Wounded by God’s Love (Part Three)

A JOURNEY OF SOUL AFTER DEATH AND
THE PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED

Fr. Dr. J. Buciora

1 Part One

2 Part Two

3 Part Three

The deceased enter into the so-called “state of slumber-sleep-repose” as a state of “waiting for the second coming of Christ”. [80] As a state between death and the Second Coming of Christ, this spiritual reality doesn’t have any spatial or geographical coordinates known to us within a space-time system. [81] The soul is unaware of the presence and passage of time. [82] As a result, in this spiritual reality, there is no necessity of perceiving distance as it is seen in the three dimensional world. [83] One of the descriptions that could define the new reality is the “desert infinity” of the presence of God. According to St. Mark Eugenicus, a member of the Council of Ferrara-Florence 1438-39, it is a noetic state that is “bodiless, supracelestial and supramundane”. [84] The soul experiences a new reality that goes beyond the three-dimensional world. [85] The entrance of the soul into this new reality corresponds with the difficulties of relating this new experience in the language of our physical experience (the experience of St. Paul taken to the third Heaven). [86] We should also remember that the world of the five senses is not the only world that exists. There are other worlds that are layered and related to each other in a hierarchical manner. Those worlds are defined by the wisdom of the Church as spiritual abodes: Heavens. From this perspective, man is not alone in the universe-creation of God, as there could be other intelligences with higher or lesser developed abilities. [87] It is only lately that the scientific world recognizes the existence of these unknown spiritual realities. It is a radically different world of different dimensions that is also called a “radiant realm”. It is a spiritual state of relationship with God where all the external stimuli are removed. [88] As such, it is a state of “sensory deprivation” where the soul has an awareness of being with God. [89] The state is also described by mystic literature as a loss of every sensation of worldly matters as a self-reflective repose. One of the characteristics of the experience is the fact that this is not God’s created reality as presented by Dante’s Inferno, but an uncreated reality that corresponds to the presence of God. [90]

The testimonies of some of the Fathers of the Church and holy monks give evidence of the possibility of tasting the “other sweetness” of spiritual life. The experience is associated with the paradistic or a blessed condition as a positive and eternal contemplation of the presence of God. [91] As an experiential condition, the heavenly abode is described by indescribable beauty. [92] A strong relationship with God manifests itself in the ability of man’s soul to participate in the Divine life, which translates in the ability of the soul to “taste” the heavens. The soul experiences a similar but transformed state to the way of life before death. [93] Closeness to God transmits itself into the heavenly abode of the saints. The term of “the tasting of sweetness” is a spiritual dimension of the prophets that is called the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In theological Orthodox thought, Abraham’s bosom represents a specific and close communion with God. It is a state of God’s assurance and fullness of hope. The Church prays for this specific condition to be the experience of joy and light. According to St. John of Damascus, this place is a Divine paradise, a treasure house of every joy, and pleasure of the worthy habitation of God. According to him, the place of the saints is:

“…comprehended from within and is intelligible and bodiless in nature from which it is present and acts”.

The state of heavenly joy, which is not a worldly condition [94], is a gift that only God can bestow upon man. St. Macarius of Ephesus calls this reality the “state of blessed condition”. This state is also described as a “constant contemplation and memory of God”. The Evlogitaria of the dead on the “Saturday of the Dead” describes this state as a “refashioned ancient beauty of humanity”. [95] It is an active reality that involves the totality and complete transformation of man. Orthodox literature describes this state as a reality where “man is wounded by God’s Love”. This may have been experienced by Dannion Brinkley, who, after three episodes of near-death experience, was “screaming and kicking” in order to stay on the other side of death. [96] This is also the experience of St. Salvius, who debated his return back to earth. [97] To use his words, both found themselves at “home”.

Our prayers contain the aspect of hope that will eliminate the element of sickness, sighing, and sorrow. The aspect of hope for the restoration of every human being is so immense that every phrase of the Orthodox prayer service turns towards the mercy of our Loving God. God loves mankind as the light of Christ shines in the heart of every human being. This is the assurance that God is on our side at the time of departure, as He was also on our side when the Son of God was crucified on the cross. The infinite love of God towards humankind allows us to move beyond earthly dimensions to where the only limitation of the love of God is a lack of limitations. This is a reason for man to look upon Christ as the eternal paradise, where hell has no place. [98] The light of Christ turns the grief of death into a joyous event, where even after death, the soul of man is being led by the Divine presence. A remarkable experience of the discussed light of Christ is given by St. Salvius, who describes it as a “cloud that shone more brightly than any of these with its own brilliance”. [99] Saint John of Sinai defines the uncreated light of Christ as: “an all-consuming fire and an illuminating light”. [100]

At the moment of prayer, we unite with the deceased, as it is the Holy Spirit that sanctifies prayers on both sides of life. A continual prayer of the Church and the family, according to mystic literature of the Orthodox Church, leads the deceased one back to the Kingdom of God. It is a dynamic reality that corresponds to the aforementioned transition. Prayers by the living earthly Church constantly intercede for the deceased. The progression of the soul towards God is also infinite: from one continuum or surprise to the other continuum or surprise. [101] This is a reason why the saints and angels continuously glorify God as they witness God bestowing His love within their hearts. Regardless of how far removed the deceased is from God, the Holy Spirit, as the Healer, brings and reunites the separated one with the light of God. In Orthodox theology, the Holy Spirit is the “Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Treasure of all Blessings and a Giver of Life”. The worshipping community pleads to God to comfort the soul through the Holy Spirit and release it from the oppression of passions. The prayers for the deceased are for spiritual needs identical to the needs of a living person. [102] They include the aspects of mercy, goodness, forgiveness of sins, joy, and entrance into the Abode of the Saints. As such, in the prayer of the Church for the deceased one,

“the Holy Spirit is activated, approaching the souls of these people and guiding them away from their hell”.

This is one of the main reasons for the living faith of the family and the praying community to be actively engaged in the life of God and our Church. For Orthodox theology, sanctity means life. At the moment of prayer for the deceased one, we are sanctifying the world on both sides of death with the active participation of the Holy Spirit Who is being called a “life-giving Spirit”. This is why at the point of sanctification of the bread, honey, wheat-kolyvo, and fruits, the grace of the Spirit is given to people, while prayers are directed to those on the other side. It is possible to assume that at the point of prayer, we have our unique and personal experiences with the reality of the afterlife. They are conscious of the memorials, liturgies, and prayers of the church community. [103] What unites all of us, those who passed away and those living, is the Holy Spirit. All the living and the dead have an awareness of this unifying link. This union is especially important when we are praying to the Holy Spirit on the fortieth-day Panakhyda. At that time, the living and the dead are united into oneness as Church. It is the Holy Spirit that allows us to commune with the deceased in the same way as the one on the other side communes with the human race. The fortieth-day Panakhyda is a burst of eternity of the Spirit upon the deceased one, who becomes a link for the entire family to join him in the heavenly mystery. It is a final point of the soul’s transition into the other dimension when the souls unite themselves with the appropriate spiritual state that corresponds with the ability to participate in the Glory of God. The worshipping community unites itself at this point to plead to God on behalf of the deceased one in order to increase the participation in the Glory of God. We should not forget the fact that the nation of Israel of the Old Testament mourned for Moses for forty days. [104] They remembered the one who liberated them from the oppression of slavery. They remembered the land promised by Moses, which in Orthodox thought is understood as the heavenly abode of the saints. There exists a language of images that is especially exemplified right after death and at the place of death. Very interesting are the images of a black crow present around the house of the deceased one or smiling small children looking into a window at the time of the memorial luncheon. For others, there is an image of a rainbow that appears unexpectedly in front of their eyes or a recurrence of dreams of the deceased. It is very interesting to note that the dreams express the state of the soul of an individual and, based on ascetic literature, the state of the soul of the deceased one. [105] The interpretation of this experience should not push us to speculation but rather to a mystical conviction that there is more to know in faith then we can imagine.

CONCLUSION

The prayers on the fortieth day after death contain in themselves an element of confirmation to become Christ-like. Our prayers for the forgiveness of sins of the specific person have the intent for the soul to become more aware of the loving embrace of God. [106] As the soul, says St. John Chrysostom, becomes aware of the loving embrace of the grace of God, the soul is “calmed and consoled”. [107] It has a confidence it didn’t have before. It is the hope of the praying community that there will be an increase of the soul for the reception of God’s grace. The soul is being liberated from a hellish condition: separation from the love of God in the direction to see the light of the Divine, which in Orthodox theology is defined as the illuminating and deifying energy of God. The words of the book of Maccabees are very supportive:

“It is holy and pious… to pray for the dead… that they might be delivered from their sins” (II Maccabees 12, 44-45).

This experience might be best presented with a kiss of a parent on the forehead of a sleeping child at night, when the parent covers a child with a blanket. At this point, a child is calmed. This is an experience of the souls of the deceased ones when the prayers of the Church bring them comfort and calmness. The prayers are an act of love and a duty for all Christians.

From this perspective, the memorial service has a double effect: consolation of the mourning family and comforting of the soul of the deceased one. The lack of prayers is an indication of our negligence in our duty to pray. For some contemporary Orthodox commentators, it is unnatural for the members of the Church to cease praying for the deceased. [108] At the point of prayer for the deceased, God is on our side as a testimony of the transformed reality. Even “Memory eternal-Vichnaya pamyat” sung at the very end of a Panakhyda is the image of paradisiac eternity, a never-ending perfection that is expressed in Divine memory. [109] St. Symeon of Thessaloniki states that memorials indicate perfection and immortality. [110] The petition of the Church at the very end of the Panakhyda is a plea to place the deceased in the never-ending, perfect condition when the individual is becoming more and more human. Eternal memory is a never-ending life process of becoming like God that continues even after death. From the theological perspective, the emphasis of Church prayer for eternal memory pleads God to situate man in the original intent of His design, where the mercy of God will eliminate the “negativity of human consciousness from sin”. Metropolitan Hierotheos at this point echoes St. Gregory of Nyssa, saying:

“Likewise the same fire, the purifying grace of God, will work in those who have fallen asleep who have entered the stage of purification but not had time to be purified. Thus, through the memorial services and prayers of the Church, the person is purified and ascends into the stages of spiritual perfection, where, moreover, the perfection is never ending”. [111]

The definition of “never-ending perfection” presupposes paradistic experience as a dynamic and constantly developing relationship with God. It is exactly here for the praying community of Christians to intercede for the deceased one. [112] We have to remember that sin destroys harmony and causes disintegration in the nature of a person. The liberation of a human being from the oppression of sin puts him in the original intent of God’s design, where a person can experience the intended sweetness of God’s life. The original intent of God directs us towards the restoration into Paradise. This is one of the reasons why the members of a prayerful community continually cross themselves, as the cross is considered in Orthodox theology as a gate to paradise. [113] The cross is the power of God that sanctifies all, including all those requesting Church intercession. While life eternal presupposes eternal glorification of God and memory, the presence of sin requires the aspect of forgiveness. It is not a scientific experience, but a spiritual reality that goes beyond the limitations of science.

When we talk about the experience of the soul after death, we are touching upon the subject of eschatology that deals with the experiences beyond the realms of our world. The experience is based on extraordinary powers bestowed upon man by God. This is an example of the limitation of human language when it comes to the spiritual reality. Monastic literature advises us to be extremely cautious with any conclusive statements. We have to remember that our language operates only in a physical, three-dimensional world. As such, human language is limited. The experience of the soul after death lies beyond physical time and space. As the concept of logic of our language ceases its function, the experience ceases to be descriptive. This is exactly the experience of St. Paul being taken to the third heaven:

“And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows; how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:3-4).

Seeing the things after death is beyond our senses and perception. Our faith is the only assurance we have as our hope is the only guide of the future life in God. At a certain point of our discussion and deliberation on the subject of life after death, we have to acquire the perception of St. Paul, who said:

“I can’t tell: God knows”.

References

80.	As a point of reference, it is interesting to quote one characteristic of humanity at the point of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Metropolitan Hierotheos says: “It is within this framework that we must also see that all men will acquire the age of a mature person. Even the baby that dies at an early age, but also the person who dies at a great age, will have the same age, which, as is said, will be that of Christ. In any case, it is natural that they should attain the age of a mature person, which is about thirty years”, in: Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 219. A similar description is given by Bishop Alexander, when he says: “As the soul leaves the body, it does not immediately recognize itself. For example, the marks of age disappear, the children see themselves as adults, and the elderly see themselves in their youth. The extremities, the arms and legs, lost for any number of reasons, appear whole again. The blind see...”, in Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.

81.	For some of the modern scientific researchers who have faith in God, there is a recognition that there exist the spiritual worlds that are superimposed over each other and over our physical world. According to them, the spiritual worlds are everywhere and they “range in nature, from very subtle and divine worlds beyond form and structure (the realm of angels or ethereal beings) to rather dense and dark worlds (the realm of ghosts and lost souls)”. What is even more interesting is that there is also a recognition of the existence of many paradise worlds where people go after they die. The paradistic experience that is void of pain and suffering is described as a wonderful and spiritual experience, look in: Kyriacos C. Markides, Inner River: A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christianity, New York, 2012, p. 154; Fr. Seraphim Rose, The Soul After Death. Contemporary “After-Death” Experiences in the Light of the Orthodox Teaching on the Afterlife, Platina, op. cit.., p. 132; Constantine Callinicos, Beyond the Grave. An Orthodox Theology of Eschatology, Washington, Christian Orthodox Editions, 1969, p. 32.

82.	Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit

83.	Op. cit.

84.	In: Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 90.

85.	For further interpretation of this hypothesis, please look in: Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.

86.	According to Bishop Alexander, there is no need for a language in the new reality as the only language is the relational experience, in Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.

87.	One of the interpretations of the “other worlds or dimensions”, taken with a certain reservation, is presented by: David Pratt, Heaven and Hell, in http://davidpratt.info/heaven.htm.

88.	In monastic literature, Elder Ephraim was described as a “scientist of spiritual realities”, look in: Kyriacos C. Markides, The Mountain of Silence, op. cit.., p. 158.

89.	Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, in: op. cit.

90.	Protopresbyter George Matallinos, Paradise and Hell According to Orthodox Tradition, op. cit.

91.	Op. cit.

92.	Akathist to the Holy Spirit, Kondak 4.

93.	Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 93.

94.	Op. cit., p. 316.

95.	Evlogitaria of the Dead on the Saturday of the Dead, in: The Lenten Triodion, South Canaan, St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1994, p. 128.

96.	Raymond Moody, Life after Death, St. Simons Island, 1977. For more information on the subject of near-death experience, see Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, whose interpretation does not entirely reflect contemporary Orthodox thought, in: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, Out of Body Experiences: The Orthodox Christian Teaching, Dewdney, Synaxis Press.

97.	The Life of St. Salvius, Seer of Heavenly Mysteries, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.

98. 	Protopresbyter George Matallinos, Paradise and Hell According to Orthodox Tradition, op. cit.

99. 	The Life of St. Salvius, Seer of Heavenly Mysteries, in www.orthodoxinfo.com. Similar observations, based on the mystical experiences of the father of the Church, are presented in Fr. Seraphim Rose, The Soul After Death. Contemporary “After-Death” Experiences in the Light of the Orthodox Teaching on the Afterlife, op. cit.., p.143.

100. 	Protopresbyter George Matallinos, Paradise and Hell According to Orthodox Tradition, op. cit.

101.	Athenagoras Cavadas, The World Beyond the Grave or the After Life, op/ cit., p. 77.

102.	New Hieromartyr John of Riga, Pray for the Reposed!, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.

103.	Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 101.

104.	Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit.., p. 422.

105.	Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, On the Question of the “Toll-Houses”. Our War is not Against Flesh and Blood, op. cit.

106.	Sergius Bulgakov, The Orthodox Church, o. cit.., p.182.

107.	Nikolas P Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit.., p. 428

108.	Death, The Threshold to Eternal Life, op. cit.

109.	Tomas Spidlik, Mysl Rosyjska. Inna Wizja Czlowieka. Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Ksiezy Marianow, 2000, p. 274.

110.	Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit.., p. 422.

111.	Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 194.

112.	Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, On the Question of the “Toll-Houses”. Our War is not Against Flesh and Blood, op. cit.

113.	Dumitru Staniloae, The Cross in Orthodox Theology and Worship, in: Sobornost 7(1977)4, p. 238; Andreas Andreopoulos, The Sign of the Cross: The Gesture, The Mystery, The History, Brewster, Paraclete Press, 2006.