If tomorrow you had to go to court in order to appear before a strict judge, I think today you would take great care to prepare a good defense, and would immediately try to find defenders and protectors who would intercede on your behalf. And yet soon the mighty judge Jesus Christ will arrive for His judgment, together with a host of angels and archangels. If we do not now find protectors for ourselves, who will defend us then? We have the holy martyrs to defend and help us, they are always ready to come to our aid and intercede on our behalf. Call upon them now, appeal to them for help. The Lord will accept their intercession, because although He is a righteous judge, at the same time He is long-suffering and ever-merciful.
Saint Gregory the Theologian