Ven. Macarius the Great; Our Holy Father Mark Eugenikos, Metropolitan of Ephesus and Confessor of the Orthodox Faith (1443); Makarios of Alexandria

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.

¹Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said, ⁶“As for these things which you see, the days will come in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.”

⁷They asked him, “Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?”

⁸He said, “Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore don’t follow them.

¹⁰Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

²⁰“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. ²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the middle of her depart. Let those who are in the country not enter therein. ²²For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath to this people. ²⁴They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.