The
Cosmography of the ancient Greek fathers revealing the way of ascend to
heaven which Christ opened for humanity by His redemption. The icon is
divided into six zones. The first zone displays the Heavenly Jerusalem
and farthest to right the archangel Michael is seen expelling the devil
from heaven. In the next zone Christ is seen sitting as the eternal
intercessor in heaven flanked by the Blessed Virgin and St. John the
Baptist, pleading for humanity. To left and right are the apostles and
behind them the celestial hierarchies. In the third zone are prophets,
martyrs and saintly women. On the right Moses is seen descending from
heaven leading those who do not recognize Christ. In the fourth zone
are the scales, angels and demons weighting the deeds of a man standing
before them. In the fourth zone the stations of the aerial toll houses
are displayed along with the devil emerging from Hell. The fifth zone
exposes the Militant Church on earth and the sixth the tortures of
purgatory and hell. (A Russian icon of the Stroganoff school, Timkin
Art Gallery, San Diego, California).
Meditation 40
The After Death Experience
In the last two
decades of the twentieth century the after death experience has become
popular issue within certain circles. It has awoken an false optimism
among numerous people of a god who is so “open minded” that he doesn't
deem the sins of his believers and thus there is no need to repent. In
the New Testament we read on the other hand, “The people who sat in
darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow
of death, to them did light spring up. From that time, Jesus began to
preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Mt
4. 16. 17). And Jesus said, “Most assuredly I tell you, he who hears my
word, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn't
come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (Jn 5. 24).
When St. Silouan the Athonite (1886-1932) was so plagued by evil
thoughts that he was on the verge of despair and had lost sight of the
Kingdom of Heaven which is at hand – going through the nights of faith
– and suffered greatly of evil spirits, “the Lord had pity on me, and
thought me the way to humble myself: ‘Keep thy mind in hell, and
despair not’ “ [1] St.
Teresa of Avila gives a similar account in her Life,
It is not necessary to emphasize that this experience increased her humility drastically. And Pope John Paul II, who made his doctorate in the works of John of the Cross, said that he had never been able to understand the agonies of hell otherwise than by the accounts given by the saint. And John of the Cross said referring to the purgation in the dark night, “When this purgative contemplation oppresses the soul, it feels very vividly indeed the shadow of death, the sight of death, and the sorrows of hell, all of which reflect the feeling of God´s absence, of being chastised and rejected by him, and being unworthy of him, as well as the object of his anger. The soul experiences all this and even more, for now it seems that this affliction will last forever. ” [3]
In his work The Soul After Death the late hieromonk Fr. Seraphim Rose discussed the so called after dearth experience literature. He points to the fact that occultists, members of the New Age movement, spiritists and numerous Protestant denominations and freemasons speak of the pleasantness of this experience where people “see the light”. They have reputed the warnings of Saint Paul above that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Fr. Seraphim concludes,
Hell is a horrifying place but also the source of great holiness as the saints of the Church have repeatedly experienced as their meekness grows in Christ like humility when they realize from what the blood and sufferings of Christ has saved them. Thus the holy fathers recommended a constant remembrance of death in their teachings. Regarding Hell, the Blessed Virgin gave us admonition to its reality in Fatima in 1917,
The “fearlessness” is badly founded, very badly indeed, or by the words of Pope Gregory the Great, “But some must be cleansed in the very departure from the body, thanks only to fear” [7]
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the personification of truth – truth Himself. We can maintain the same regarding the father of lies and his servants – they are the personification of evil in their spiritual bodies. It is really sad that numerous souls do not realize this fact until too late as in their presumptuousness on earth they did not listen. Thus Catholics – the confessors of the true apostolic faith – seek continuously refuge under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” In her growing awareness in the prayer of inner recollection the soul is given an admonition of this truth in the dark night of the senses as will be discussed in next meditation. This she does as she follows the spiritual guidance of the holy fathers in obedience and does not repute the virtue of the remembrance of death here at the laver,
After this, having rendered thanks to the Lord Who, solely through His loving kindness, provides us with both physical and spiritual food, we must toil at the memory and meditation of death. [8]
While I was in prayer
one day, I suddenly found that, without knowing how, I had seemingly be
put in hell. I understood that the Lord wanted me to see the place the
devils had prepared there for me and which I merited for my sins. [2]
It is not necessary to emphasize that this experience increased her humility drastically. And Pope John Paul II, who made his doctorate in the works of John of the Cross, said that he had never been able to understand the agonies of hell otherwise than by the accounts given by the saint. And John of the Cross said referring to the purgation in the dark night, “When this purgative contemplation oppresses the soul, it feels very vividly indeed the shadow of death, the sight of death, and the sorrows of hell, all of which reflect the feeling of God´s absence, of being chastised and rejected by him, and being unworthy of him, as well as the object of his anger. The soul experiences all this and even more, for now it seems that this affliction will last forever. ” [3]
Oh, what a
perditious and terrible thing! Under the guise of a deep Christian
teaching and through his demon servants who appear invisible to man at
spiritual seances, he, Satan, by means of the lie of the ancient
serpent, leads man into such pits and such thickets out of which it is
impossible to extricate oneself. [4]
In his work The Soul After Death the late hieromonk Fr. Seraphim Rose discussed the so called after dearth experience literature. He points to the fact that occultists, members of the New Age movement, spiritists and numerous Protestant denominations and freemasons speak of the pleasantness of this experience where people “see the light”. They have reputed the warnings of Saint Paul above that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Fr. Seraphim concludes,
The fearlessness of
occultists and Protestants alike before death is the direct result of
their lack of awareness of what awaits them in the future life and what
can be done now to prepare for it. For this reason, true experience of
death or vision of life after death generally have the effects of
shaking one to the depths of one's being and (if one has not been
leading a zealous Christian life) of changing his whole life to make
preparation for the life to come. [5]
Hell is a horrifying place but also the source of great holiness as the saints of the Church have repeatedly experienced as their meekness grows in Christ like humility when they realize from what the blood and sufferings of Christ has saved them. Thus the holy fathers recommended a constant remembrance of death in their teachings. Regarding Hell, the Blessed Virgin gave us admonition to its reality in Fatima in 1917,
She opened Her hands
once more, as she had done the two previous months. The rays [of light]
appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of
fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the demons and the souls [of the
damned]. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened
or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in
that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames which issued
from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they
fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or
equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which
horrified us and made us tremble with fright (it must have been this
sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The
demons were distinguished [from the souls of the damned] by their
terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals,
black and transparent like burning coals. That vision only lasted for a
moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the first apparition
had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that we would
have died of terror and fear. [6]
The “fearlessness” is badly founded, very badly indeed, or by the words of Pope Gregory the Great, “But some must be cleansed in the very departure from the body, thanks only to fear” [7]
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the personification of truth – truth Himself. We can maintain the same regarding the father of lies and his servants – they are the personification of evil in their spiritual bodies. It is really sad that numerous souls do not realize this fact until too late as in their presumptuousness on earth they did not listen. Thus Catholics – the confessors of the true apostolic faith – seek continuously refuge under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” In her growing awareness in the prayer of inner recollection the soul is given an admonition of this truth in the dark night of the senses as will be discussed in next meditation. This she does as she follows the spiritual guidance of the holy fathers in obedience and does not repute the virtue of the remembrance of death here at the laver,
After this, having rendered thanks to the Lord Who, solely through His loving kindness, provides us with both physical and spiritual food, we must toil at the memory and meditation of death. [8]
[1].
Wisdom from Mount Athos, p. 87.
[2]. Life, 32, 1.
[3]. The Dark Night, II. 6. 2.
[4]. Alexandrova, N., "Elder Nectary of Optina," The Orthodox Word, No. 129, 1986.
[5]. The Soul After Death, p. 171.
[6]. The Fatima Network.
[7]. Dialogues, Book IV.
[8]. Philotheus of Sinai, Philokalia, On the Prayer of the Heart, p. 323.
[2]. Life, 32, 1.
[3]. The Dark Night, II. 6. 2.
[4]. Alexandrova, N., "Elder Nectary of Optina," The Orthodox Word, No. 129, 1986.
[5]. The Soul After Death, p. 171.
[6]. The Fatima Network.
[7]. Dialogues, Book IV.
[8]. Philotheus of Sinai, Philokalia, On the Prayer of the Heart, p. 323.