The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

THE UNHOLY TRINITY 63
the gate of the kingdom? ... Behold the deceit of the enemy, know the
machinations of the beguiler, how he seeks to darken the mind of men
utterly. For he will show forth his demons brilliant like angels, and he will
bring in hosts of the incorporeal without number. And in the presence
of all he exhibits himself as taken up into heaven with trumpets and
sounds, and the mighty shouting of those who hail him with indescribable
hymns; the heir of darkness himself shining like light, and at one time
soaring to the heavens, and at another descending to the earth with great
glory, and again charging the demons, like angels, to execute his behests
with much fear and trembling. 1
But he will come with signs and lying wonders, fictitious and not real, and
he will deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests
on an unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it
be possible, be made to stumble. 2
Great will be the contest, O brethren, in those times, especially for the
faithful, when signs and wonders will be wrought with great authority by
the serpent himself; when he will show himself in awful apparitions as
being similar to God - he will fly about in the air and all the demons, like
angels will exult before the tormentor. For he will cry aloud with might,
transforming his countenance and dismaying all men without measure. 3
Antichrist's signs, worked by the power of Satan, will produce an
irresistible influence on spectators. Men will not grasp the fact that his
miracles do not have any good, intelligent aim, that they are freakish,
evil and aimless, able to produce amazement, to bring the mind into
perplexity and self-forgetfulness, to delude and deceive and to captivate
one by the enchantment of splendorous, empty performances.
HIS POWER:
Having seen these "miracles", men, because of their spiritual
1 Hippolytus: Discourse on the end of the world and on Antichrist
2 John Damascene: Expounding the Orthodox faith
3 Saint Ephraim the Syrian: Word on Antichrist