On the Antichrist, A Prophecy By St. Ephraim the Syrian (Continued):

But when the Accursed has come and had worked signs and wonders, the people will be assembled together and they will come to see the god, and multitudes will adhere to him, and all will deny their God, and will call upon those who are close to them to praise "the son of perdition"; and they will fall upon one another and destroy one another with swords. But the elect shall fly from his face to the mountain tops and to the hills, and there shall be tribulations on earth, "such as hath not been from the beginning of the world" (Matthew 24:21). And terror shall invade the hearts of all men, thrown into confusion by this commotion. Sons will deny their fathers, and follow the Evil One. Priests will leave their alters, and going forth become his heralds. Some will take refuge in tombs and hide among the dead, saying that the dead are blessed in being snatched away from such afflictions: 'Blessed are ye that lie in your graves, taken away from affliction. But woe to us! For lo! We now die, and the birds will bury us.' And unless the days of this time are shortened, neither shall the elect survive these trials and tribulations, as God made known to us in the Gospel, saying: "For the sake of the elect these days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:22).

St. Ephraim the Syrian, Sunday Sermons of the Fathers, volume 4