and twenty Christian centuries render a many-voiced echo to confirm the truth of the prophecy.
O resurrected Lord, grant us light, that we may be pious to the end, and give us the strength to endure persecution to the end.
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
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