709 the third word and Persians. Haman, the favorite court official, stained with numerous crimes, desired to indulge his hatred for Mordecai, a true Israelite. Thus, he persuaded the king (by the name of Ahasuerus), that all the Jews who were within his provinces be murdered on one and the same day. Before long the ominous decree of that horrendous and godless massacre was announced in the royal city. Soon the decision was published regarding the wealth and the lives of such miserable people who, full of desperation and fear, grieved, wailed, lamented, and in the face of such violence fell from moaning and pain. “The courtiers went in haste by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the capital. And the king and Ha’man sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed” (Est 3:15). But behold, for those who lost all hope, hope did unexpectedly shine forth. Queen Esther, Hebrew by race, was made aware by Mordecai of the calamity [awaiting] her race. She turned to the king with such efficacious requests for reversing the edict, that not only was the cruel edict suddenly abolished, but in addition the author of the decree was punished by hanging: “So they hanged Ha’man on the gallows which he had prepared for Mor´decae” (Est 7:10). Esther, the liberator of the Jews, is a type of the most gracious Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Advocate of sinners. For who of us does not know that an eternal sentence of punishment has been laid upon sinners? God says, “The soul that sins shall die” (Ez 18:20). By what kind of death? Eternal [death], as the terrible Judge proclaims the fatal sentence in Athanasius’s symbol of faith:48 “Those who have done evil will go into the eternal fire.”49 O sinners! O the desperate! Where, where will you escape before such a terrible and ill-fated sentence? Is there anyone who will set you free from it? Who will acquit you [of your sins]? Will it not be the “undefiled, totally pure Virgin, the Mother of God, 48 St. Athanasius the Great (ca. 295-373), Patriarch of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church. 49 Cf. Breviarum Romanum, Pars Hiemalis, Taurini-Romae 1952, pp. 61-63. [Hereafter Breviarum Romanum will be abbreviated as BR.]
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