The Mystery and the Process of Death
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| Photo from here |
An interview with Orthodox Metropolitan
Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and St. Vlassios by Pavel Chirila, Professor and
Doctor at St Irene’s Hospital in Bucharest (Romania).
From Mystagogy
1. Question: Tell us something about death, something that comes spontaneously to you, something you consider extremely important.
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| Fr. Hierotheos |
Answer: What comes
spontaneously to mind is that death is a terrible mystery, as we chant
in the Funeral Service, which is a poem by St. John Damascene. This is
related to the fact that the soul is violently detached from the harmony
of its union with the body. It is also a sad event, because it is
related to man’s corruptibility and mortality which is manifested in all
life.
In addition, it brings to my
memory the Service of the Resurrection of Christ, which we Orthodox
celebrate with splendour. We hold lit candles in our hands and sing
triumphantly the hymn of victory: “Christ is risen from the dead, by
death He has trampled down death, and on those in the tombs He has
bestowed life”. This beautiful image shows our attitude towards life and
death. We are corruptible and mortal, but we possess the “medicine of
immortality”, which is the resurrected Christ. Employing modern
terminology, we may say that by the incarnation of the Son and the union
of humanity with the divine nature in the person of the Logos, a
“spiritual cloning” has taken place, our mortal nature has been united
with the life of God. This is why death has changed its name and is now
called "dormition" (falling asteep) and the places where the departed
ones are buried are called "cemeteries" (“dormitories” in Greek, where
people sleep), not burial grounds.
So, when I see people holding a
lit candle and chanting “Christ is Risen” on the night of the
Resurrection of Christ, I understand better that we should regard death
as a process of passing from the “land of Egypt” to the “land of
Promise”, from death to life, which takes place in Christ, and as a hope
for our resurrection which again takes place in Christ. It would be
very fortunate if we were to anticipate death in this position, holding
the candle of the Resurrection and chanting “Christ is Risen”. After
all, we are “ strangers and pilgrims” in this life; our true country is
elsewhere. I am always impressed by the words of St. Nicholas Cabasilas
(14th century), that while we live here on earth we are like an embryo
in our mother’s womb, and at the moment of death we are born, we get out
of that womb. This is why in the Orthodox Church the saints are
celebrated on the day of their dormition or their martyrdom, not on the
day of their physical birth.
2. Question: We
understand from Holy Scripture that there are two kinds of fear: a holy
fear, which is fear of God and the beginning of wisdom according to the
psalmist, and another kind of fear inspired by demons, which is
pathological fear. To what category does the fear of death belong?
Answer: Indeed, there is a
fear of God which is an energy of the grace of God and the beginning of
salvation, that is, man fears/respects God and starts obeying His
commandments, and there is a fear inspired by demons which causes
anxiety and anguish. However, besides these two fears there is also
another fear, so-called psychological fear, which is related to a
person’s insecurity and emotional inadequacy.
The fear of death means
something different for each person. For secular and atheist people it
is related to the course to “nothingness”, that is, they think that they
leave the only existing world and end up in the nothingness of
non-existence. This is something that does not exist for us Orthodox.
For Christians, the fear of death is related to the soul’s departure
from the world they know, their friends and relatives, and its entry
into another world they do not know yet. They do not know how they are
going to live, what will happen with God’s judgment which follows death.
This is why hope and proper preparation is needed.
Of course, those Christians who
have reached the illumination of the nous and deification and have been
united with Christ transcend the fear of death, as exemplified by the
life of the Apostles, the Martyrs and in general the Saints of the
Church. In reading the Synaxaria we see phrases like: “On this day saint
(so and so) is perfected in peace” or “is perfected by the sword”, etc.
It has to be underlined that in Greek the verb “teleioutai” means “is
perfected”, is led to perfection, and differs from the verb “teleionei”,
which means “ceases to exist”. We may also say that the life of the
senses (“vios”) is terminated by death, while life (“zoe”) is perfected
but not terminated.
What is important is that, with
the spiritual life we live, we should defeat the fear of death and feel
death as a path towards an encounter with Christ, the Panagia and the saints.
Descent to Hades, Jesus & the dead (from here)
3. Question: We know
from the Holy Tradition that at a person’s death angels, saints as well
as demons are present. What can you tell us about this?
Answer: From the teaching
of Christ and the whole tradition of the Church we know that both
angels and demons exist, and they are not personifications of good or
evil, but individual beings created by God. Demons were angels who lost
communion with God. Many saints proved worthy to see angels, as well as
demons of temptation, while in this life.
According to the teaching of our
Fathers, angels and saints, often even Christ and the Panagia, appear
to those about to die in order to support them, to strengthen them to
avoid the fear caused by death. The demons also appear, especially when
they are able to influence certain people because of their passions, and
they demand power over their souls. We are reminded of this in the
prayer to the Panagia in the service of the Compline (“Apodeipnon”): “At
the hour of my death, care for my miserable soul and drive the dark
faces of evil spirits far from it”.
From the teaching of the Church
it is well known that each person has a “guardian angel” protecting him,
and this is why there is a special prayer to the guardian angel in the
service of the Apodeipnon. Fr. Paisios, a monk on the Holy Mountain,
used to tell me that he would often see his guardian angel beside him
and embrace him. He used to say that we must strive to reach salvation,
so that our guardian angel, who has been to so many pains to protect us
and help us in our life, may not go empty-handed to God, if we are not
saved due to our indifference.
I remember with emotion that my
father, when he entered the church, would go to the northern gate of the
Holy Altar and kiss the icon of Archangel Michael and ask him to
receive his soul in due time, when he had repented, protect it from evil
demons, and lead it to God. Perhaps this prayer, among everything else,
helped him have a good dormition and a happy, smiling face in the
coffin.
4. Question: We read in Holy Scripture that mercy has exceeded judgment. Does this mean that almsgiving absolves a multitude of sins?
Answer: We have to see
what mercy means. In reality, mercy is the feeling of divine grace, the
love of God. When we pray saying “Lord have mercy”, we ask God’s mercy,
God’s grace. He who experiences divine grace is generous to his brothers
with all sorts of charity, expressed by prayer, theological words,
material contributions, and thus puts into practice the beatitude
“blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
In this sense it can be said that the feeling of God’s mercy and
almsgiving transcends judgment.
He who has been transformed
spiritually and has been united with God does not fear judgment, for
what Christ said applies to him: “I tell you the solemn truth, the one
who hears My message and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life
and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life”
(John 5:24).
According to the teaching of the
Fathers of the Church, there are three judgments. The first occurs
throughout our life , when we are faced with the dilemma of whether to
follow the will of God or to reject it, when we have to choose between a
good and an evil thought. The second judgment takes place when the soul
exits the body, according to St. Paul’s words “people are appointed to
die once, and then to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). The third and final
judgment will be at the Second Coming of Christ. The first judgment is
important.
St. Symeon the New Theologian [photo]
says that, when a person is united with Christ in this life and sees the
Uncreated Light, then the judgment has already taken place for him and
he does not wait for it at the Second Coming of Christ. This reminds us
of the words of Christ I mentioned above.
At this point I would like to
repeat the saying by St. Basil the Great and other Fathers of the Church
that there are three categories of those who are saved, that is, the slaves who follow the will of God in order to avoid hell, the wage-earners who struggle to earn Paradise as a reward, and the sons
who obey God’s will out of love for God. So, throughout our life we
must advance spiritually and pass from the state of the slave to the
state of the wage-earner and from there to the mentality of the son.
This means to pass from fear and recompense to love. To love Christ,
because He is our father, our mother, our friend, our brother, our
bridegroom and our bride. This way we transcend the judgment.
5. Question: Tell us something about sudden death.
Answer: The assessment of
sudden death depends on each one’s viewpoint. For secular people,
sudden death is good, accepted and desirable, because they will not
suffer and they will not be tormented by illnesses and old age. For
believing Christians, though, sudden death is bad, because they are not
given the possibility to prepare better for their encounter with Christ
and the heavenly Church. When someone visits a high-ranking official, he
prepares accordingly. We should do the same with respect to our
encounter with Christ.
Preparation, by repentance, is
essential. This is why Father Paisios of everlasting memory used to say
that cancer is a saintly illness because it has filled Paradise with
saints, meaning that a long illness prepares people with prayer and
repentance. According to the teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor, pain
cures pleasure.
In any case, death is the most
certain event. We see it around us, everything dies, all living
creatures, our friends, our relatives. What is not certain and is
unknown to us is the hour of death, when death will come. It may happen
while sleeping, while walking, while travelling, while working, while
entertaining ourselves, etc. This is why we should pray to God daily, as
the Church does: “For the completion of our lives in peace and
repentance, let us ask the Lord” and “For a Christian end to our lives,
peaceful, without shame and suffering, and for a good account before the
awesome judgment seat of Christ, let us ask the Lord”.
In the teaching of the holy
Fathers we come across the truth that one of the greatest gifts a person
can have is the daily “memory of death”. When this is maintained with
the grace of God it leads man not to despair, hopelessness, or
psychological fear, but to inspiration, to prayer, creativity, even in
human affairs, because he tries to finish his tasks and prepare
properly. When we live each day as if it were the last day in our life,
then even sudden death will find us ready.
6. Question: Which is the correct expression: "the hour of death" or "the moment of death"?
Answer: This depends on
how one interprets the words “hour” and “moment”. In speech we often use
the word “hour” meaning the moment. But I understand that your question
refers to whether death is a process or a moment.
What can be said is that there
is a process of death, that is, long illnesses lead man gradually to
death, but the separation of soul and body takes place at a specific
moment by the will of God.
This moment is important,
because man’s mode of existence changes and we cannot know how it will
be from then on. We know the state where the soul is attached to our
body, which communicates with the creation through the senses. We do not
know by experience what is going to happen then and how we will be. At
present we usually see the world created by God, people, friends, the
beauty of earth, not angels and demons. Then, however, the soul will not
see through the senses of the body but will see what is presently
invisible. This is why the saints want to be conscious and pray during
the process of death, in order to leave this world with prayer and to
have the strength and grace of God accompanying them.
We have to say that the
privilege of being able to pray during these hours and receive communion
of the Body and Blood of Christ, in order to be surrounded by the grace
of God when the soul leaves the body, is eliminated in our days with
so-called life support eguipment in Intensive Care Units. From a
Christian viewpoint, the hour and moment of death requires an
appropriate preparation, that is, Confession, Holy Communion, Holy
Unction, prayer by family and friends, our own prayer. However, in
Intensive Care Units it is impossible to such an ecclesial-pastoral
ministry. Thus, because of existing modern techniques and drugs, in our
days more and more people die not being conscious of what goes on at
that hour and moment. This is an important problem. Modern medical
methods pose a dilemma: “Prolongation of life or obstruction of death?”.
With everything that is offered by medical science the question is: is
our life prolonged so that we repent and devote it to God or is death
obstructed, which creates a lot of pain, physical and existential?
In any case, it is a great
blessing from God for someone to die surrounded by his beloved ones who
pray and, above all, to die living in the Church, with Holy Communion,
prayer, the blessing of his Spiritual Father, the grace of God and the
prayers of the saints. Our permanent wish should be a death like the one
depicted in the icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos, with her in the
middle surrounded by the love of Christ, the Apostles, the Hierarchs.
7. Question: Some people die unexpectedly. Is it true that God takes someone when his probability of salvation is at the maximum?
Answer: We Christians
absolutely believe that we have been created by the God of love and that
God directs our life, He gives life to us and He takes it when He
considers it to be the right moment. We also know that God loves man
whom He created and wants his salvation. Therefore, it is certain that
God allows each man’s death to occur at the most appropriate moment.
Of course, God’s love does not
abolish the freedom of man. Man has the ability to act positively or
negatively, to respond to the love of God or to reject Him.
Since you said that some people
die unexpectedly, I would like to remind you, that we should remember
death continuously, we should not feel that we are going to live
eternally on earth, because this is a spiritual sickness. There is an
alternation between life and death, similar to the alternation between
day and night. Modern molecular biology stresses that death is
inextricably linked with life, because among the genes there are the
genes of aging, which are found in the mitochondria. So, from the moment
of our conception, death exists in the DNA, and we see death in our
body with the death of cells and, generally, with aging, the passing of
years, wrinkles, illnesses, everything which theologically is called
corruptibility and mortality. We should not be myopic and behave like an
ostrich.
In this process we should know
that God did not create us to die, that death is a consequence of the
sin of Adam and Eve, and that God loves us and cares for us. He is our
affectionate father. It is not correct on the one hand to pray with the
“Lord’s Prayer”, the well-known “Our Father”, and call God “Father”, and
on the other hand to live as orphans.
8. Question: The
Orthodox faith attaches particular importance to repentance. We thank
you Lord for giving repentance to us. Can repentance at the time of
death be so great that a man is saved, even though he is burdened by
great sins?
Answer: In our Orthodox
Tradition it is known that sin is not somethimg moralistic, it is
ontologically something, namely, the course from life according to
nature to life contrary to nature. Thus, repentance is man’s return from
life contrary to nature to life according to nature. With sin man lost
his communion with God, with his brother and with the creation. With
repentance he acquires this communion once again. So, repentance is
associated with a progression in man’s liberation from everything
enslaving him. The Fathers described this progression in three words:
purification, illumination, deification, and this is what is called therapy.
This happens throughout life. Therefore, salvation is related to
therapy. The physician of the body examines us, makes a diagnosis and
recommends an appropriate therapeutic method which we should apply. The
same holds true for the illness of the soul.
A confession at the time of
death opens for man the way to salvation. If he did not have time to be
cured spiritually, then the Church with its prayers helps man to
salvation, bearing in mind that perfection is endless, it is a dynamic
not a static state.
Throughout our life we must have
this “spirit of repentance”. We should consider how we were created by
God and the point we have reached because of sin. If we read carefully
the book of Genesis, according to the teachings of the Fathers of the
Church, and see how Adam and Eve lived and what they became afterwards
because of sin, then repentance will develop inside us.
So, someone who has the “spirit”
of repentance throughout his life feels this repentance at the hour of
death, and actually he feels it to a great degree. On the contrary, when
he lives his life without repentance it is difficult to show repentance
at the last moment.
My Geronda, of everlasting
memory, the Metropolitan of Edessa Kallinikos, lived continuously with
the memory of death. When he was told by the doctors that he has a tumor
in the brain, he confessed right away, he wrote his will, he prayed and
had absolute faith in God, saying: “Perhaps God said to me 'stop'. I
don’t need you any more”. He would pray continuously saying “your will
be done”. He gave himself up to God and had a peaceful and saintly end,
similar to his whole life.
Therefore, even though there is a
possibility for someone who had some spark of love for God in him to
repent at the hour of death, we should repent when we are healthy, so as
to have the ability to be cured, that is, to proceed from self-love to
the love of God and love of men, to reach selfless love out of selfish
love.
9. Question: After man’s death, what are the links between the soul and this world?
Answer: Although the soul
is separated from the body, man’s hypostasis still exists. As we see in
the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the rich man is conscious of
his state, of his relatives who are still alive, and he cares for them.
Thus, after death, men care for their beloved ones and ask God for their
salvation. All our prayers to the saints are based on this truth. Of
course, this link between the soul and living persons is spiritual, not
material.
In the book of the Revelation of
St. John which describes the celestial Divine Liturgy, one can see
these relations of the saints with us and their prayer for all people
living on earth. This is why our Fathers depicted in the Divine Liturgy
this uncreated Divine Liturgy which takes place in the Heavens, in the
uncreated Temple. In the Divine Liturgy we live the atmosphere of the
heavenly Liturgy and we anticipate it.
We ourselves often feel the love
and protection of the saints, as well as of those close to us who have
departed from this world, and wish to meet them. A spiritual child of
mine was very happy at the hour of death, because, as she said, she
would meet this heavenly Church.
Therefore, the soul continues to
live after its exit from the body, it is not led to non-existence. If a
person lived in repentance during his life, then his soul after exiting
the body will enter this heavenly Divine Liturgy and will pray, like a
spiritual priest, for the whole world, and will wait for the
resurrection of the body. Then the soul will enter the body so that the
body too participates in this heavenly Pascha celebration.
10. Question: What
advice should we give to those close to us regarding our attitude to a
person about to die on the day, or at the hour or at the moment of
death?
Answer: The process of
death is very important for each man, because in front of him is the
road to salvation or the road to eternal perdition. Unfortunately, in
these circumstances, many people look only after the physical health of
their relatives and friends without regard for their eternal course.
This is why we should take care that a person who is about to die
confesses, receives Holy Communion, receives the grace of God through
the Sacrament of Unction and does everything that our Church has
available. In particular, we should live the last moments of the life of
our beloved one in prayer. We should consider not simply that we are
losing our relative, our friend, but that he is moving from one way of
existence (with body and senses) to a different way of existence,
without body. So, intense prayer is what is needed at that time.
I remember the last moments of
my Geronda, I was beside his bed and could not offer anything else; I
just prayed to God for his soul to be received by angels. An aunt of
mine who was present thought that I was sad, as I concentrated and
prayed. But I was just praying, because that moment is holy and crucial.
Overall, we must experience
daily, as St. John Chrysostom says, that the present life is an “inn”.
We entered this inn, we live, but we must take care to depart in good
hope, without leaving anything here in order not to lose what is there.
Furthermore, all of us Christians should realize that death has been
defeated by the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ, that communion
with Christ is a continuous transcendence of death and of the fear of
death, that the exit of the soul from the body is a course towards the
heavenly Church and the encounter with Christ, the Panagia and the
saints, that the soul will return to the body, and the body will be
resurrected and live eternally, according to the way it lived on this
earth.
St. Maximus the Confessor writes
that from the moment of death, and especially after the Last Judgment,
there are two possibilities: those who are in communion with Christ will
live in “eternal well-being” and the rest in “eternal woeful being”.
So, everyone will enjoy "eternal being". The difference is between
“well” and “woeful”.
Therefore, our advice to the
relatives and friends of those about to die is to have faith in Christ
and confidence that we are not just citizens of this world, but we are
travellers guided to our true country, which is heaven. Our citizenship
is above in heaven. The desire for the heavenly land should overwhelm
us.
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Tags: Anthropology,
Eschatology/Death, Death
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