Toll Houses Examined
December 21, 2020
G.D.O'Bradovich III
Isn't it rich? Isn't it queer?’
Discovering toll houses ‘this late in my career.
G.D.O’Bradovich III
Discovering toll houses ‘this late in my career.
G.D.O’Bradovich III
Per Orthdoxwiki:
In both the Greek and Slavonic Euchologion, in the canon for the departure of the soul by St. Andrew, we find in Ode 7:
In both the Greek and Slavonic Euchologion, in the canon for the departure of the soul by St. Andrew, we find in Ode 7:
"All holy angels of the Almighty God, have mercy upon me and save me from all the evil toll-houses."
[I]n the Canon of Supplication at the Parting of the Soul in The Great Book of Needs are the following references to the struggle of a soul passing through the toll-houses:
'Count me worthy to pass, unhindered, by the persecutor, the prince of the air, the tyrant, him that stands guard in the dread pathways, and the false accusation of these, as I depart from earth.'
-Ode 4
'Do thou count me worthy to escape the hordes of bodiless barbarians, and rise through the aerial depths and enter into Heaven…'
-Ode 8
'[W]hen I come to die, do thou banish far from me the commander of the bitter toll-gatherers and ruler of the earth…' -Ode 8
In the Octoechos:
'When my soul is about to be forcibly parted from my body's limbs, then stand by my side and scatter the counsels of my bodiless foes and smash the teeth of those who implacably seek to swallow me down, so that I may pass unhindered through the rulers of darkness who wait in the air, O Bride of God.'
-Tone Two, Friday Vespers
'Pilot my wretched soul, pure Virgin, and have compassion on it, as it slides under a multitude of offences into the deep of destruction; and at the fearful hour of death snatch me from the accusing demons and from every punishment.'
-Ode 6, Tone 1 Midnight Office for Sunday
In the Saturday Midnight Office, the prayer of St. Eustratius, contains the following:
'And now, O Master, let Thy hand shelter me and let Thy mercy descend upon me, for my soul is distracted and pained at its departure from this my wretched and filthy body, lest the evil design of the adversary overtake it and make it stumble into the darkness for the unknown and known sins amassed by me in this life. Be merciful unto me, O Master, and let not my soul see the dark countenances of the evil spirits, but let it be received by Thine Angels bright and shining. Glorify Thy holy name and by Thy might set me before Thy divine judgment seat. When I am being judged, suffer not that the hand of the prince of this world should take hold of me to throw me, a sinner, into the depths of hades, but stand by me and be unto me a savior and mediator...'
Once taught, the dogma of theosis may be understood allegorically through the enactment of the Divine Liturgy. However, no one can know that either theosis or the aerial toll houses exist, except through teachings outside of the Church services.
Continuing in Orthdoxwiki: there is no agreed upon number of toll houses, however, according to tradition, the toll houses are staffed by demons of specific sins. The following list is edited for content
Continuing in Orthdoxwiki: there is no agreed upon number of toll houses, however, according to tradition, the toll houses are staffed by demons of specific sins. The following list is edited for content
At the first aerial toll-house, the soul is questioned about sins of the tongue, such as ... singing worldly songs, too much or loud laughter, and similar sins.
The second is the toll-house of lies, which includes not only ordinary lies, but also the breaking of oaths, ... hiding sins during confession, and similar acts.
The third is the toll-house of slander.
The fourth is the toll-house of gluttony, which includes … choosing tasty over plain food… and the like.
The fifth is the toll-house of laziness, ... and also for not earning money through hard, honest labor, …. and all similar sins.
The sixth toll-house is the toll-house of theft, which includes stealing and robbery...
The seventh is the toll-house of covetousness, including … failure to give to charity, and similar acts.
The eight is the toll-house of usury, loan-sharking, overpricing, and similar sins.
The ninth is the toll-house of injustice- being unjust, ... using false measures, and similar sins.
The tenth is the toll-house of envy.
The eleventh is the toll-house of pride- vanity, self-will,... insubordination, disobedience, and similar sins.
The twelve is the toll-house of anger and rage.
The thirteenth is the toll-house of remembering evil- hatred, holding a grudge, and revenge.
The fourteenth is the toll-house of murder- not just plain murder, but also wounding, maiming, hitting, pushing, and generally injuring people.
The fifteenth is the toll-house of magic- divination, conjuring demons, … all superstitions, and associated acts.
The sixteenth is the toll-house of lust- fornication, unclean thoughts, lustful looks, unchaste touches.
The seventeenth is the toll-house of adultery.
The eighteenth is the toll-house of sodomy: bestiality, homosexuality, incest, masturbation, and all other unnatural sins.
The nineteenth is the toll-house of heresy: rejecting any part of Orthodox faith, wrongly interpreting it, apostasy, blasphemy, and all similar sins.
The last, twentieth toll-house is the toll-house of unmercifulness: failing to show mercy and charity to people, and being cruel in any way.
If the soul is not burden by a certain sin, the demon at the respective toll house allows the soul to freely travel to the subsequent toll house, as there is no sin to collect.
The locations are called ‘toll houses’, not ‘toll booths’, suggesting not only a larger size, but additional chambers, as the imager from the fourth gospel is brought to mind: in ‘my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.’ [John 14:2].
The common understanding is that the faithful have their sins forgiven by the priest in persona Christi [to borrow Roman Catholic terminology], although the forgiven sins are technically remitted or ‘sent back’, however, where sins are are returned is never explicitly stated. Although protestants and non Christians can exorcise demons [Matthew 7:21-23], invariably, they do not send the demons anywhere, unlike the example of the Redeemer in the gospel of Luke [8:31-33]. The Roman Church teaches there are seven deadly sins and, as there there are seven planets, the Gentle Reader, while recalling the Prince of the ‘powers of the air’ [Ephesians 2:2], may draw certain conclusions about where, exactly, specific sins in the Roman Church may be sent or remitted,
Within the framework of traditional Orthodox teaching, we speculate that the sins are sent back to the respective demons of the toll houses. We suggest that the toll collecting demons demand what is due them, for they either receive their due while the faithful are alive, through the remittance of sins, or when the departed encounter the collector at the aerial toll house. Therefore, a reasonable and internally coherent connection exists between confession of sins and the toll houses, for a soul harboring unconfessed sins over many years will have great difficulty passing through the toll houses.
The locations are called ‘toll houses’, not ‘toll booths’, suggesting not only a larger size, but additional chambers, as the imager from the fourth gospel is brought to mind: in ‘my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.’ [John 14:2].
The common understanding is that the faithful have their sins forgiven by the priest in persona Christi [to borrow Roman Catholic terminology], although the forgiven sins are technically remitted or ‘sent back’, however, where sins are are returned is never explicitly stated. Although protestants and non Christians can exorcise demons [Matthew 7:21-23], invariably, they do not send the demons anywhere, unlike the example of the Redeemer in the gospel of Luke [8:31-33]. The Roman Church teaches there are seven deadly sins and, as there there are seven planets, the Gentle Reader, while recalling the Prince of the ‘powers of the air’ [Ephesians 2:2], may draw certain conclusions about where, exactly, specific sins in the Roman Church may be sent or remitted,
Within the framework of traditional Orthodox teaching, we speculate that the sins are sent back to the respective demons of the toll houses. We suggest that the toll collecting demons demand what is due them, for they either receive their due while the faithful are alive, through the remittance of sins, or when the departed encounter the collector at the aerial toll house. Therefore, a reasonable and internally coherent connection exists between confession of sins and the toll houses, for a soul harboring unconfessed sins over many years will have great difficulty passing through the toll houses.
Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.’ -Matthew 7:22-23
From the passage in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, it is evident that non Christians, for lack of a more accurate description, can also cast out devils. The Lord castigates the ‘many’ for working ‘iniquity’ and nothing is mentioned of their faith.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit [ἀφῆτε], they are remitted [ἀφιένται] unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. -John 20:22-23
From the fourth Gospel, it is clear that the Apostles have the authority to redeem sins. It is not unreasonable to conclude this authority was, and is, transmitted to the successors to the Apostles, the bishops.
Ἀφίημι [aphiēmi Strong’s Number G863] is translated by the King James Bible as: leave (52 times), forgive (47 times), suffer (14 times), let (8 times), forsake (6 times), and let alone (6 times).1 The editors had difficulty translating Ἀφίημι, as they chose either ‘leave’ or ‘forgive’ nearly equally, 52 occasions and 47 occasions, respectively. Of course, ‘leaving’ and forgiving’ are not considered synonyms in the English language.
1. blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G863&t=KJV
Ἀφίημι [aphiēmi Strong’s Number G863] is translated by the King James Bible as: leave (52 times), forgive (47 times), suffer (14 times), let (8 times), forsake (6 times), and let alone (6 times).1 The editors had difficulty translating Ἀφίημι, as they chose either ‘leave’ or ‘forgive’ nearly equally, 52 occasions and 47 occasions, respectively. Of course, ‘leaving’ and forgiving’ are not considered synonyms in the English language.
1. blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G863&t=KJV
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. -2 Thessalonians 2:14
Saint Paul declares that there are traditions in the epistles, or written traditions, and by word, or oral traditions. The tradition that bishops and priests can remit sins is an oral tradition based upon the fourth gospel.
Undoubtedly, when the soul, by the power of death, is released from its concretion with the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified: it is, moreover, certain that it escapes from the veil of the flesh into open space, to its clear, and pure, and intrinsic light; and then finds itself enjoying its enfranchisement from matter, and by virtue of its liberty it recovers its divinity, as one who awakes out of sleep passes from images to verities. Then it tells out what it sees; then it exults or it fears, according as it finds what lodging is prepared for it, as soon as it sees the very angel’s face, that arraigner of souls, the Mercury of the poets.
-A Treatise on the Soul, Chapter 53, Tertullian ca. 160-220
Although there are many quotes from the alleged writings of the Church Father regarding toll houses, we quote from Tertullian, for we attempted a select commentary on his Treatise on the Soul upon learning of the subtle atheism of the Church Fathers from reading the Prolegomena of Jean Hardouin.
As for ourselves, indeed, we inscribe on the soul the lineaments of corporeity, not simply from the assurance which reasoning has taught us of its corporeal nature, but also from the firm conviction which divine grace impresses on us by revelation.
For only carefully consider, after God has breathed upon the face of man the breath of life, and man had consequently become a living soul, surely that breath must have passed through the face at once into the interior structure, and have spread itself throughout all the spaces of the body...
-On the Soul, Chapter 9
The soul has ‘lineaments of corporiety’ and is found throughout the body.
[There]is a directing faculty of the soul, ... in other words, a supreme principle of intelligence and vitality ... you must not suppose ... that this sovereign faculty of which we are treating is moved by some external force; ... that it floats about through the whole body; nor ... that it is enclosed in the head; nor … that it culminates in the crown of the head; nor that it reposes in the brain, ... nor around the basis of the brain, … nor in the membranes thereof ... nor in the space between the eyebrows, as Strato the physician held; nor within the enclosure of the breast... but rather, as the Egyptians have always taught, especially such of them as were accounted the expounders of sacred truths… Man has his (supreme) sensation in the blood around his heart.
-On the Soul, Chapter 15
The soul is found in the heart.
It must needs be, that every individual body of whatever size is filled up by the soul, and that the soul is entirely covered by the body. How, therefore, shall a man's soul fill an elephant? How, likewise, shall it be contracted within a gnat? If it be so enormously extended or contracted, it will no doubt be exposed to peril.
-On the Soul, Chapter 32
The soul is ‘entirely covered by the body’.
The author impersonating Tertullian offers conflicting observations concerning the attributes of the soul and suggests contradictory locations for the immortal soul. Since reason alone cannot decide that one location is superior to another location, the thoughtful reader will conclude that the immortal soul does not exist.
The author impersonating Tertullian offers conflicting observations concerning the attributes of the soul and suggests contradictory locations for the immortal soul. Since reason alone cannot decide that one location is superior to another location, the thoughtful reader will conclude that the immortal soul does not exist.
The Aerial Toll Houses and the Duat
In ancient Egypt, the soul of the faithful meets forty two ‘gods’ and denies committing certain ‘sins’ to each god. In the text of ‘Coming forth by day’, this section is known as the ‘Negative Confession’. The forty two gods represent the 20 nomes of lower Egypt and the 22 nomes of upper Egypt. Having no sins, the deceased is brought to Judgement, where his heart is weighted against the feather of Ma’at. The deceased is found to be ‘true of voice’, does not ‘die a second death’ either in the ‘lake of fire’ or by Ammit, and continues to exist forever with the Lord.
‘The grotesque spirits of the underworld were not evil, but under the control of the gods, being present as various ordeals that the deceased had to face.’1
The ‘ordeals’ of the aerial toll houses and of the Egyptian Duat are different by degrees, not kinds.
1. Pinch, G. Magic in Ancient Egypt. British Museum Press, 1994, pg. 34
1. Pinch, G. Magic in Ancient Egypt. British Museum Press, 1994, pg. 34
Quotes from the Church Fathers
The following quotes are before the split of the Eastern and Western Churches in the alleged year of 1054 AD. The reason for using this date as the demarcation is to not demonstrate unintentional bias towards the Orthodox Church. Yet, the number of apologetics of the toll houses from the 19th and 20th centuries seem more like a development of teaching, akin to declared dogmas of the Immaculate Conception [1854] and Papal Infallibility [1870] in the Roman Church, than the preservation of an ancient Orthodox dogma. We include Biblical passages, as the traditional creation of the Bible dates from the fourth century after Christ.
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required [Ἀπαιτοῦσιν] of thee: ...
-Luke 12:20
God is singular noun and as Ἀπαιτοῦσιν is the third person plural, this conjugation of the verb strongly suggests the demons demand the soul.
Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.
-John 14:30
The ruler of this world has no claim on Jesus, as Christ is sinless.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [ἐπουράνιος epouranios] places.
-Ephesians 6:12
The KJV translates Strong's G2032 [ἐπουράνιος] as: heavenly (16 times), celestial (twice), in heaven (once), and high (once). The ‘heavenly places’ can be understood as the planets or the course of the planets.
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
-Jude 1:9
For the passage, ‘Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the lion’s mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns,’ [Psalm 22:20-21] is indicative of the suffering by which He should die, i.e., by crucifixion. And the prayer that His soul should be saved from the sword, and lion’s mouth, and hand of the dog, was a prayer that no one should take possession of His soul: so that, when we arrive at the end of life, we may ask the same petition from God, who is able to turn away every shameless evil angel from taking our souls.
-Dialogue with Trypho 105, St. Justin the Philosopher ca. 103-165
And what was taken from earth was dissolved and what was given from God was confined in Hades and there was separation of what fitted beautifully and the beautiful body was split apart. For man was being divided by death; a strange disaster and captivity were enclosing him and he was dragged off a prisoner under the shadows of death and desolate lay the Father’s image.
-On Pascha, 54-56, St. Melito of Sardis died ca. 180
Undoubtedly, when the soul, by the power of death, is released from its concretion with the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified: it is, moreover, certain that it escapes from the veil of the flesh into open space, to its clear, and pure, and intrinsic light; and then finds itself enjoying its enfranchisement from matter, and by virtue of its liberty it [the soul] recovers its divinity, as one who awakes out of sleep passes from images to verities. Then it tells out what it sees; then it exults or it fears, according as it finds what lodging is prepared for it, as soon as it sees the very angel’s face, that arraigner of souls, the Mercury of the poets.
-A Treatise on the Soul 53, Tertullian ca. 160-220
For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, Behold, the prince of this world comes, and will find nothing in me. [John 14:30]
-On Proverbs, St. Hippolytus of Rome ca. 170-235
And when those who are conducted by the angels appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not proceed on one and the same way; but the righteous, being conducted in the light toward the right, and being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, are brought to a locality full of light…. But the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels who are ministers of punishment, and they go of their own accord no longer, but are dragged by force as prisoners. And the angels appointed over them send them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when they are brought there, those appointed to that service drag them on to the confines or hell. And those who are so near hear incessantly the agitation, and feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, (as if they were) already feeling the power of their punishment.
-Against Plato, On the Cause of the Universe
Who could follow the soul of a martyr as it passes beyond all the powers of the air and makes its way toward the altar of heaven? Blessed is that soul which ... puts to rout the ranks of the demons of the air advancing toward it.
-Hom. in Judic., 7.2. excerpted from “The Angels and Their Mission” by Jean Danielou pg. 115, Origen of Alexandria ca. 185-254
For the form indeed lay rotting in the ground; but that inspiration which had been as the breath of life, was detained separate from the body in a dark place, which is called Hades. There was, therefore, a division of the soul from the body; it was banished ad infernos, while the latter was resolved into dust; and there was a great interval of separation between them; for the body, by the dissolution of the flesh, becomes corrupt; the soul being loosened from it, its action ceases. ...when the soul is bound in chains... The soul, therefore, governed the man, as long as the body survived... But it was powerless to rule it, from the time when it was immoveably tied to it, and became immersed in error; therefore it was that it declined from the straight path, and followed tempters, giving heed to fornication, idolatry, and shedding of blood; by which evil deeds it has destroyed the proper manhood. Nay, but itself also being carried at length to the lower regions, it was there detained by the wicked tempter.
-On the Soul and Body and Passion of the Lord, 3, St. Alexander of Alexandria died ca. 326
For once, when about to eat, ... he stood and saw himself, as it were, from outside himself, and that he was led in the air by certain ones. Next certain bitter and terrible beings stood in the air and wished to hinder him from passing through. But when his conductors opposed them, they demanded whether he was not accountable to them. And when they wished to sum up the account from his birth, Antony’s conductors stopped them, saying, ‘The Lord has wiped out the sins from his birth, but from the time he became a monk, and devoted himself to God, it is permitted you to make a reckoning.’ Then when they accused him and could not convict him, his way was free and unhindered. And immediately he saw himself, as it were, coming and standing by himself and again he was Antony as before. After this, when he once had a discussion with certain men who had come to him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place will be after this life, the following night one from above called him, saying, ‘Antony, rise, go out and look.’ Having gone out therefore ... looking up, he beheld one standing and reaching to the clouds, tall, hideous, and fearful, and others ascending as though they were winged. And the figure stretched forth his hands, and some of those who were ascending were stayed by him, while others flew above, and having escaped heaven-ward, were borne aloft free from care. At such, therefore, the giant gnashed his teeth, but rejoiced over those who fell back. And immediately a voice came to Antony, ‘Do you understand what you see?’ And … he understood that it was the passing of souls, and that the tall being who stood was the enemy who envies the faithful. And those whom he caught and stopped from passing through are accountable to him, while those whom he was unable to hold as they passed upwards had not been subservient to him. So having seen this, ... he struggled the more daily to advance towards those things which were before. And these visions he was unwilling to tell, but as he spent much time in prayer, and was amazed, when those who were with him pressed him with questions and forced him, he was compelled to speak, as a father who cannot withhold ought from his children. And he thought that as his conscience was clear, the account would be beneficial for them, that they might learn that discipline bore good fruit, and that visions were oftentimes the solace of their labours.
-Life of St. Anthony, Chaps. 65-66, St. Anthony the Great ca. 251-356
As for you, my son, shun the satisfactions of this age, so as to be happy in the age to come. Do not be negligent, letting the days pass by till unexpectedly they come looking for you and you arrive at the straits of your anguish and the ‘horror-faces’* surround you and drag you off violently to their dark place of terror and anguish. Do not be sad when you are cursed by men; be sad and sigh when you sin ... and when you go away bearing the sores of your sins. If you have hit your brother, you will be handed over to pitiless angels and you will be chastised in torments of fire for all eternity.
-Pachomian Koinonia III: Instructions, Letters, and Other Writings of Saint Pachomius and His Disciples. The Instructions of Saint Pachomius, 23,41, St. Pachomius the Great ca. 292-346
When the soul of a man departs from the body, a certain great mystery is there enacted. If a person is under the guilt of sin, bands of demons and fallen angels approach along with the powers of darkness which capture the soul and drag it as a captive to their place. No one should be suprised by this fact. For if, while a man lived in this life, he was subject to them and was their obedient slave, how much more, when he leaves this world, is he captured and controlled by them? -The Fifty Spiritual Homilies, Homily 22, St. Macarius the Great ca. 295-392
[T]he angel of the Lord that had appeared to him earlier in his [St. Macarius] life, appeared surrounded with heavenly hosts and said to him, ‘Come with us, for all of these are waiting for you.’ The saint replied and said, ‘My master Lord Jesus Christ whom my soul loves, accept my spirit.’ When he said that he gave up his spirit. This was on the twenty-seventh day of the Coptic month of Baramhat. As the Angel of the Lord was escorting his spirit to Heaven, some of the elders saw the devils come to hinder his ascent. They heard them saying to him. ‘You are saved and have escaped from us.’ The saint replied, ‘Not yet.’ When the saint set one foot inside the Heavenly gate they said to him, ‘You have entered,’ he replied ‘Not yet.’ When he had completely entered they said again to him weeping, ‘You have entered,’ He then shouted back, ‘I have accepted the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I thank my Lord for His Heavenly grace and love to mankind.’
-The Life of St. Macarius the Great
[I]f the devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from heaven, wanders about our lower atmosphere, and there bearing rule over his fellow-spirits, as his peers in disobedience, not only works illusions by their means in them that are deceived, but tries to hinder them that are going up (and about this the Apostle says: According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience); while the Lord came to cast down the devil, and clear the air and prepare the way for us up into heaven, as said the Apostle: Through the veil, that is to say, His flesh [Heb. 10:20]-and this must needs be by death- well, by what other kind of death could this have come to pass, than by one which took place in the air, I mean the cross? For only he that is perfected on the cross dies in the air. Whence it was quite fitting that the Lord suffered this death. For thus being lifted up He cleared the air of the malignity both of the devil and of demons of all kinds, as He says: I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven [Luke 10:18] and made a new opening of the way up into heaven as He says once more: Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors [Psalm 24;7].
-On the Incarnation, Chap. 25, St. Athanasius the Great ca. 297-373
While the dying person addresses his last words to us, suddenly his tongue is at a loss, his eyes dim, his mouth falls silent, his voice paralyzed when the Lord’s troops have arrived, when His frightening armies overwhelm him, when the divine bailiffs invite the soul to be gone from the body, when the inexorable lays hold of us to drag us to the tribunal… Then the angels take the soul and go off through the air. There stand principalities, powers and leaders of the adverse troops who govern the world, merciless accusers, strict agents of an implacable tax bureau, like so many examiners that await the soul in the air, ready to demand a reckoning, to examine everything, brandishing their claims, that is to say our sins: those of youth and of old age, those intentional and those not so, those committed by actions and those by words or thoughts. Great then is the fear of the poor soul, inexpressible its anguish when it sees itself at grips with these myriads of enemies, who stop it, push and shove it, accuse it, hinder it from dwelling in the light, from entering into the land of the living. But the holy angels, taking the soul, lead it away.
-“Sur la seconde venue du Christ”, ed. Assemani, tome 3, pp. 275-276. excerpted from “Life After Death According to the Orthodox Tradition” by Jean-Claude Larchet pp. 90-91), St. Ephrem the Syrian ca. 306-373
[D]o Thou give me an angel of light to conduct me to the place of refreshment, where is the water of rest, in the bosom of the holy Fathers. Thou that didst break the flaming sword and didst restore to Paradise the man that was crucified with Thee and implored Thy mercies, remember me, too, in Thy kingdom... Let not the terrible chasm separate me from Thy elect. Nor let the Slanderer stand against me in the way; nor let my sin be found before Thy eyes, if in anything I have sinned in word or deed or thought, led astray by the weakness of our nature.
-St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of St. Macrina, St. Macrina the Younger ca. 327-379
The dying person … cries out: In Thee have I put my hope, save me” from my weakness “and rescue me” from captivity. For I think that the valiant athletes of God, after having kept up the good fight the whole course of their existence against the invisible enemies and escaping every trap, when they arrive at life’s end, are examined by the Prince of this world. If they are found ... to still have some wounds, stains or remnants of sin, are detained by him. However , if they are to the contrary whole and untainted, these invincible heroes remain free and are admitted by Christ to the place of rest.
-Homilies, On Psalm 7, 2 PG 29, 232B, D., St. Basil the Great ca. 330-379
The one who has done much evil in this life will be confronted by frightening, sinister-looking angels, emitting fire in their breath and their glances because of the harshness of their character; their gloomy and threating demeanor will be like the night.
-PG 29.372A7—B6. Excerpted from “The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology by Brian E. Daley. Chap 7: Facing Death in Freedom: Eastern Eschatology in the Age of Nicea [325-400], pg. 82, St. Basil the Great ca. 330-379
The same Abba Theophilus said, “What fear, what trembling ... will there be for us when our soul is separated from the body. Then indeed the force and strength of the adverse powers come against us, the rulers of darkness, those who command the world of evil, the principalities, the powers, the spirits of evil. They accuse our souls as in a lawsuit, bringing before it all the sins it has committed, whether deliberately or through ignorance, from its youth until the time when it has been taken away. So they stand accusing it of all it has done. On the other hand, the divine powers stand on the opposite side, and they present the good deeds of the soul. Consider the fear and trembling of the soul standing between them until in judgment it receives the sentence of the righteous judge. If it is judged worthy, the demons will receive their punishment, and it will be carried away by the angels.
-Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection pp. 81-82, Theophilus of Alexandria died ca. 412
[F]rom the parable, it is quite certain that souls when they leave the body do not still linger here, but are forthwith led away. And hear how it is shown: “It came to pass,” it is said, “that he [Lazarus, the beggar] died, and was carried away by the angels.” [Luke 16:22] Not the souls of the just only, but also those of sinners are led away. This also is clear from the case of another rich man. For when his land brought forth abundantly, he said within himself, “What shall I do? I will pull down my barns and build greater,” [Luke 12:18.] Than this state of mind nothing could be more wretched. He did in truth pull down his barns; for secure storehouses are not built with walls of stone; they are “the mouths of the poor.” But this man neglecting these, was busy about stone walls. What, however, did God say to him? “Thou fool, this night shall they require thy soul of thee.” Mark also: in one passage it is said that the soul is carried away by angels; in the other, that “they require it;” and in the latter case they lead it away as a prisoner; in the former, they guard and conduct it as a crowned victor. And like as in the arena a combatant, having received many wounds, is drenched with blood; his head being then encircled with a crown, those who stand ready by the spot take him up, and with great applause and praise they bear him home amid shouting and admiration. In this way the angels on that occasion led Lazarus also away. But in the other instance dreadful powers, probably sent for that purpose, required the soul. For it is not of its own accord that the soul departs this life; indeed, it is not able. For if when we travel from one city to another we need guides, much more does the soul stand in want of those who can conduct it, when it is separated from the flesh, and is entering upon the future state of existence.
-Four Discourses, Chiefly on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Discourse 2.1-2,St. John Chrysostom ca. 349-407
Let no one tear her [St. Monica] away from Your protection. Let not the devil, who is a lion and serpent in one, bar her way by force or by guile. For she will not answer that she has no debt to pay, for fear that her cunning accuser should prove her wrong and win her for himself. Her reply will be that her debt has been paid by Christ, to whom none can repay the which He paid for us, though the debt was not His to pay. -Confessions, Bk. 9, 13.36. excerpted from the “Birth of Purgatory” by Frances Le Goff, p. 65, Blessed Augustine of Hippo ca. 354-430
For whilst you are going with him who has a suit against you in the way to the magistrate, give diligence that you may be delivered, from him; lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the exactor, and the exactor cast you into prison. I tell you, you shall not come out thence, until you have made compensation unto the last mite. -Luke 12:58-59
Now perhaps it may be imagined that the sense of this passage is difficult to comprehend: but it will become very easy if we examine the metaphor by what takes place among ourselves. For let there be supposed, He says, some one who has brought a charge against you before one of those in authority, and has pointed you out to those whose office it is to carry the accused into court, and is causing you to be taken thither. “While therefore, He says, you are still with him on the way,” that is, before you have come to the judge, “give diligence,” that is, weary not, in using all your earnestness that you may be delivered from him. For otherwise he will give you up to the judge; and then, when you have been proved to be indebted to him, you will be delivered to the exactors, to those, that is, whose office it is to exact the money; and they will cast you into prison, and make you pay the last mite. Now all of us, without exception, upon earth are guilty of offences: he who has a suit against us and accuses us is the wicked Satan: for he is “the enemy and the exactor.” While therefore we are in the way: that is, ere yet we have arrived at the termination of our life here, let us deliver ourselves from him: let us do away with the offences of which we have been guilty: let us close his mouth: let us seize upon the grace that is by Christ, which frees us from all debt and penalty, and delivers us from fear and torment: lest if our impurity be not cleansed away, we be carried before the judge, and given over to the exactors, that is, the tormentors, from whose cruelty no man can escape: yea, rather, who will exact vengeance for every fault, whether it be great or small.
-Commentary on Luke, Sermon XCV, St. Cyril of Alexandria ca. 376-444
LXX Isa. 3:12 My people, the tax collectors scourge you, and the creditors lord it over you.
At a mystical level, on the other hand, the text refers also to other tax collectors, whom those wanting to live an upright life should avoid; the wicked and hostile powers even demand, as it were, of people on earth attention that is depraved, and collect from them as a kind of tax the inclination to the passions of the mind. The sacred text … blesses those who do not heed the call of the collector; anyone who resists the desires of the flesh and with youthful alertness repels the harm coming from sin, trampling down its overtures and vanquishing the spirits of wickedness, is proof against the call of the collector. Such tax collectors are therefore to be avoided, not allowed to harvest in us the produce leading to sin or apply scourging. Now, we shall succeed in this when we are strengthened in Christ, and expel from our minds wicked thoughts, base desires, and every form of vice.
-Commentary on Isaiah Vol. 1: Chapters 1-14 trans. by Robert Charles Hill pg. 97
Listen to an edifying and true story that some Egyptian elders I met told me about a man thought holy by all but who in secret stirrings of his heart angered God because, I think, of assent to impure thoughts. Their story went as follows. A man with second sight, on entering this man’s city, found him gravely ill and all the citizens affirming with tears, “If the saint dies, we have no further hope of salvation; for we are all protected through his intercession.” On hearing this, the man with second sight hurried off to get a blessing from the supposed saint. When he drew near, he saw many candles all ready and great crowds of clerics and laymen, including the bishop himself, waiting to conduct the funeral. Going in to him, he found him still breathing, and saw with the eye of his mind the devil of hell with a fiery fork inserting the fork into his heart and with many tortures pulling at his soul; and he heard a voice from heaven saying, “Just as his soul did not give me rest for a single day, so you too are not to stop pulling at his soul and torturing it.” I have recounted this to make us at all times ready for combat and prepared for the departure of the soul from the body, lest, seduced by love of pleasure, we be unbearably tormented at the time of departure…let us entreat God, Who has applied corrective not capital punishment, to free His creature from the plot of the impure and pleasure loving spirit.
-Cyril of Scythopolis: The Lives of the Monks of Palestine. Life of Euthymius pp. 33-34, St. Euthymius the Great ca. 377-473
If we do not confess our involuntary sins as we should, we shall discover an ill-defined fear in ourselves at the hour of our death. We who love the Lord should pray that we should be without fear at that time; for if we are afraid then, we will not be able to freely pass the rulers of the nether-world. They will have as their advocate to plead against us the fear which our soul experiences because of its own wickedness. But the soul which experiences the love of God, at the hour of its departure, is lifted with the angels of peace above all the hosts of darkness.
-Philokalia Vol. 1, pg. 295: On Spiritual Knowledge, 100, St. Diadochos of Photiki ca. 5th cent.
Grant her angels who will keep her soul safe from the spirits and beasts of the air, evil and unmerciful beings who endeavor to swallow up everything which comes into their midst. Lord, Lord, send out to her mighty guards to rebuke every impure power molesting her.
-Leontius of Neapolis, Life of Symeon the Fool, 9; Krueger, p. 141., St. Symeon of Emesa, Fool for Christ ca. 6th cent.
[W]hilst the holy man was living in the Iouan island (Hy, now Iona), he one day suddenly raised his eyes to heaven and uttered the words, “O happy woman happy because of thy virtues; the angels of God are now carrying thy soul to paradise.” Now these words from the mouth of the saint were heard by a certain religious brother, a Saxon, by name Genere, who was at the moment working at his trade, which was that of a baker. And on the same day of the month, at the end of the same year, the saint addressed the same Genere the Saxon, and said, “I see a wonderful thing; behold, the woman of whom I spake in thy presence last year, now meeteth in the air the soul of her husband, a poor and holy man, and together with the holy angels engageth in a contest for it against the adverse powers; by their united assistance, and by the aid of the virtuous character of the man himself, his soul is rescued from the assaults of the demons, and brought to the place of eternal refreshment. -St. Adamnan, Life of St. Columba Bk. 3.11, St. Columba of Iona ca. 521-597
One must reflect deeply on how frightful the hour of death will be for us, what terror the soul will then experience, what remembrance of all the evils, what forgetfulness of past happiness, what fear, and what apprehension of the Judge. Then the evil spirits will seek out in the departing soul its deeds; then they will present before its view the sins towards which they had disposed it, so as to draw their accomplice to torment. But why do we speak only of the sinful soul, when they come even to the chosen among the dying and seek out their own in them, if they have succeeded with them?
-Homilies on the Gospels, XXXIX, 8 [on Luke 19:42-27], PL 76, 1298D-1299D, St. Gregory the Dialogist ca. 540-604
The blessed man always used to talk much about the thought of death and the departure of the soul so that on several occasions those who went in to him with a haughty bearing and laughing face and bold eyes came out from his presence with humble demeanor and a contrite face and eyes filled with tears. He used to say: ‘My humble opinion is that it suffices for our salvation to meditate continually and seriously about death and to think earnestly upon the fact that nobody will pity us in that hour nor will anyone travel with us out of this life except our good deeds. And when the angels come hastening down, in what a tumult will a soul then be if it is found unready! How it will beg that it may be allowed a further short span of life, only to hear the words: “What about the time you have lived, have you spent it well?” ‘
And again he used to say as though speaking of himself, ‘Humble John, how will you have the strength to “pass the wild beasts of the brake”, [Ps. 68:30 = LXX 67:31, which read epitimeson tois theriois tou kalamou] when they meet you like tax collectors? Woe is me, what fears and tremors will encompass the soul when it is called to account by so many keen and pitiless accountants?’
-Leontius of Neapolis, Life of St. John the Almsgiver, 41), St. John the Almsgiver died ca. 616
One of the fathers said that in Thessalonica there was a monastery of virgins. One of them was coerced by the operation of the evil one into going out of the monastery. She went and fell into porneia by the machinations of the demon who scoffed at her until she left the monastery. Once she had fallen, she remained some time in sin then finally, undergoing a change of heart by the cooperation of God the good, she came to repentance. Re-entering her community in order to repent, she fell before the gateway of the monastery and she died. Her death was revealed to one of the holy bishops. He saw holy angels coming to receive her soul and demons in attendance; he witnessed a dialogue taking place between them. The angels were saying: ‘She came in repentance’, but the demons said: ‘She served us so long a time she is ours’. Their altercation lasted some time and then the demons, those who obstruct the good, said: ‘She did not get as far as entering the monastery; how can you say she repented?” In answer to this the holy angles said: ‘Insofar as God saw her intention tending in that direction, He accepted her repentance. And she was a mistress of repentance by virtue of the goal she set for herself: the Lord the and Master of all.’ Put to shame by these words, the demons withdrew.
-The Spiritual Meadow: Supplementary Tales. Cistercian Publications trans. by John Wortley, pg. 200, St. John Moschos ca. 550-619
By the fear of God and the threat [of chastisements] to come, halt the violent impulses of the senses. In everything and everywhere remember death and the soul’s terror upon it’s leaving the body, and how the powers of the air and the dark forces come to meet it, all dissociated and cut to pieces in proportion to its disastrous familiarity with them through the passions.
-Letters, 24, PG 91, 609C-612D., St. Maximus the Confessor ca. 580-662
So the Lord put off the principalities and powers at the time of His first experience of temptation in the desert, thereby healing the whole of human nature of the passion connected with pleasure. Yet he despoiled them again at the time of His death, in that He likewise eliminated from our human nature the passion connected with pain. In His love for humanity, He accomplished this restoration for us though He were Himself liable; and what is more, in His goodness, He reckoned to us the glory of what He had restored. So too, since He assumed our nature’s liability to passions, albeit without sin (cf. Heb. 4:10), thereby inciting every evil power and destructive force to go into action, He despoiled them at the moment of His death, right when they came after Him to search Him out. He triumphed (Col. 2:15) over them and made a spectacle of them in His Cross, at the departure of His soul, when the evil powers could find nothing at all [culpable] in the passibility proper to His human nature.
-Ad Thalassium 21, St. Maximus the Confessor ca. 580-662
Some of the dying would answer: “Blessed be God Who has not turned away my prayer nor His mercy from me.” (Ps. 62:50) Others would say, “Blessed be the Lord God Who has not given us a prey for their teeth.” (Ps. 123:6) But others would be sad and say: “Will our souls pass through the impassable water of the spirits of the air?” (cf. Ps. 123:5) These would be unsure, and worried about the rendering of accounts after death.
-Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 5), St. John Climacus ca. 7th century
We were there at the end of Abba Stephen the Byzantine, I and Abba Theodosios the African who became the bishop of Babylon. As we were chanting the “Blameless is the man…” (Psa. 119 [118 LXX]) as is usual at the gathering of the soul, suddenly his face became very grim and with a commanding voice he spoke to something that appeared to him. “Why do you come here? Go into the outer darkness. You have nothing on me. The Lord is my part.” When we arrived in our chanting at this verse saying, “You are my part, O Lord,” Abba Stephen gave over his spirit to the Lord. Seeking a garment in order to bury him we found nothing at all of wealth and glory.
Abba Stephanos the Cypriot, a serene man participating in the Holy Spirit and adorned with all virtues, had come with me to the holy mountain. When he was about to die he suffered such trouble in departing as nobody had seen; and after remaining many days as if impaled, he died. Someone who knew his work and life had difficulty in his thoughts as to why such a man needed to fall into such trouble. And behold, Stephanos appeared to him in a dream saying, “Brother, although troubled a little, I found greater confidence before the Lord.”
-Tales, 20, 28, St. Anastasios the Sinaite ca. 620-710
One of the brothers met an elder who lived on Mount Sinai and asked him, “Father, tell me how I should pray, for I have done much to anger God.” The elder said to him, “Son, when I pray I say this, ‘Lord, make me worthy to serve You as I have served Satan; make me worthy to love You as I have loved sin.’” And again he said, “It is good to raise the hands in the air and beg God that at its exit the soul might pass unhindered by all the impediments which try to delay it in the air.”
-Tales – Supplement 4. Material found only in the Sinai manuscripts. These being primarily Sinai Greek Codex 451, and SGC 659, St. Anastasios the Sinaite ca. 620-710
Whilst Sigebert still governed the kingdom, there came out of Ireland a holy man called Fursey renowned both for his words and actions, and remarkable for singular virtues, being desirous to live a stranger for our Lord, wherever an opportunity should offer…he built himself the monastery, wherein he might with more freedom indulge his heavenly studies. There, falling sick, as the book about his life informs us, he fell into a trance, and quitting his body from the evening till the cock crew, he was found worthy to behold the choirs of angels, and to hear the praises which are sung in heaven. He was wont to declare, that among other things he distinctly heard this: “The saints shall advance from one virtue to another.” And again, “The God of gods shall be seen in Sion.” Being restored to his body at that time, and again taken from it three days after, he not only saw the greater joys of the blessed, but also extraordinary combats of evil spirits, who by frequent accusations wickedly endeavored to obstruct his journey to heaven; but the angels protecting him, all their endeavors were in vain. Concerning which particulars, if any one desires to be more fully informed, that is, with what subtle fraud the devils represented both his actions and superfluous words, and even his thoughts, as if they had been written down in a book…He also saw devils flying through the fire, raising conflagrations of wars against the just. Then followed accusations of the wicked spirits against him, the defense of the good angels in his favor, and a more extended view of the heavenly troops; as also of holy men of his own nation, who, as he had long since been informed, had been deservedly advanced to the degree of priesthood, from whom he heard many things that might be very salutary to himself, or to all others that would listen to them.
-Ecclesiastical History Bk. 3.19, Bede the Venerable ca. 673-735
I thank God that now I can the more fully meet thy wishes, because but lately I spoke with this brother myself, when he came back here from abroad; he set forth to me in his own words the marvellous spectacle which he beheld when rapt in spirit beyond the body… As he quitted the body, angels of such dazzling brightness that he could scarcely look upon them for their splendour, bore him up. With sweet and harmonious voices they were singing, “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.” “They raised me,” said he, “high into the air, and circling the world I beheld a blazing fire, the mighty flame soaring terribly aloft, as though to grasp the whole mechanism of the world in its embrace, had not the holy angel calmed it with the sign of Christ’s holy cross. When he had made the sign of the cross before the threatening flame, it gradually retired. By its terrible heat I was sorely tried, while my eyes were burned, and my sight was shattered by the brightness of the gleaming spirits until an angel, splendid to behold, touched my head with a protecting hand, and brought me safe from harm in the flames.
He added that during the time while he was out of the body, such a multitude of souls leaving the body had gathered where he was as to exceed what he had thought before to be the numbers of the whole human race. An innumerable band of evil spirits and a bright choir of heavenly angles had also assembled; and there was the greatest dispute between the demons and the angels over the souls leaving the body, for the demons were accusing the dead and making heavy the burden of their sins, while the angels were excusing them and lightening their load.
-Letter XIII, To the Holy Virgin and Dear Lady Eadburga), St. Boniface the Apostle to the Germans ca. 680-755
Are you not afraid of death, which we shall all face in a little while? How are we to look on the fearsome angels, as they come to take us from the body? How are we to journey on that long and unending road, if we have not obtained the necessities for the journey?
-Catechesis 103, On Keeping God’s Commandments and the Just Threat Against Those who Neglect Them, St. Theodore the Studite ca. 759-826
You fill me with all blessings, O my God; but all of these will not help me if You will not give me the grace to overcome without confusion the gates of death. If the prince of darkness, when he come, should not see Your glory surrounding me and be not completely rendered powerless, he with his darkness be not dissipated by Your inaccessible light and if all the opposing powers with him be not put to flight, seeing the sign of Your stamp on me…of what use to me are all these which are now taking place in me?
-Hymns, 28, ll. 201-211; Maloney, p. 152. Also see: Sources Chretiennes, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris. Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos “Life After Death” pg. 68, St. Symeon the New Theologian ca. 949-1022
My Lord, Jesus Christ, hear me this hour and vouchsafe me to share of the company of Thy saints. For, O Lord, even as once this day Zechariah was slaughtered before Thine altar, so now also am I slaughtered before Thee, O Lord. O Lord, Lord, remember not my former transgressions, but save my soul, so that the deceitful counsel of my adversaries may not block its way, and let Thy bright angels receive it. Because, O Lord, Thou art my Savior, do Thou forgive them that do these things, for Thou art the true God, and to Thee is glory forever. Amen. -Hagiography of Kievan Rus’, trans. Paul Hollingsworth [Cambridge, MA: Harvard U, 1992], p. 16, St. Boris the Passion-Bearer ca. 986-1015
[S]ouls, obscured and frightfully plunged in darkness because of the malice of their acts, words and thoughts, their habits, occupations and dispositions, these are the souls of sinners; when they are violently torn from the body, they give off such stench as they have imparted to it in leaving, along with all manner of unpleasantness. These souls, filled with obscurity, stench and rottenness, are dragged away against their will by dark and avenging angels, in the midst of a terrible fear, shaking with fright, to the depths of hell as into a dark prison devoid of consolation. They are handed over to the impure and evil spirits that guard this prison, there where the prince of darkness is held fast by eternal bonds so to be consumed by fire along with his kind, the angels of darkness. They are handed over to them to remain with them eternally in the future; they have, in fact, accepted them as friends during their life in their acts and their words. They have preferred their suggestions, they have implemented them to their loss and others.
-On the Soul, XIV, 79-81), St. Nikitas Stithatos ca. 1005-1090
Conclusion