DEATH
IS INEVITABLE—AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
RESPONSE
TO OUR PHYSICAL DEATH
Dear People,
There
is a fellow Orthodox Christian priest here in America who posts a daily blog
about various aspects of our Orthodox Christian Faith. What is unusual about this fellow priest is
that he is a monk and the Abbot of the All-Merciful Savior Monastery on Vashon
Island, in the State of Washington. On
the 23rd of January he posted an article about the inevitability of
death for every human being who is born into this world. The Abbot’s name is Father Tryphon. I was so taken with his article that I wrote
a response to him.
In
my response I said: “I thank you for your daily postings about our precious
Orthodox Christian Faith. I am a retired
Orthodox priest who will be 85 years old on the 30th of
January. Your posting about death and
how Americans avoid its reality is right on.
The Church, in its wisdom over the centuries, deals with death properly
through its prayers and funeral services that honor our souls and prepare them
for their journey to eternity. Death is
an integral part of human life. It is our passage into the loving care of our
Creator who has planned all things for the benefit of all His people. At this age, I thank God that He has given me
the extra time to prepare my soul for its passage to eternity. Monastic life and its approach to death is
what all Orthodox Christians should emulate.
Thank you again for this profound posting. I like to share with my people the following
greeting: “Καλό Παράδεισο—May
we be granted a Blessed Paradise.” +Fr.
Costas J. Simones
The
following article of Abbot Tryphon is what prompted my response to him. He wrote the following about death: “At seventy-five I am no spring chicken, as
the saying goes, and I realize I need to be prepared for my own inevitable
demise. The clock is ticking for all of
us, but once you have experienced heart trouble, your own eventual end becomes
very evident.
A
doctor friend of mine made the observation that the greatest hazard to one’s
life is our conception, because it is a death sentence. From the moment we are born we begin to die. The best way to approach the inevitability of
our own death is to face it head on, yet our culture fears death, avoids the
thought of death, and does everything to mask it when it does happen.
My
best friend in college died many years ago, and although he was an Orthodox
Christian, his family had him cremated, so there was no final kiss, no burial,
and no closure. Following the funeral in
the parish Church, his priest and I joined his family and friends at an art
gallery, where his work was often featured.
While mingling with his wife, son and their friends, I happened upon a
small box sitting on a pillar meant for a sculpture. Looking closely I saw some decoupage photos
of my friend’s life. Among them was a
photo of the two of us taken back in the 60’s during our college days. Looking around to make sure no one was
looking; I lifted the box in order to take a closer look at the photos. Instantly, I knew it was my friend’s ashes,
given the weight of the box. Laughing to
myself, I knew he’d have been amused at the site of me discovering I was
holding his remains in this small box.
Since
my friend was not responsible for the cremation, an Orthodox Church service was
allowed. (This is certainly stretching
the rule of our Church since people who are cremated are not allowed an
Orthodox Church funeral). His priest and I had a long discussion about the
American way of death, how we send our dying family members off to hospitals or
hospices, keeping the unpleasantness of death out of sight. We fear death, so avoid looking at it.
Cremation is a convenient way of denying the reality of death because there is
no body. Yet we Orthodox Christians know
that a burial service with an open casket and graveside service are a benefit
to friends and family alike because the whole process helps with closure.
I
have chosen the site of my own burial on the grounds of the Monastery and hope
to have a simple pine box built while I can still look at it. By setting it up in a corner of my cabin
would allow me to use it as a bookcase before my death. I once heard of a man who used the pre-need
coffin as a wine rack.
Facing
my own mortality better prepares me for that moment when I will be standing
before God and giving Him an account of my life. I am not in a hurry mind you. I am praying God will give me many years in
order to repent for my sins. However, it
is good that I think about my own death. For
avoidance will not prolong my life, but it can make me put off repentance.
AT
THIS POINT I PRESENT A COMMENTARY ABOUT DEATH
by
St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov
The Saint tells us in his
commentary that follows about death: “Remember throughout your lives your
departure from Egypt.” (The Saint is
referring to our departure from this temporary life in the world). The Saint tells us: “Death is a great
mystery. It refers to the rebirth of man
from this temporary earthly life to eternal life. In the mystery of death, we humans put off
and shed our carnal bodies. Our souls,
the ethereal part of our being enters the other world, the dwelling place where
the souls continue to live. That world
is not visible to us through the senses of our bodies. It is not visible through our fleshly senses. It should be known that throughout our
earthly lives, the organs of our bodies function through our senses. These senses are not so much a part of our
bodies as they are of our souls.
When
the soul leaves the body, it is invisible to us just like all the other aspects
of the invisible world. During the
celebration of the burial service for our fellow deceased Christian brothers
and sisters, we see only the physical body of the deceased that is without
breath or life. After death this body
begins to disintegrate and we rush to bury it in the ground. We surrender the body to the elements and to
its corruption. We then forget about
it. This is the way many generations of
human beings have died and have been forgotten throughout the centuries.
What
happens to our souls when they leave our bodies? That aspect of our existence in spite of all
the knowledge that we possess is unknown to us.
Death is an unknown mystery to us.
Before mankind was enlightened with the Light of Jesus Christ, virtually
all human beings expressed all kinds of theories about the immortality of the
soul. The greatest of the wise men in
the world of idolatry put forth all kinds of conjectures and hypotheses about
immortality. As long as the heart of
fallen humanity dwelt in darkness, it always felt that the soul was
immortal. This is proven to us in the
idolatrous religions that promised that there was life beyond the grave. People were promised a life beyond the grave
of joy or unhappiness according to the way they lived their lives on earth.
Since
we are transient and temporary inhabitants of this world, we should be very
cognizant of our spiritual life now and what our understanding is of
eternity. If we spend too much time
during our limited time on earth seeking out only the joys of life and avoiding
its sorrows, we should be more concerned about eternity. What happens after death? Is there a reward for the good and evil
things we did in life? Is it possible
that we are rewarded for these acts in the other world? Are we rewarded since in eternity we see that
in this world often evil people enjoy good things while the virtuous people
often are persecuted and suffer because of their faith in God? It is imperative; yes it is imperative, that
we discover the mystery of death and the true meaning of life. It is imperative for us to see with our own
eyes the invisible future of mankind.
The
mystery of death is understood through the Word of God and through the moving
of the Holy Spirit. Eternity can be made
known to us through our senses and this can happen only when our senses have
become purified and sensitive to the Grace of God. “For the Spirit knows all things and even the
most hidden secrets of God”—how much more is this so with humans! “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because
He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty of the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed, To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord.” (Luke 4: 18).
Death is the separation of
the soul from the body. The soul and the
body were joined together by the will of God.
They again are separated by the will of God. This separation of soul and body is a result
of mankind’s spiritual fall from the Grace of God. Because we have fallen spiritually, our
bodies are no longer imperishable as when they were first created by God. The death of mankind, which was at one time
immortal, is the result of our disobeying the commandments of God.
At
the death of man, his body is dissolved into the elements from which he was
created. When this takes place, man no longer exists as a psychosomatic being. The soul and the body are now separated. We should know that the body continues to
exist even though it has been dissolved into the elements and is returned to
the earth from which it came. The body
continues to exist even after it is completely dissolved into the earth. It continues to exist like a seed that rots
in the ground awaiting its reunion with the soul for then it becomes immune to
death. (This translator considers this
statement the main reason why the Orthodox Church forbids the cremation of its
faithful).
It
is well known that the bodies of the chosen of God do not disintegrate into the
elements of the earth. They remain
incorrupt. These bodies have been
infused by the Grace of God. These
incorrupt bodies, instead of the stench of death, their bodies give off a
sweet-smelling fragrance. These
incorrupt bodies, instead of being a hazard to human beings are instead healing
the sick and giving life to the afflicted.
These bodies are equally dead and alive at the same time. They are dead according to our human nature
but alive in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
These unique bodies of the Saints are the witnesses to what the
greatness and holiness was like for the first created human beings. They are the true witnesses of what the
greatness and holiness of what their deliverance will be like in eternity.
During
the time the body sleeps in death what happens to the soul? The Word of God reveals to us that when our
souls are separated from our bodies they go to those areas of good or evil that
they have lived in life. They either
live with the Angels of Light or with the darkness of demons. You must know that Angels and demons were
created by God with the same substance.
Their nature is immaterial and bodiless. But they are different in what
they do. Angels remain guileless and
good as they were first created. On the
other hand, demons fell from God’s Grace and became completely identified with
evil which they have freely chosen. We find in Holy Scripture and in the writings
of the Holy Fathers of the Church many references to the condition of the souls
after death.
At
the crucifixion of Jesus He promised the repentant crucified thief his direct
entry into heaven. Jesus said to him:
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke
23:43). Poor Lazarus, in the Parable of
Poor Lazarus and the rich man Lazarus was taken after death by the Angels to
dwell with Abraham in Paradise. On the
other hand, the unmerciful rich man, who lived sumptuously every day went to
hell when he died. The souls of the
martyrs, when they are separated from their bodies rest in the blessedness of
Heaven awaiting the resurrection of their bodies. This is revealed to us by St. John the
Theologian in the Book of Revelation.
The souls of the sinful people are also awaiting the resurrection of the
dead but in the hell of Hades.”
(The following is taken from another post of
Abbot Tryphon about the issue of sorrow that follows the death of a loved one). As a fellow priest I agree with the Abbot
100% about the issue of death and how we deal with it as Orthodox Christians. This is what the Abbot tells us about the
mystery of death: “As a priest and as a monk of the Orthodox Christian Church,
I am comfortable with this mystery of death, as all Christians should be. Death can be a mystery precisely because the
triumph over death is not a mystery. As
the Orthodox Christian theologian Alexander Schmemann wrote: “in essence,
Christianity is not concerned with coming to terms with death, but rather with
the victory over it.” In the light of
everlasting life, in the name of Jesus Christ, the dreadful threat and dark
mystery that is death is transformed into a happy and victorious event for the
believer, and “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor.15:54).
So
mourning is an ancient ritual, one in which Jesus Himself participated. For all of us, all people, death is a common
element of humanity, the common trait we share, and the common enemy of our
loved ones. And like grief, victory over
death binds people together in a larger, more powerful community, the community
that is found in the Christian faith.
People accuse Christians of being members of a “death cult,” obsessed
with a dying Savior and focused on the afterlife to the exclusion of the
present; but they are wrong.
Christianity does not deny life, Christianity affirms life. Christianity
affirms life even in death, because for Christians, death does not remove the
relationship that exists. In death, as
in life, they are still our brother, our sister, our parent, and our friend. In
death, as in life, we love and honor them, and death cannot take them from
us. Death has taken them, but it has
also provided us with the opportunity to live with the reality of one day
joining them in that wonderful dimension of eternal life. And a life in Christ is a good life.
So
for us, death of a loved one is the beginning of the true life that also awaits
us beyond the grave, if indeed we have begun to live in Christ now. Christ, “the resurrection and the life,”
(John 11:25) transformed death. Christ
assumed human flesh, Christ was crucified, resurrected, ascended into heaven
and waits for us there, and Christ ushers us into a new life both now and after
our death. Therefore, even as death
exposes our frailty and our grief, death does not reveal our finiteness;
instead it reveals our eternity. To this
end, the Christian does not ponder the mystery of death in a way that is
paralyzing, negative and apathetic, but in a way that is productive, positive
and dynamic.
God,
to whom you have entrusted your soul, is a good and perfect God. This God will do what is right with your
child, what is just with your brother, and what is honorable with your
friend. There is no saying, no claim, no
scripture that will give us peace in our loss right now or even calm our
troubled souls; but we can find comfort
and peace in God who is present with us, and in us and through us, as we gather in the intimacy of grief, to
mourn the death of a loved one.”
Compiled, translated and edited by:
+Fr. Costas J. Simones, January 27, 2017,
Waterford, CT, USA, 860-460-9089,
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