Prologue
Whatsoever you take in hand, remember the end
and you shall never do amiss. Sir. 7:36
When we
wish to emphasize the importance of something, we say that it is a matter of
life and death. A matter of primary importance for those of us who believe in
heaven and hell – perhaps even the most important – is our departure from the
world and the life after death. After we are born, the only thing we can take
for granted is that at some point we will die. In Holy Scripture, death is
called the way of all the earth (3 Kingd. 2:2) because it is the road which we
will all travel. All of us, therefore, must contemplate our death and prepare
to encounter it. Christ himself stresses this, saying: Therefore, be ready, for
it is at an hour which you do not expect that the Son of Man will come. (Matt.
24:44)
The
saints of the Church stress that the remembrance of death is a great and
enduring support in our spiritual struggle, both by halting our slide into sin
and as a God-given strength in the exercise of virtue. Since we completely
forget about death due to the cares and distractions of daily life, sometimes
willfully, God reminds us of it in different ways, most poignantly when a
family member or friend departs this life for the next.
In the
present work we will try to see what it means for a lay person to be mindful of
the time of death and how this mindfulness benefits the spiritual life.
Everything we say is based on the experiences of the holy Fathers [of the
Church] who lived in expectation both of their eventual departure from this
life and of the coming of the Lord.
The Mystery of Death
Death is
a stage that every person born into this world will inevitably go through.
After traversing it, however, a wall of silence divides the living and the
dead. And in spite of what some have written concerning death, it remains a great
unknown and an unapproachable mystery.
One of
the hymns sung at the funeral service says: I grieve and lament when I
contemplate death, and see the beauty fashioned for us in God’s image lying in
the graves, without form, without glory, without shape. O the wonder! What is
this mystery which has happened to us? How have we been handed over to
corruption, and yoked with death?
We will
attempt to provide an answer to these fundamental questions posed by the
hymnographer.
***
Holy
Scripture teaches us that, For God made not death: neither has He pleasure in
the destruction of the living. For He created all things, that they might have
their being… (Wis. 1: 13-14)
When God
commanded Adam and Eve to abstain from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, he
also said: But in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. (Gen. 2:17)
Though aware of these words, Adam broke God’s commandment. This had tragic
consequences for himself and for his descendants: death came into the world as
the fruit of sin. Therefore, [even] as sin entered into the world through one
man, and death through sin, death passed to everyone, because [of which] all
sinned. (Rom. 5: 12)
Adam died
twice because of his disobedience. He died spiritually at the moment of
sinning, when he lost the communion with God which he had previously enjoyed.
Then he died physically many years later, also on account of his sin. As a
result, the entire human race came under the dominion of this twofold death.
According
to the holy Fathers, bodily death was a medication dispensed by divine
benevolence for mankind “so that evil should not become immortal.” “God allowed
death and sorrow to take effect immediately after Adam and Eve had sinned, not
for their punishment, but as a medicine for their illness.” However, it was
man’s spiritual death – his separation from God – that was his greatest
affliction. The incarnation, crucifixion, burial and resurrection of the Word
of God were necessary in order to give life to man, that is, to restore him to
communion with God. St. Gregory the Theologian says, “It was necessary for God
to become flesh and die so that we might live.”
Confronting Death
How,
though, does man cope with death? Is it right that the mere mention of the word
‘death’ makes us change the subject of a conversation and causes feelings of
aversion and displeasure? St. John Klimakos explains to us that the “fear of
death is a natural trait in man, that derives from the disobedience of Adam.
The terror of death, however, proves that there are unrepented sins.” Death is
indeed fearful for the man who lives unaware of his sins and without
repentance, as the Psalmist’s words attest: The death of sinners is evil (Ps.
33:21).
For the
godly man, though, death is a transition to another life. It is a going forth
from this world to take up residence in the world of God: “There is, therefore,
no death for your servants, Lord, when we go out from the body and come to you,
O God, but a translation from sorrow ful
things to better and more desirable, and rest and joy.” St. John Chrysostom
says: “What is death? It is a brief journey, a sleep lasting longer than usual.
So if you fear death, you fear sleep!” “We fear death,” continues the Saint,
“because we live carelessly and this lies heavy on our conscience.” According
to St. Isaak, “The fear of death distresses a man with a guilty conscience, but
the man with a good witness within himself longs for death as for life.” The
true Christian, according to Elder Paisios, is both glad to live and glad to
die!
The death
of the saints is their translation to the true and lasting homeland where they
will live forever with Christ, the Panagia, the Angels and all the saints.
“They
said about Abba Sisoes how, when he was on his deathbed with the Fathers
sitting around him, his face shone like the sun and he said to them: ‘Look,
Abba Anthony has arrived!’ And after a little while, he resumed: ‘Look, the
choir of the Prophets has arrived!’ And again, his face shone exceedingly, and
he said: ‘Look, the choir of the Apostles has arrived!’ His face shone even
more brightly and he appeared to be talking to someone. The Fathers begged him
to tell them with whom he was speaking.
The Saint
answered, ‘Look, the Angels have come to take me, and I asked them to leave me
a little longer so that I can repent.’ ‘Father,’ the elders said to him, ‘you
have no need of repentance.’ ‘Truly,’ he answered them, ‘I do not know if I
have even begun.’
From this
they understood that he was perfected. Suddenly his face became radiant as the
sun, and they were all afraid. ‘Did you see?’ he asked them. ‘The Lord came
saying: “Bring the vessel of the desert to me.”’ And immediately he gave up his
spirit, while at the same time there was something like a flash of lightning
and the place was filled with a sweet scent.”
The way a
person privately confronts death is reflected in the public celebration of the
funeral service. The villages of Greece today still retain the old customs: As
soon as someone dies the bells are solemnly rung to inform everyone that
someone has fallen asleep; then people make their way to the house to grieve
with the relatives. The body remains in the house all night and Psalms are read
over it. The next day it is taken to the Church for the funeral service and the
last kiss.
Contrast
this with what happens in urban centers today: As soon as someone dies the body
is immediately transferred to cold storage – allegedly for reasons of public
health! Many people keep the coffin closed or completely cover it with flowers!
Modern man is very fearful of anything that might remind him of death.
St.
Kosmas Aitolos asked some Christians, during a homily, how long they kept the
deceased before burying him, and they responded, “Two or three hours.” He
replied, “From this day forward, do not immediately bury the body, but watch
over it for 24 hours. Have everyone gather around it, including the children,
and consider it well, because death is the best teacher.”
Let us
consider how someone can be taught by death.
An
excerpt from “Be Ready:
An Approach to the Mystery of Death”,
by Hieromonk Gregorios
CONVERSATION