He pointed to the countless assembly of radiant ones in white robes, celebrating their salvation and blessedness before the throne of God: "Who are these clothed in white robes, and whence have they come? And I said to him," says John the Theologian, "Lord, thou knowest." Then the heavenly inhabitant said to the Theologian: "These are they who came out of the great tribulation and washed their robes, and made their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits upon the throne will dwell in them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Estrangement from God, eternal torment in Hades, eternal communion with devils and devil-like people, the flame, cold, and darkness of Gehenna: this is what deserves to be called sorrow. This indeed is great sorrow, terrible and unbearable. Earthly pleasures lead to great eternal sorrow. The Cup of Christ protects from this sorrow and saves from it, when the one who drinks it does so with thanksgiving to God. He drinks it with doxology to the all-good God, who gives man His boundless and eternal mercy in the bitter Cup of temporal sorrows.
THEOSIS