on_abbaton.02 Chapter 1

And straightaway Eve became naked, and she knew that she was naked, and she took some leaves of the fig-tree, and covered her nakedness.

And she went to Adam, and when Adam saw her, and saw that she was naked, he was exceedingly grieved, and he became very sorrowful in heart, [and shed] tears in great abundance.

And he said unto her, 'Wherefore hast thou acted in this wise?

Behold, from this day forward we shall die, and God will be wroth with us, and He will cast us forth from Paradise.

And Eve said unto him, 'Come thou and eat. If God shall blame thee, I shall take everything upon myself before God.'

And in this way Adam took, and ate, and he became naked, and he knew immediately that he was naked; and he covered his nakedness with fig-leaves.

And straightaway the voice of My Father came to him in Paradise, saying, 'Adam, where art thou?'

And he said, 'My Lord, I heard Thy voice, but I was afraid, and I hid myself because I was naked.'

And My Father said unto him, 'Who told thee [so]? Has thou eaten of the tree until thou hast become naked?'

And Adam said, 'My Lord, the woman whom Thou didst give unto me as a helper made me eat, and I became naked.'

And My Father said unto her, 'Wherefore hast thou done this thing?'

She said unto Him, 'My Lord, the serpent led me astray; I ate, and I became like the gods.'

And My Father said unto the serpent, 'Because thou hast done this thing, curst art thou among all the beasts of the earth.

Thou shalt walk upon thy belly all the days of thy life, and all thy seed [shall be accursed] throughout all generations on the earth.

Thou shalt eat earth and ashes all they time, and so shall all those that shall come forth from thee.'

It was in this way that the serpent came to walk upon his belly, according to what my Father decreed for him.

And He said unto the woman also, 'Because thou hast done this thing thou shalt bring forth children in sorrow and sighing, and thou shalt turn to thy husband.'

And similarly He turned to Adam, and he said unto him, 'Cursed be the earth because of thy deeds. Thou shalt eat bread by the sweat of thy face, and all those who shall come out of thee shall do likewise.

Behold, thou shalt die from this day onwards, because thou art earth, and thou shalt return again to the earth.

Thou shalt live in the world a life of nine hundred and thirty years, and when death cometh upon thee thou shalt turn to the earth again.

Thy soul shall abide in Amente, and thou shalt sit in black darkness for four and a half thousand of years…

And when five and a half thousand of years are fulfilled I will send My beloved Son into the world, and He shall abide in a virgin womb, that is to say, the holy Virgin Mary.

She shall give Him birth on earth in lowliness and humility, and [after she hath done so] she shall remain a virgin, even as she was before.

He shall pass thirty-three and a half years in the world, and He shall receive every attribute of humanity, sin alone excepted.

He shall perform innumberable mighty deeds and wonders, He shall raise the dead, He shall drive out the devils, He shall heal those who are sick of the palsy, He shall make the lame to walk, the deaf He shall make to hear, and the dumb He shall make to speak, He shall cleanse the lepers, and [restore] the arms that are withered, and He shall open the eyes of the blind by the word of His power.

In short, there shall be no limit to the miracles which He shall perform, but in spite of all these men will not believe on Him.

And at length, after all these things, they shall rise up against Him, and they shall deliver Him over unto death, and they shall give Him into the hand of the Governor, that is to say, Pilate, an he shall judge Him for thy sake.

He shall be in the form of a servant for thy sake.

They shall smite Him in the face for thy sake.

They shall treat Him with contempt and vilify Him for thy sake.

They shall pass sentence of condemnation upon Him as if He were a sacrilegious person.

Thy shall mount Him upon the wood of the Cross, between two thieves, for thy sake.

They shall set a crown of thorns upon His head for thy sake.

They shall make Him drink vinegar and gall for thy sake.

They shall drive nails into His hands and feet for thy sake.

He shall yield up His Spirit on the Cross. They shall pierce His side with a spear so that water and blood shall flow forth therefrom, and it is these which shall cleanse the sins of the world.

They shall place him in a new tomb. He shall rise from the dead on the third day. He shall go down into Amente, He shall shatter the gate of brass, an break in pieces the bolts of iron, and shall bring thee up therefrom together with all those who shall be held there in captivity with thee.

For thy sake, O Adam, the Son of God shall suffer all these things until He hath redeemed thee, and restored thee to Paradise, unto the place whence thou didst come, for He made Himself to be thy advocate (or, protector), when thou wast clay, before He put spirit (or, breath) into thee.'

It was I, the Son of God, Who suffered all these things until I delivered man from the hand of the Devil.

And ye have seen all these things with your eyes, O my holy Apostles.

And it was in this wise that My Father expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise.

He shut the gate [thereof], and He placed a mighty being of fire to watch the gate of Paradise, so that no one might enter therein until all those things which He had proclaimed concerning Adam had been fulfilled.

And the Devil went to meet Adam outside Paradise, and he said unto him, 'Behold, O Adam, I was cast forth from my glory through thee, and behold, I have made thee to be expelled from the Paradise of Delight because thou hast caused me to become a stranger to my dwelling-place in heaven.

Know thou that I will never cease to contend against thee and against all those who shall come after thee from out of thee, until I have taken them all down into Amente with me.'

And when Adam heard these things he became very sad, and shed many tears both by day and by night.

And My Father said unto Mouriel the angel, 'Behold, the man whom I created in My image hath transgressed the commandment which I gave him.

He hath eaten of the tree, and hath brought a great injury upon all mankind.

For this reason I make thee king over hi, for it was thou who didst bring him to Me on this day, which is the thirteenth fo the month Hathor.

Thy name shall be a terror in the mouth of every one. They shall call thee Abbaton, the Angel of Death.

Thy form and thine image shall be [associated with] complaining, and wrath, and threatening in all souls, until they have yielded up their spirits.

Thine eye and thy face shall be like unto a wheel of fire which beareth waves and waves [of fire] before me.

The sound of thy nostrils shall be like unto the sound of a lake of fire wherein burn fire and sulphur (or, naphtha).

The sound of the noises made by thy lips shall be like unto the sounds of the seven thunders which shall speak with their tongues.

Thy head shall be like unto these great pillars of fire which [reach] from heaven downwards.

Thy teeth shall project from thy mouth the length of half a cubit.

The fingers fo they hands and [the toes of] thy feet shall be like unto sharp reaping-knives.

Seven heads shall be on top of thy head, and they shall change their shapes and forms [continually].

Their teeth shall project outside their mouths for the length of two palms, and they shall point towards the four quarters of the world.

Thou shalt be suspended in the midst, and thou shalt sit upon a throne of fire.

Thine eyes shall look down upon the earth, and upon whatsoever is in the depths of the waters; nothing shall be hidden from thee in heaven, nor from one end of the earth to the other, from the north to the south, and from the east to the west, among all the created things which I have made.

Not one of them shall yield up his spirit until he hath seen thee.

Thou shalt shew compassion neither upon small nor great, and thou shalt carry all away mercilessly.

The Powers shall be under thy control, and thou shalt send them after every soul.

They shall strike terror into souls, and shall change their forms.

When the period of their life hath come to an end thou shalt appear to them, and they shall look upon thee; and when they look upon thy face their souls shall not be able to abide in them, even for a moment, and they will be forced to yield them up.

Thus thou shalt continue to be king over them until the period for which I have ordained the world [to last] shall be ended.

And when the angels saw him they were all greatly disturbed together, and they said, 'Woe! Woe be unto the sons of men who shall be born into the world!

For behold, even we who are incorporeal shall perish through terror.'

Then Abbaton, the Angel of Death, cast himself down before My Father, saying, 'My Lord, behold Thou hast made me to be an object of terror unto all the angels.

Now, therefore, O my Lord, I entreat Thee, and I beseech Thy Goodness to grant that when the sons of men who shall be born into the world shall hear that thou hast made me to be an object of terror and fear they shall become afraid, and shall give charity, alms, and gifts, in my name, and that they day whereon Thou didst stablish me may be written down in the Book, and that they may appear on [the day of] my commemoration, and may seek after mercy and rest for their souls.

And now, O my Lord, let Thy Spirit stablish them. And grant unto me power over them, so that I may take them to the place of rest, and to the dwelling-place of all those who rejoice, and let them celebrate a festival in my honour upon the earth even as they celebrate festivals in honour of all my fellow angels.

O my Lord, let Thy mercy help them!'

And My Father spake, saying, 'I tell thee, O Abbaton, thou Angel [of Death], whosoever shall hold thee in terror, and shall give alms and charities in thy name, or repent, or write in the Book [the day of] thy stablishing, that is to say, the thirteenth day of the month Hathor, the day whereon I stablished thee over Adam because of his disobedience, I will write their names in the Book of Life, and I will give them as a gift unto thee in My kingdom, and they shall never experience any kind of punishment (or, torture).

But thou shalt not go unto them in this terrible form of thine, but thou shalt go unto them and treat them with gentle tenderness, until thou art able to bring them (i.e. their souls) out of the body.

I will give thee power over them, and thou shalt take them to the place of rest, the dwelling-place of all those who rejoice, for I am God, the Good and Compassionate towards My clay.'

Then Abbaton, the Angel [of Death], cast himself down before My Father, and he spake unto Him, saying, 'I will purify them, O Lord, my God, and my King, in the place of all those whom Thou hast made.'

And now, O my holy Apostles, I have made you to know what My Father did in respect of Abbaton, the awful and terrifying [angel], [and how He set him] over the creation which He had made, because of the transgression of Adam and Eve; preach ye it to all mankind.'

And Saint John, the virgin, answered and spake [unto Him], saying, 'My Lord and my God, Who hast sanctified me unto Thyself, Who hast made all my thoughts to cling unto Thee, Who didst guard me and didst not permit me to take unto myself a wife; when Thou shalt gather all Thy clay into the Vally of Jehosaphat, in order that each one may receive according to what he hath done, whether it be good or whether it be evil, if Abbaton, the Angel of Death, shall come on that day, being in forms of his own person,–if this be so, I say, my Lord, there is not one soul that shall be able to stand before Thy awful throne.

Behold, we shall perish through fright when we hear these things at Thy hand.'

And the Saviour opened His mouth with a smile in the face of John, and He spake unto him, saying, 'O John, My beloved, who didst cast thyself upon My breast because of the purity of they heart, and the purity of thy holy body, and thy virginity, dost thou not know that in the day of the Holy Resurrection men will not take unto themselves wives, and women will not live with husbands, and that there shall be no death, because old things shall have passed away? And there shall remain only the second death for those who have to meet it.

On the day of the Holy Resurrection I shall come upon the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see Me, and all peoples and tongues shall lament.

And thousands of thousands, and tens of thousands of tens of thousands of angels shall be before Me.

And my Cross shall advance before Me, like a symbol of sovereignty before a king, according to what I have said unto you, 'The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and with that which is of his Father, and all His angels with Him.'

I will command My chief Archangel, the holy Michael, and he shall blow a blast on his trumpet in the Valley of Jehosaphat, that those who are dead may arise incorruptible, and there shall not remain upon the earth one soul that shall not rise up, from Adam the first man even unto the last man that shall be born into the world.

And they all shall rise up in the Valley of Jehosaphat, so that each one may receive in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or whether it be evil.

And they shall stand [there] in fear and trembling awaiting the Spirit of My Father.

And as for thee, O My beloved John, thou shalt not die until the thrones have been prepared on the Day of the Resurrection, because the thrones of glory shall come down from heaven, and ye shall sit upon them, and I will sit in your midst.

All the saints shall see the honour which I will pay unto thee, O My beloved John.

i will command Abbaton, the Angel of Death, to come unto thee on that day, and he shall not be in any form that will terrify thee, but he shall come unto thee in the form of a gentle man, with a face like unto that of Michael, and he shall take away thy soul and bring it unto me.

Thy body shall not be in the tomb for ever, neither shall the earth rest upon it for ever.

All the saints shall marvel at thee because they shalt not be judged until thou judgest them.

Thou shalt be dead for three and a half hours, lying upon they throne, and all creation shall see thee.

I will make thy soul to return to thy body, and thou shalt rise up and array thyself in apparel of glory, like unto that of one who hath stood up in the marriage chamber.

Ye shall judge the world, according to what I have ordained for you, and ye shall sit upon thrones and shall judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

And I said with [My] mouth unto Paul, 'We shall judge the angels before we come to the beings of earth.'

For on the day [when] everything shall stand in fear and trembling I shall say, 'Let them be separated from each other, even as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, the righteous on the right hand, and the sinners on the left,' and not one shall make a sound until he who is chief in his day shall command him.

I shall look upon all My clay, and when I see that he is going to destruction I shall try out to My Father, saying, 'My Father, what profit is there My Blood if he goeth to destruction?'

And straightaway the voice of My Father shall come unto Me from the seventh heaven, and none shall hear it except Myself, for I and My Father are One, saying, 'Power belongeth to Thee, O My Son, to do whatsoever Thou pleasest with Thy clay.'

And in that day I shall say, 'I rejoice because Thou didst cleave My covering, and didst gird me about with joy, and My right hand shall bless Thee because I am without sorrowi.'

I shall say unto you in that day, 'O My holy Apostles, and all My saints, whether ye be angels or archangels, or whether ye be prophets or righteous, and especially My Virgin Mother, and My chief Archangels Michael and Gabriel, I speak unto you, saying: No man who shall celebrate your commemoration upon earth, or shall give a loaf of bread in your name shall go to destruction.'

And straightaway all the saints shall rush forward towards them, and each one shall seize upon those that belong to him.

All those who have shewn love to you upon earth shall be brought back to others who are on the right hand.

Then shall the others cry out with loud wailings, and tears, and with suffering and sorrow of the heart saying, 'O Lord, the Merciful One, the Son of the Merciful One, shew mercy upon us.'

Thereupon straightaway shall the Son of God shed tears over them, and He shall say unto them, 'My word remaineth with My Father.'

And straightaway My Father shall shut the door of heaven, and go His way.

And I shall say to them straightaway, 'My Father doth not desire to shew mercy upon you.'

And they shall cry out the more, saying, 'Have mercy upon us, for the Devil would not permit us to repent.

If we had known that these things were to be we should have repented even unto the shedding of blood.'

And forthwith I shall utter curses upon Satan that day, and I will make them to seize him, and to fetter him in the bonds which cannot be broken, and I will curse that lying prophet who hath led astray all the nations, and Antichrist, the son of perdition, and they shall cast the into the Lake of Fire which burneth with fire and sulphur, together with all those who have been their followers in the world, and they shall never enjoy repose, day or night.

Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched.

Now therefore, O My holy Apostles, behold I have shewn you everything which ye asked Me to explain, and how Adam transgressed until death came into the world, and how Abbaton, the Angel [of Death], became king over all created things.

And now ye shall proclaim the day of his commemoration, so that the sons of men may be afraid and repent.

Speak ye unto all mankind, saying, 'Whosoever doeth that which is good shall rise in the resurrection… life.'

Whosoever shall do that which is evil shall rise in the resurrection to judgement.'

Then the Apostles worshipped the Saviour, saying, 'Our Lord and our God! Thou hast filled us with blessings, and Thou hast never disappointed us in any way, in [answering] the questions which we have asked of Thee.'

And the Saviour kissed them, and the angels bore Him up into heaven whilst they followed Him with their gaze.

And the Apostles worshipped Him, and each one of them departed to preach what the Lord had commanded them.

Now behold, we have declared these things to you, O my beloved, according to what we found in [the books of] the Library of Jerusalem, which our holy Fathers the Apostles brought and placed therein, for the benefit of the believers and for the salvation of the men who are unbelievers.

Now therefore, my beloved, let us be zealous in bestowing charities and making offerings on the day of the commemoration of Abbaton, the Angel of Death, each according to his power.

Remember what is written in the Gospel wherein our Saviour ascribed more blessing to the poor woman who cast two mites into the treasury than to all the other folk who had cast in [their offerings], and how He said, 'All these have cast in gifts from their superabundance, but she hath given out of her absolute poverty.'

May God who hath deemed us worthy to gather together in this place this day to commemorate Abbaton, the Angel of Death, whom God hath made to be king over us, hold us to be worthy to gather together in His kingdom, which is in the heavens.

O my beloved, we all have need of the Spirit of our God, even as the wise man saith, 'As I wish to live, I wish to make everyone else live also.'

And may it be, O my beloved, that He will deem us worthy to hear the blessed voice, that is filled with all gladness, 'Come, ye blessed ones of My Father, inherit the kingdom which hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world, through the grace and love of man of our Lord Jesus the Christ, to Whom be glory, and to His Good Father, and to the Holy Spirit for ever and ever! Amen.

Remember of your charity Theopistus, the least worthy of men, O every one who shall read in this book, [and pray] that God will forgive me the multitude of my sins.

Written on the eleventh day of the month of Thoth, in the Third Indiction, of the six hundred and ninety-eigth year of the Era of the Martyrs (i.e. A.D. 982)

With God! This little book was made by the zeal and care of the God-loving brother, Etout Khael, the son of the blessed Stephen, the lion hunter, who undertook [the writing thereof] at his own expense, and gave it to the Monastery of St. Mercurius of the City of Tbo (Apollinopolis, or Utfu, or Udfu), for the salvation of his soul, in order that [the monks might] read therein the name of Abbaton, the Angel of Death, and that Saint Mercurius might invoke Christ on his behalf, and bless him in this world, and deliver him from all the wiles of the Devil and of wicked men, and might help him to bring every work to a successful issue, and that when he cometh forth from this life the Archangel Abbaton may shew kindness on his behalf before God, and may forgive him his sins.

So be it! Amen. Amen.