The End of All Things is At Hand (1 Peter 4:7) | Minimalist Typography | White and Black on Red Background | Orthodox Christian Art Poster

The hymn to the Bridegroom sung at every Bridegroom Matins during Holy Week* likens sleep to lack of sobriety, to drunkenness essentially, which St Peter elaborates in his first epistle: "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4:7). And he would know—he was one of the apostles Christ admonished for sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed**. Let us not betray the Lord and enter into temptation by slumbering when we should be keeping vigil and preparing for His return. * Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night,/ and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching,/ but unworthy is he whom He shall find in slothfulness./ Beware, therefore, O my soul,/ and be not overcome by sleep,/ lest thou be given over to death/ and shut out from the Kingdom./ But return to soberness and cry aloud:/ Holy, Holy, Holy, art Thou, O God,// Through the Theotokos have mercy on us. ** Then Jesus came with them