Introduction
At Rev. Vasily was a novice of Theodore, who served him a lot; Having accepted the monastic rank, she departed to the Lord. One of the saint’s disciples, Gregory, had a desire to find out where Theodora was after her death, whether she had received mercy and joy from the Lord for her service to the holy elder. Often thinking about this, Gregory asked the elder to answer him what was wrong with Theodora, for he firmly believed that the saint of God knew all this. Not wanting to upset his spiritual son, Rev. Vasily prayed that the Lord would reveal to him the fate of blessed Theodora. And then Gregory saw her in a dream - in a bright monastery, full of heavenly glory and ineffable blessings, which was prepared by God for the Venerable. Vasily and in which Theodora was installed through his prayers. Seeing her, Gregory was delighted and asked her how her soul was separated from her body, what she saw at her death, how she went through the ordeals in the air. Theodora answered these questions like this:
“Child Grigory, you asked about a terrible thing, it’s terrible to remember it. I saw faces I had never seen and heard words I had never heard. What can I tell you? I had to see and hear terrible things for my deeds, but, with the help and prayers of our father, the Monk Vasily, everything was easy for me. How can I convey to you, child, that bodily torment, that fear and confusion that the dying have to experience! Just as fire burns those thrown into it and turns them into ashes, so the pain of death in the last hour destroys a person. The death of sinners like me is truly terrible! So, when the hour came for the separation of my soul from my body, I saw around my bed many Ethiopians, black as soot or tar, with eyes burning like coals. They made noise and shouting: some roared like cattle and animals, others barked like dogs, others howled like wolves, and others grunted like pigs. All of them, looking at me, became furious, threatened, gnashed their teeth, as if wanting to eat me; they prepared charters in which all my bad deeds were recorded. Then my poor soul began to tremble; the torment of death seemed not to exist for me: the menacing vision of the terrible Ethiopians was for me another, more terrible death. I turned my eyes away so as not to see their terrible faces, but they were everywhere and their voices came from everywhere. When I was completely exhausted, I saw two Angels of God approaching me in the form of beautiful young men; their faces were bright, their eyes looked with love, the hair on their heads was as light as snow and shone like gold; the clothes looked like the light of lightning, and on the chest they were girded crosswise with golden belts. Approaching my bed, they stood next to me on the right side, quietly talking to each other. Seeing them, I was happy; the black Ethiopians trembled and moved away; one of the bright young men addressed them with the following words: “O shameless, damned, dark and evil enemies of the human race! Why do you always rush to come to the bedside of the dying, making noise, frightening and confusing every soul that is separated from the body? But don’t be too happy, you won’t find anything here, for God is merciful to her and you have no part or share in this soul.” Hearing this, the Ethiopians began to rush about, raising a strong cry and saying: “How come we have no part in this soul? “And these are whose sins,” they said, pointing to the scrolls where all my bad deeds were written down, “didn’t she do this and that?” And having said this, they stood and waited for my death. Finally, death itself came, roaring like a lion and very terrible in appearance; she looked like a person, but only had no body and was made up of only bare human bones. With her were various instruments for torture: swords, spears, arrows, scythes, saws, axes and other weapons unknown to me. My poor soul trembled when I saw this. The Holy Angels said to death: why are you delaying, free this soul from the body, free it quietly and quickly, because there are not many sins behind it. Obeying this order, death approached me, took a small insult and first of all cut off my legs, then my arms, then gradually with other instruments it cut off my other members, separating body from body, and my whole body became dead. Then, taking the adze, she cut off my head, and it became like a stranger to me, for I could not turn it. After this, Death made some kind of drink in a cup and, bringing it to my lips, forcibly gave me a drink. This drink was so bitter that my soul could not bear it - it shuddered and jumped out of my body, as if forcibly torn out of it. Then the bright Angels took her into their arms. I turned back and saw my body lying soulless, insensible and motionless, just as if someone takes off his clothes and, throwing them away, looks at them - so I looked at my body, from which I had freed myself, and was very surprised at this. The demons, who were in the form of Ethiopians, surrounded the holy Angels who were holding me and shouted, showing my sins: “This soul has many sins, let him give us an answer for them!” But the holy Angels began to look for my good deeds and, by the grace of God, they found and collected everything that, with the help of the Lord, I had done good: whether I gave alms, or fed the hungry, or gave drink to the thirsty, or clothed the naked, or led a stranger into home and calmed it down, or served the saints, or visited the sick and in prison and helped him, or when she went to church with zeal and prayed with tenderness and tears, or when she listened attentively to church readings and singing, or brought incense to church and candles, or made some other offering, or poured wooden oil into lamps in front of the holy icons and kissed them with reverence, or when she fasted and did not eat food during all holy fasts on Wednesday and Friday, or how many times she bowed and prayed at night, or when she turned to God with all her soul and cried about her sins, or when, with complete heartfelt repentance, she confessed her sins to God before her spiritual father and tried to atone for them with good deeds, or when she did some kindness for her neighbor, or when she did not became angry with someone who was at enmity with me, or when she suffered some kind of insult and abuse and did not remember them and was not angry for them, or when she repaid good for evil, or when she humbled herself or lamented over someone else’s misfortune, or she herself was sick and endured it without complaint, or she was ill with another sick person, and consoled someone who was crying, or gave someone a helping hand, or helped in a good deed, or kept someone from doing something bad, or when she did not pay attention to vain affairs, or refrained from vain oaths or slander and idle talk, and all my other The smallest deeds were collected by the holy Angels, preparing to put them against my sins. The Ethiopians, seeing this, gnashed their teeth, because they wanted to kidnap me from the Angels and take me to the bottom of hell. At this time, our reverend father Vasily unexpectedly appeared there and said to the holy Angels: “My Lord, this soul served me a lot, calming my old age, and I prayed to God, and He gave it to me.” Having said this, he took out from his bosom a golden bag, all full, as I thought, of pure gold, and gave it to the holy Angels, saying: “When you go through airy ordeals and evil spirits begin to torment this soul, redeem it with this from its debts.” ; By the grace of God I am rich, because I have collected many treasures for myself through my labors, and I give this bag to the soul who served me.” Having said this, he disappeared. The evil ones, seeing this, were in bewilderment and, raising lamentable cries, also disappeared. Then the saint of God, Vasily, came again and brought many vessels with pure oil, expensive myrrh, and, opening each vessel one after another, he poured everything on me, and the fragrance spread from me. Then I realized that I had changed and became especially bright. The saint again turned to the Angels with the following words: “My Lords, when you have completed everything that is necessary for this soul, take it to the house prepared for me by the Lord God and settle it there.” Having said this, he became invisible, and the holy Angels took me, and we went through the air to the east, rising to heaven.
Ordeal 1st
When we ascended from the earth to the heights of heaven, we were first met by the airy spirits of the first ordeal, where sins are tested . This is where we stopped. They brought us many scrolls, where all the words that I had spoken since my youth were written down, everything that was said by me thoughtlessly and, moreover, shamefully. All the blasphemous deeds of my youth were immediately written down, as well as cases of idle laughter, to which youth is so prone. I immediately saw the bad words that I had ever spoken, the shameless songs of the world, and the spirits reproached me, pointing out the place and time and persons with whom I engaged in idle conversations and angering God with my words, and did not at all consider it a sin , and therefore did not confess this to her spiritual father. Looking at these scrolls, I was silent, as if speechless, because I had nothing to answer them: everything that was written down by them was the truth. And I was surprised how they hadn’t forgotten anything, because so many years had passed and I myself had forgotten about it a long time ago. They tested me in detail and in the most skillful way, and little by little I remembered everything. But the holy Angels who led me put an end to my ordeal at the first ordeal: they covered my sins, pointing out to the evil one some of my former good deeds, and what was missing from them to cover my sins, they added from the virtues of my father the Monk Basil and redeemed me from the first ordeal, and we moved on.
Ordeal 2nd
We have approached another ordeal called the ordeal . Here a person gives account for every false word, and mainly for perjury, for calling on the name of the Lord in vain, for false testimonies, for failure to fulfill the vows given to God, for insincere confession of sins, and for everything like that when a person resorts to lies. The spirits in this ordeal are fierce and cruel and especially test those going through this ordeal. When they stopped us, they began to ask me all the details, and I was caught in the fact that I had once lied twice about the smallest things, so that I did not put it as a sin, and also that once, Because of shame, she did not tell the whole truth in confession to her spiritual father. Having caught me in a lie, the spirits came to great joy and already wanted to kidnap me from the hands of the Angels, but they, to cover the sins they found, pointed to my good deeds, and replenished what was missing with the good deeds of my father, the Monk Vasily, and thereby redeemed me from this ordeal, and we went higher without hindrance.
Ordeal 3rd
The ordeal that we later came to is called ordeal and slander. Here, when they stopped us, I saw how seriously the one who condemns his neighbor sins, and how much evil there is when one slanders another, dishonors him, scolds him, when he swears and laughs at the sins of others, not paying attention to his own. Terrible spirits test sinners in this way because they anticipate the dignity of Christ and become judges and destroyers of their neighbors, when they themselves are immeasurably more worthy of condemnation. In this ordeal, by the grace of God, I did not find myself sinful in many ways, because throughout my entire life I was careful not to judge anyone, not to slander anyone, I did not mock anyone, I did not scold anyone; sometimes, just listening to how others condemned their neighbors, slandered them or laughed at them, in my thoughts I partly agreed with them and, through carelessness, added a little of myself to their speeches, but, having come to my senses, I immediately restrained myself. But even this, the spirits who tested me, put me into sin, and only through the merits of St. Basil did the holy Angels free me from this ordeal, and we went higher.
Ordeal 4th
Continuing our journey, we reached a new ordeal, which is called the ordeal . Bad spirits ran out to meet us, rejoicing that a new victim was coming to them. The appearance of these spirits was ugly: they portrayed different types of voluptuous gluttons and vile drunkards; They carried dishes and bowls with food and various drinks. The food and drink were also vile in appearance, resembling stinking pus and vomit. The spirits of this ordeal seemed sated and drunk, they galloped with music in their hands and did everything that feasters usually do, and cursed at the souls of sinners they brought to the ordeal. These spirits, like dogs, surrounded us, stopped and began to show all my sins of this kind: did I ever eat secretly, or through force and beyond the need, or in the morning, like a pig, without prayer and the sign of the cross, or did I eat during holy fasts? before the time appointed by the church charter, or due to intemperance she ate before lunch, or during lunch she was over-filled. They also calculated my drunkenness, showing the cups and vessels from which I drank, and directly said: you drank so many cups at such and such a time, and at such and such a feast, with such and such people; and in another place I drank so much and reached the point of unconsciousness and vomiting, and so many times I feasted and danced to music, clapping my hands, sang songs and jumped, and when they brought you home, I was exhausted from immeasurable drunkenness; The wicked spirits also showed me those cups from which I sometimes drank in the morning and on fasting days for the sake of guests, or when, out of weakness, I drank to the point of intoxication and did not consider it a sin and did not repent, but on the contrary, I also tempted others to do the same. They also pointed out to me when on Sundays it happened to me to drink before the Holy Liturgy, and they pointed out many similar things to me from my sins of gluttony and rejoiced, already considering me in their power, and intended to take me to the bottom of hell; I, seeing myself exposed and not having anything to say against them, trembled. But the holy Angels, having borrowed his good deeds from the treasury of St. Basil, covered my sins and removed them from the power of those evil spirits. Seeing this, they raised a cry: “Woe to us! Our efforts are lost! Our hope is gone! - and they began to send packages through the air, where my sins were written; I was glad, and then we went from there without any hindrance. During the journey to the next ordeal, the holy Angels had a conversation with each other. They said: “This soul truly receives great help from the saint of God Vasily: if his prayers did not help her, she would have to experience great need, going through the ordeals of the air.” This is what the Angels accompanying me said, and I took it upon myself to ask them: “My Lords, it seems to me that no one living on earth knows what happens here, and what awaits the sinful soul after death? “The Holy Angels answered me: “Do the divine scriptures, always read in churches and preached by the servants of God, say little about this! Only those addicted to earthly vanity do not pay attention to this, finding a special delight in eating daily to satiety and getting drunk, thus making the belly their god, not thinking about the future life and forgetting the words of Scripture: woe to you, who are filled now, for you will be hungry and those who get drunk, because you thirst. They consider the Holy Scriptures to be fables and live in neglect of their souls, feasting with songs and music and every day, like the rich man of the Gospel, making merry with light. But those who are merciful and merciful, who do good to the poor and needy - these receive forgiveness of their sins from God and, for their alms, go through ordeals without much torture, according to the word of Scripture: alms delivers from death and forgives all sin. Those who do alms and truth are filled with life, but those who do not try to cleanse their sins with alms cannot avoid these trials, and the dark-shaped princes of the ordeals that you saw kidnap them and, cruelly torturing them, take them to the bottom of hell and keep them there in bonds until the terrible end. judgment of Christ. And it would have been impossible for you to avoid this if not for the treasury of good deeds of St. Basil, from which your sins were covered.”
Ordeal 5th
Conversing in this way, we reached the ordeal called the ordeal , in which a person gives an answer for all the days and hours spent in idleness. Parasites also linger here, feeding on the labors of others and not wanting to do anything themselves, or taking payment for work not completed. There they also ask for an account from those who do not care about the glory of the name of God and are too lazy to go to the Divine Liturgy and other services of God on holidays and Sundays. Here, both worldly and spiritual people experience negligence and despondency, laziness and carelessness about their souls, and many from here are led into the abyss. They tested me a lot here, and if it weren’t for the virtues of St. Basil, who made up for the lack of my good deeds, then I would not have been freed from the debt to the evil spirits of this ordeal for my sins; but they covered everything, and I was taken out of there.
Ordeal 6th
Next ordeal . We were detained there for a short time, and few good deeds were required to cover my sins, because I did not commit theft, except for one, very small one, in childhood due to foolishness.
Ordeal 7th
After the ordeal of theft, we came to the ordeal and stinginess. But we also passed this ordeal safely, because, by the grace of God, during my earthly life I did not worry about acquiring property and was not money-loving, but was content with what the Lord sent me, I was not stingy, and what I had was diligently gave to those in need.
Ordeal 8th
Rising higher, we have reached the ordeal called the ordeal , where those who give away their money at interest and thereby receive unjust gains are tested. Here those who appropriate for themselves what belongs to others give an account. The crafty spirits of this ordeal thoroughly searched me, and not finding any sin behind me, they gnashed their teeth; We, having thanked God, went higher.
Ordeal 9th
We have reached the ordeal called the ordeal lies, where all unrighteous judges who conduct their trials for money are tortured, acquit the guilty, condemn the innocent; Here those who do not pay due wages to mercenaries or use the wrong measure when trading, etc., are tortured. But we, by the grace of God, passed this ordeal without any hindrance, covering my sins of this kind with only a few good deeds.
Ordeal 10th
We also successfully passed the next ordeal, called the ordeal . I didn’t have any sins of this kind at all, because I never envied. And although other sins were experienced here: dislike, brotherly hatred, enmity, hatred, but, by the mercy of God, I turned out to be innocent of all these sins and saw how the demons furiously gnashed their teeth, but I was not afraid of them, and, rejoicing, we went higher.
Ordeal 11th
In a similar way, we went through the ordeal, where arrogant and proud spirits test those who are vain, think a lot about themselves and are proud; The souls of those who are disrespectful to father and mother, as well as to the authorities appointed by God, are especially carefully tested here: cases of disobedience to them, and other acts of pride, and vain words are considered. I needed very, very few good deeds to cover my sins during this ordeal, and I received freedom.
Ordeal 12th
The new ordeal that we later achieved was an ordeal and rage; but even here, despite the fact that the spirits torturing here are fierce, they received little from us, and we continued our path, thanking God, who covered my sins with the prayers of my father, the Monk Vasily.
Ordeal 13th
After the ordeal of anger and rage, we were presented with an ordeal in which those who are in their hearts are mercilessly tortured. From here the spirits of evil with particular fury reduce the souls of sinners to Tartarus. But God’s mercy did not abandon me here either: I never had any malice against anyone, I did not remember the evil done to me, but, on the contrary, I forgave my enemies and, as far as I was able, revealed my love for them, thus defeating evil with good. Therefore, I did not turn out to be sinful in anything during this ordeal; the demons wept that I was freely leaving their cruel hands; We continued on our way in joy. On the way, I asked the holy Angels who led me: “My Lords, I ask you, tell me how these terrible air powers know all the evil deeds of all the people who live in the world, just like mine, and not only reveal those created, but also which only the one who did them knows?” The Holy Angels answered me: “Every Christian, from his most holy baptism, receives from God a Guardian Angel, who invisibly protects a person and throughout his life, even until the hour of death, instructs in all good and all these good deeds that a person does during his life.” earthly life, writes down so that he can receive mercy from the Lord for them and eternal reward in the Kingdom of Heaven. So the prince of darkness, who wants to destroy the human race, assigns to each person one of the evil spirits, who always follows the person and observes all his evil deeds from his youth, encouraging them with his intrigues, and collects everything that the person has done that is bad. Then he takes all these sins to the ordeal, writing each one in the appropriate place. Hence, the princes of the air know all the sins of all the people who live in the world. When the soul is separated from the body and strives to ascend to heaven to its Creator, then evil spirits hinder it, showing lists of its sins; and if the soul has more good deeds than sins, then they cannot restrain it; when there are more sins on her than good deeds, then they hold her for a while, imprison her in the prison of God’s ignorance and torture her, as far as the power of God allows them, until the soul, through the prayers of the Church and relatives, receives freedom. If any soul turns out to be so sinful and unworthy before God that all hope for its salvation is lost and it is threatened with eternal death, then it is brought down into the abyss, where it remains until the second coming of the Lord, when eternal torment begins for it in fiery hell. Know also that only the souls of those who are enlightened by holy baptism are tested in this way. Those who do not believe in Christ, idolaters and, in general, everyone who does not know the true God do not ascend this way, because during earthly life they are alive only in body, and in soul are already buried in hell. And when they die, the demons, without any testing, take their souls and bring them down to Gehenna and the abyss.”
Ordeal 14th
While I was talking in this way with the holy Angels, we entered the ordeal called the ordeal . Here, not only robbery is tormented, but they demand an account for any punishment inflicted on someone, for any blow on the shoulders or head, on the cheek or neck, or when someone angrily pushes his neighbor away from him. Evil spirits experience all this here in detail and weigh it; We went through this ordeal without hindrance, leaving a small part of good deeds to cover my sins.
Ordeal 15th
We also passed through the next ordeal without hindrance, where we are tortured by spirits for sorcery, witchcraft, charm, whispering, summoning demons. The spirits of this ordeal are similar in appearance to four-legged reptiles, scorpions, snakes and toads; in a word, it’s scary and disgusting to look at them. By the grace of God, the spirits of this ordeal did not find a single similar sin in me, and we moved on; the spirits shouted after me with rage: “Let's see how you leave the prodigal places when you get there!” When we began to ascend higher, I asked the Angels who were leading me: “My Lord, do all Christians go through these ordeals and is it possible for anyone to pass here without torture and fear?” The Holy Angels answered me: “For the souls of believers ascending to heaven, there is no other way - everyone goes here, but not everyone is tested in ordeals like you, but only sinners like you, that is, those who, out of shame, did not sincerely open to the spiritual father of all your sins in confession. If someone sincerely repents of all sins, then the sins, by the mercy of God, are invisibly blotted out, and when such a soul passes here, the aerial torturers open their books and find nothing written behind it; then they can no longer frighten her, cause her anything unpleasant, and the soul ascends in joy to the throne of grace. And you, if you had repented of everything before your spiritual father and received permission from him, you would have avoided the horrors of going through ordeals; But what also helps you is that you have long stopped committing mortal sins and have been leading a virtuous life for many years, and mainly the prayers of St. Basil, whom you diligently served on earth, help you.”
Ordeal 16th
During this conversation we reached the ordeal called , where a person is tortured for all fornication and for all impure passionate thoughts, for consenting to sin, for nasty touches and passionate touches. The prince of this ordeal sat on the throne dressed in stinking, nasty clothes, sprinkled with bloody foam and replacing him with a royal scarlet robe; many demons stood before him. When they saw me, they were surprised that I had reached their ordeal, and they brought out scrolls in which my fornication was written down, began to count them, indicating the persons with whom I sinned in my youth, and the time when I sinned, i.e. day or night, and the place where she committed the sin. I couldn’t answer them and stood there, trembling with shame and fear. The Holy Angels, who were leading me, began to say to the demons: “She has long since left the life of prodigal life and has spent all this time in purity and abstinence.” The demons answered: “And we know that she stopped leading a prodigal life, but she did not reveal it to her spiritual father and did not bear penance from him to atone for her previous sins - therefore she is ours, and you either leave or redeem her with good deeds.” . The Holy Angels pointed out many of my good deeds, and even more with the good deeds of St. Basil they covered my sins, and I barely got rid of severe misfortune. We moved on.
Ordeal 17th
The next ordeal was an ordeal , where the sins of those living in marriage are tortured: if someone did not maintain marital fidelity, or desecrated his bed, he must give an account here. Those who sin in abduction for fornication and violence are also tortured here. Here they test persons who dedicated themselves to God and took a vow of chastity, but did not keep their vow and fell into fornication; the torture of these is especially terrible. At this ordeal I turned out to be a lot of sinners, I was caught in adultery, and evil spirits already wanted to kidnap me from the hands of the Angels and take me to the bottom of hell. But the holy Angels argued a lot with them and barely redeemed me, leaving all my good deeds here until the last and adding a lot from the treasury of St. Basil. And taking me from them, they went further.
Ordeal 18th
After that we reached the ordeal , where sins that disagree with either male or female nature are tortured, as well as copulation with demons and dumb animals, and incest, and other secret sins of this kind, which are shameful to even remember. The prince of this ordeal, the worst of all the demons that surrounded him, was completely covered with stinking pus; its ugliness is difficult to describe. They were all burning with rage; They hastily ran out to meet us and surrounded us. But, by the grace of God, they did not find me guilty of anything sinful and therefore ran back in shame; We, rejoicing, emerged from this ordeal. After this, the holy Angels said to me: “You saw, Theodora, terrible and nasty prodigal ordeals. Know that a rare soul passes through them without being detained, because the whole world lies in the evil of temptations and defilements and all people are voluptuous and prone to fornication. A person is already inclined towards these things from early youth, and is unlikely to save himself from uncleanness; a few who mortify their carnal lusts and therefore freely pass through these ordeals; the majority die here; fierce torturers kidnap the souls of fornicators and, terribly torturing them, take them to hell. You, Theodora, thank God that through the prayers of Saint Basil you passed through these prodigal ordeals, and you will no longer encounter delays.”
Ordeal 19th
After the ordeal of the prodigal we came to the ordeal , where people are tortured for incorrect opinions about objects of faith, as well as for apostasy from the Orthodox faith, distrust of the true teaching, doubts in the faith, blasphemy and the like. I went through this ordeal without stopping, and we were already not far from the gates of heaven.
Ordeal 20th
But before we reached the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven, we were met by the evil spirits of the last ordeal, which is called the ordeal unmercifulness and cruelty. The torturers of this ordeal are especially cruel, especially their prince. In appearance, he is dry, sad and in a rage he suffocates with merciless fire. In this ordeal, the souls of the merciless are tested without any mercy. And if someone turns out to have accomplished many feats, strictly observed fasts, was vigilant in prayer, preserved purity of heart and mortified the flesh with abstinence, but was unmerciful, unmerciful, deaf to the pleas of his neighbor - he is brought down from this ordeal, imprisoned in the hellish abyss and does not receive forgiveness forever. But we, through the prayers of St. Basil, who helped me everywhere with his good deeds, passed through this ordeal without hindrance.
After the ordeal
This ended a series of aerial ordeals, and we joyfully approached the gates of heaven. These gates were as bright as crystal, and a radiance that could not be described was visible all around; Sun-shaped youths shone in them, who, seeing me, led by the Angels to the heavenly gates, were filled with joy because I, covered by the mercy of God, had gone through all the airy ordeals. They kindly greeted us and led us inside. What I saw and heard there, Grigory, it’s impossible to describe! I was brought to the Throne of the unapproachable glory of God, which was surrounded by Cherubim, Seraphim and many heavenly armies, praising God with ineffable songs; I fell on my face and bowed to the invisible and inaccessible to the human mind Divinity. Then the heavenly powers sang a sweet song praising the mercy of God, which cannot be exhausted by the sins of people, and a voice was heard commanding the Angels who were leading me to take me to see the abodes of the saints, as well as all the torments of sinners, and then to calm me down in the monastery prepared for the blessed one. Vasily. At this command, I was taken everywhere, and I saw villages and abodes filled with glory and grace, prepared for those who love God. Those who led me showed me separately the monasteries of the Apostles, and the monasteries of the Prophets, and the monasteries of the Martyrs, and the monasteries of the Holy Hierarchs, and special monasteries for each rank of saints. Each monastery was distinguished by its extraordinary beauty, and in length and width I could compare each one with Constantinople, if only they were not even better and did not have many bright, not made by hand rooms. Everyone who was there, seeing me, rejoiced at my salvation, met and kissed me, glorifying God, who delivered me from the evil one. When we walked around these monasteries, I was brought down to the underworld, and there I saw the unbearable terrible torment that was prepared in hell for sinners. Showing them, the Angels who led me said to me: “You see, Theodora, from what torment, through the prayers of Saint Basil, the Lord delivered you.” I heard screams and crying and bitter sobs there; some groaned, others exclaimed angrily: alas for us! There were those who cursed their birthday, but there was no one who took pity on them. Having finished examining the places of torment, the Angels took me out of there and brought me to the monastery of St. Basil, telling me: “Now St. Basil is commemorating you.” Then I realized that I had come to this place of peace forty days after my separation from the body.”
Blessed Theodora recounted all this to Gregory in a dream vision and showed him the beauty of that monastery and the spiritual riches that were gained through the arduous exploits of St. Basil; She also showed Gregory Theodora both pleasure and glory, and various golden-leafed and fruit-rich gardens, and in general all the spiritual joy of the righteous.
« During this conversation we reached the ordeal called prodigal , where a person is tortured for all fornication and for all impure passionate thoughts, for consenting to sin, for nasty touches and passionate touches. The prince of this ordeal sat on the throne dressed in stinking, nasty clothes, sprinkled with bloody foam and replacing him with a royal scarlet robe; many demons stood before him. When they saw me, they were surprised that I had reached their ordeal, and they brought out scrolls in which my fornication was written down, began to count them, indicating the persons with whom I sinned in my youth, and the time when I sinned, that is, day or night, and the places where she committed sin. I couldn’t answer them and stood there, trembling with shame and fear. The Holy Angels, who were leading me, began to say to the demons: “She had long ago abandoned the life of prodigal life and spent all this time in purity and abstinence.” The demons answered: “And we know that she stopped leading a prodigal life, but she did not reveal it to her spiritual father and did not bear penance from him to atone for her previous sins - therefore she is ours, and you either leave or redeem her with good deeds.” . The Holy Angels pointed out many of my good deeds, and even more with the good deeds of St. Basil they covered my sins, and I barely got rid of severe misfortune. We went further,” said Blessed Theodora.
So, at this ordeal we will consider such sins as “all fornication... all unclean passionate thoughts... consent to sin... bad touch and passionate touching.” Next, at the 17th ordeal, we will consider the sin of adultery (adultery); and further, at the 18th ordeal, the sin of Sodom.
The Holy Scripture says: Flee fornication; every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body (1 Cor. 6:18).– That is, this sin most defiles the body of the person committing it.
What means: " flee fornication»?
What means: " flee fornication»?
And the Bible tells how seventeen-year-old Beautiful Joseph (unlike our modern youth) ran not after fornication, but from fornication. And his master’s wife turned her eyes to Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife: Behold, my master does not know anything in the house with me, and he has given everything that he has into my hands; I am no longer in this house; and he forbade me nothing except you, because you are his wife; How can I do this great evil and sin before God? When she said this to Joseph every day, and he did not listen to her to sleep with her and be with her, it happened one day that he entered the house to do his work, and none of the household was there in the house; She grabbed him by his robe and said, “Lie with me.” But he, leaving his clothes in her hands, ran and ran out(Gen. 39, 7 – 12). – A great lesson for Christian youth!
By desecrating himself through fornication, a Christian casts a shadow on the entire Body of Christ
Said: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? So , Shall I take away the members of Christ to make them members of a harlot? It won't happen! (1 Cor. 6:15). That is, by desecrating himself with fornication, a Christian casts a shadow on the entire Body of Christ, of which he is a part. And you are the body of Christ, and separately you are members(1 Cor. 12:27).
And how, and with what, can one atone for such a crime?
“There once lived in Constantinople a certain man, very famous, and rich, and merciful to the poor. But he had one vice: he spent his entire life in the sin of adultery and died in old age without repentance for this sin. After his death, Patriarch Herman and his bishops had a dispute about the soul of the deceased. Some said that the deceased was saved, for it is written that “deliverance to a man is wealth,” while others, on the contrary, said that the deceased was lost, because it is said: in what I am found, in that I will judge. After this, the Patriarch ordered all monasteries and hermits to pray to God for the deceased, so that He would reveal his afterlife. And at this time the Lord revealed to one recluse where that soul resided. This recluse called the Patriarch and in front of all the people said to him: “That night, during prayer, I saw a certain place, on the right side of which was Paradise, filled with indescribable blessings, and on the left - a lake of fire, from which flames rose to the clouds. Between Paradise and the terrible flame stood the tied dead husband and, looking towards Paradise, groaned loudly and sobbed bitterly. And a luminous Angel approached him and said: “Why are you moaning in vain? Behold, for the sake of your mercy you have been delivered from torment, but because you did not leave your lawlessness before death, you have been deprived of blessed Paradise.” Hearing this, the Patriarch and those with him, overcome by fear, said: “The apostle speaks the truth: Flee fornication (1 Cor. 6:18)" And what will those who said now say: “Even if we commit fornication, but through our alms we will be delivered from punishment”? So the deceased had to give alms and maintain purity, without which no one will see God. Silver given with an unclean hand and with an unrepentant soul brings no benefit.”
For many, many, encounters with prodigal defilements of soul and body begin quite early. And remove sorrow from your heart, and turn away evil from your body, because childhood and youth are vanity.(Eccl. 11:10).
Although the Church has traditionally been more compassionate towards such falls of inexperienced young people, distinguishing the degree of guilt based on the age of the sinner .
However, Origen tried to challenge such a mitigation with the words: “Let no one make excuses: I was young, I was celibate, so before marriage I sinned fornication. Why didn’t you get married?”
There are no “little things” in spiritual life
The Apostle Paul instructed the young minister of the Church Timothy with the words: Flee youthful lusts, and adhere to truth, faith, love, peace with all those who call on the Lord from a pure heart(2 Tim. 2:22). Youthful lusts are all kinds of lusts reckless and harmful(1 Tim. 6:9). In youth, a person has not yet recognized the harmfulness of sin and commits it playfully; Only over the years, as a result of consistency in confession, does a deep understanding of what has been done, true contrition for the falls come. Run away from youthful lusts- means taking the problem of such sin seriously. There are no “big” and “small” sins. Scripture says: Whoever keeps the whole law and sins in one point becomes guilty of all. For the same One who said: Thou shalt not commit adultery, also said: Thou shalt not kill; therefore, if you do not commit adultery, but kill, then you are also a transgressor of the law(James 2, 10 – 11). That is, there are no “little things” in spiritual life. Therefore, speaking about youthful temptations, he also sees in them those prodigal vices that accompany a certain age. We will name only the most common of them.
Masturbation(masturbation) is a serious test for youth! About this type of prodigal defilement the Scripture says: For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication; so that each of you knows how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor(1 Thess. 4:3-4).
Saint Ambrose of Milan wrote: “Let everyone know himself and have his own vessel (i.e., in accordance with its purpose: for the administration of needs and childbirth - O.S.), in order to expect proper fruits only from such (i.e., legal act – O.S.), which is cultivated by his body, and may the earth not bring him thorns and thistles(Gen. 3:18), but let him also say: The earth has given its fruit(Ps. 84:13). And let once the earth (i.e. flesh - O.S.), thorny in the weakness of passions, will blossom in the planting of virtues (i.e. marriage life - O.S.)» .
The system of “sex education”, which is now openly promoted in various schools in Russia, directly incites teenagers to commit all sorts of obscenities, experiment with their own bodies, pushing them towards premature sexual activity, which is permitted only in legal marital relations. A kind doe and a beautiful brimstone: her breasts(i.e. legal wife - O.S.) may they intoxicate you at all times; delight in her love constantly. And why do you, my son, get carried away by strangers and embrace someone else’s breasts?(Prov. 5, 19 – 20).
Touching, petting(English Petting) - a type of handjob, when a young man allows himself unchaste behavior with a girl, remaining alone with her. This unchaste behavior, according to the erroneous opinion of some, is allegedly allowed during the premarital period. - Saint Cyprian of Carthage strongly condemns such behavior outside of marriage: “Their insinuating speeches, their caresses, their embraces, plunging those who communicate with them into that sleep in which they know neither honor nor shame, testify to their shame and atrocity.” That is, the first experience of communication with the opposite sex, if it is not based on the order established by the commandments of the Creator, may turn out to be the beginning of a fall. Scripture Says We Should Treat Women prudent... as with the weakest vessel, showing them honor as joint heirs of a grace-filled life, so that there will be no obstacle to our prayers(1 Pet. 3,). It turns out that improper and rude treatment of a girl or woman can turn into an obstacle for a believer in his very prayer life. After all, it is really difficult to pray when all sorts of lewd thoughts caused by unchaste behavior pop up in our consciousness.
Pornography(is a type passive fornication) – viewing pornographic photos, films and pictures that are so accessible on the Internet, reading “erotic” poetry and prose. The Bible also explicitly prohibits viewing pornographic images. And I saw that she had defiled herself... But she increased her fornication even more, because when she saw the men carved on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans were painted with paints(Ezek. 23, 13 – 14); ... and she made for herself the images of men, and committed fornication with them(Ezek. 16, 17).
And yet the fight against this kind of sin is possible. Said: Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators... nor adulterers, nor fools, nor homosexuals... - will inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6, 9 – 11). - Blessed Augustine, commenting on these words of the Apostle Paul, writes: “Paul says that they changed for the better: not that they got rid of sin altogether (which is impossible in this life), but they stopped submitting to the desire of sin (which is possible in a good life).” .
Every victory is possible with Christ and in Christ!
Every victory is possible with Christ and in Christ! And without Him we are not able to be washed, sanctified and justified. Said: For Christ, while we were still weak, at the appointed time died for the ungodly. For hardly anyone will die for the righteous; maybe someone will decide to die for a benefactor. But God shows His love to us proves that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5, 6 – 8). Trusting by faith in His redemptive feat, we can overcome the temptations of any sin!
A good confession can also be a special force in the matter of our salvation. Said: Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed: the fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16).
“Once the devil stirred up such carnal warfare in the laborious body of the New Martyr Saint Ignatius that he, burned by this hellish flame of carnal lust, fell to the ground and lay for a long time as if half dead. Then, having received a slight weakness, he came to his guardian, Elder Akaki, and, explaining to him his misfortune, asked him for consolation. The good old man, as befits him, consoled and confirmed him with divine words and examples from the lives of holy men. After this, the blessed ascetic came to the temple, took the icon of the Mother of God in his hands and, kissing it, with tears asked the Ever-Virgin to help him in his trouble, to deliver him from this intolerable warfare and the devil’s slander. The Unknown God did not leave Her servant to be tempted more than he could: with the grace of the Mother of God a certain indescribable and indescribable fragrance surrounded him, and from that time this deadly warfare left him.”
The Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands for everyone who resorts to Her intercession. And if the apostles once asked the Lord: who is greater in the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 18:1), she asked for her sons mother of the sons of Zebedee:
Who on the right hand, and the other on the left in Thy kingdom? (Matthew 20, 20 – 21), then now the Church with iconographic confidence shows and answers that to the left of Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven is John the Baptist, and to the right is the Virgin Mary. Answering the ancient bewilderment of the apostles, the Son of God said: but to let him sit on My right hand and on my left does not depend on Me, but on whom My Father has prepared (Matt. 20, 23). And what the Heavenly Father prepared was accomplished: the Virgin Mary intercedes for us before Her Son, and the Son before the Heavenly Father (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5).
And when we, Orthodox Christians, find ourselves in a state of sin and wait for the just wrath of God to fall upon us, but instead of anger there is mercy, instead of a curse there is blessing, instead of fear there is quiet joy, this means that again the Mother of our Salvation begged Her Son, and He changed his anger to mercy.
The Monk Isaiah the Hermit taught about the reason for the increase in fornication: “Four things encourage fornication in the body: excessive sleep, excessive consumption of food, laughter and jokes, and adornment in clothes.”
The Monk John Cassian already shows what prodigal passion itself produces: “ From this comes foul language, buffoonery, amusement, and idle talk.”. And Saint John Chrysostom points out that fornication first arises in the human heart: “ Do not think that you are clean from sin when you have not copulated with a harlot; you have already done everything with your wish". – And this corresponds to the words of Christ the Savior: You have heard what was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt. 5, 27 – 28).– The ancient Christian exeget Chromatius of Aquileia wrote: “Since adultery is a grave sin, and in order to tear out the root of sin itself, so as not to stain our conscience, He even forbade lust, which is the beginning of adultery, as blessed James says in his letter: Lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin that is committed gives birth to death.(James 1:15). Therefore, through David, the Holy Spirit speaks about it this way: Blessed is he who takes and dashes your babies against a stone!(Ps. 136:9) He calls a blessed and truly evangelical man the one who immediately, before growth, kills at birth (that is, in himself - O.S.) aspirations and carnal desires, born from human weakness, by faith in Christ, called the stone."
Thus, we establish that both the firstfruits of righteousness and the firstfruits of any sin arise in the inner world of the human soul (in the heart), about which it is said: For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy. (Matt. 15, 19); and further: For behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). And what dominates and conquers inside our heart: the den of sin or the Kingdom of God, depends on the Lord and our free will, which is why it is said: For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. (Rom. 10, 9 – 10).
And we move on with Blessed Theodora to the next ordeal...
God's Last Judgment
The essence of the doctrine of ordeals is expounded by St. Cyril of Alexandria in the word “On the Exodus of the Soul.”
Ordeal is the inevitable path by which all human souls, both evil and good, make their transition from temporary earthly life to an eternal lot.
During the ordeals, the soul, in the presence of angels and demons, but also before the Eye of the All-Seeing God, is gradually and thoroughly tested in all deeds, words and thoughts.
Good souls, justified in all ordeals, are ascended by angels to the heavenly abodes for the beginning of eternal bliss, and sinful souls, detained at one or another ordeal, by the verdict of an invisible court, are drawn by demons to their dark abodes for the beginning of eternal torment.
Thus, ordeals are a private judgment that is carried out invisibly by the Lord himself through his angels over each human soul, including the evil tax collectors who accuse demons.
In the life of Rev. Vasily the New (Ch.M. March 26) it is narrated that his student, the reverend. Gregory (also March 26), were revealed in detail in a vision both the circumstances of the hour of death and the walk through the ordeals of Blessed Theodora.
Below is a short list of sins tortured at all 20 ordeals, as an auxiliary tool for more thorough preparation for the Sacrament of Repentance (Confession). Questions in the ordeals begin with sins, as we call them, “small”, universal ones (idle talk) and what goes further , those concern more important sins and end in the 20th ordeal unmercifulness And harshness towards others- the most serious sins, for which, according to the word of God, there is “judgment without mercy” for those who have not shown mercy.
1.WORD: unspeaking, verbosity, idle talk, idle talk, vanity, slander, foul language, jokes, obscenity, vulgarity, distortion of words, simplifications, grandeur, absurdities, ridicule, laughter, laughter, name-calling, singing passionate songs, rumors, grumpiness, tongue-tiedness, vileness, incitement , blasphemy, desecration of people and the name of God, taking things in vain, rudeness.
2. FALSE: flattery, sycophancy, pleasing with cunning, meanness, cowardice, antics, vanity, isolation, imagination, artistry, perjury, perjury, concealment of sins in confession, secrecy, violation of the promise given in confession not to repeat sins, deceit.
3. Slander: insults, condemnation, distortion of the truth, sneaking, complaints, abuse, mockery, contributing to the sins of others, impudence, cynicism, moral pressure, threats, mistrust, doubts.
4. Gluttony: binge eating, heavy drinking, smoking, secret eating, breaking fasts, feasting, drunkenness, drug addiction, substance abuse, etc., gluttony.
5. LAZY: negligence, inattention, oblivion, oversleeping, idleness, despondency, carelessness, cowardice, weakness of will, idleness, forgetfulness, carelessness, hackwork, parasitism, unnecessaryness, coldness and lukewarmness towards the spiritual, carelessness about prayer, carelessness about salvation, insensibility.
6.THEFT: theft, theft, division, adventures, scams, complicity, use of stolen goods, fraud, misappropriation in the form of seizure, sacrilege.
7.LOVE OF AVERAGE: self-interest, search for profit, over-concern, acquisitiveness, greed, stinginess, hoarding, lent money at interest, speculation, bribes.
8. EXCEPTION: extortion, robbery, robbery, deceit, tricks, failure to repay debts, scams, fraud.
9. FALSE: deception, falsehood, bribery, unjust trial, dishonor, extravagance, suspicion, concealment, complicity.
10. ENVY: in material goods, in spiritual virtues, partiality, desire for someone else's.
11.PRIDE: conceit, self-will, self-aggrandizement, exaltation, vanity, arrogance, hypocrisy, self-adoration, disobedience, non-concession, disobedience, contempt, shamelessness, dishonesty, blasphemy, ignorance, insolence, self-justification, stubbornness, unrepentance, arrogance.
12. MEMORY GRANICITY: rancor, gloating, revenge, vindictiveness, sabotage, bullying, tricks, slander.
13. ANGER: intransigence, temper, hatred, rage, blows, kicks, insolence, bitterness, despair, quarrels, squabbles, hysterics, scandal, treachery, mercilessness, rudeness, resentment.
14.MURDER:(thought, word, deed), fights, use of all kinds of instruments or drugs for murder, abortion (or complicity).
15. MAGIC: fortune telling, divination, astrology, horoscopes, fashion seduction, healing (extrasensory perception) under the guise of God's name, levitation, witchcraft, witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism, witchcraft.
16. FORMALITY: carnal cohabitation outside of church marriage, voluptuous views, lustful thoughts, dreams, fantasies, raptures, pleasures, permission to sin, desecration of chastity, nightly desecrations, pornography, watching depraved films and programs, masturbation.
17.ADULTERY: adultery and also seduction, violence, fall, violation of the vow of celibacy.
18. FORMINATION OF SODOMA: perversion of nature, self-satisfaction, self-torture, violence, kidnapping, incest, corruption of minors (direct and indirect).
19.HERESIES: unbelief, superstition, distortions and distortions of the truth, distortions of Orthodoxy, doubts, apostasy, violation of church decrees, participation in heretical gatherings: Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, the Mother of God Center, Ivanova, Roerich, as well as in other atheistic associations and structures.
20.NO MERCY: insensibility, ruthlessness, persecution of the weak, cruelty, petrification, callousness, did not care about children, the elderly, the sick, did not give alms, did not sacrifice themselves and their time for the sake of others, inhumanity, heartlessness.
Today, on the day of memory of the Venerable Theodora of Constantinople (10th century), it is extremely useful to remember the ordeals that her soul went through after death.
Saint Theodora, who after the death of her husband spent her life in abstinence and chastity, became the closest assistant to one of the most remarkable saints of the 10th century - St. Basil the New (March 26/April 8). According to contemporaries, “she received everyone with love, consoled everyone with her meek speeches, was merciful, Christ-loving and chaste, and also full of spiritual wisdom.” After her death, Gregory, one of the disciples of Saint Basil and the compiler of his life, wanted to find out in what place the blessed soul was located, and through the prayers of his spiritual father, he received an answer in a dream vision. He saw Theodora “in a bright monastery, ... illuminated by heavenly glory and filled with ineffable blessings.” Gregory asked Theodora what she endured during the separation of her soul from her body, what she saw after her death, and how she got through the ordeal. And Theodora told him the following:
Child Gregory! You are asking me about a terrible thing, which is terrible to even remember. I saw faces that I had never seen before or since, I heard sayings that I had never heard before. And what will I tell you? Then all the cruel and sinful things of my deeds appeared before me, which I had forgotten, but, through the prayers and help of our father, St. Basil, all this was not imputed to me and did not keep me from entering this monastery. And what will I tell you, child, about bodily illness, about the most severe suffering that the dying endure? Just as if someone is thrown into a strong flame, burning, it seems to melt away and turn into ashes, so mortal disease destroys a person. Death is truly cruel for sinners like me, for I tell you the truth that I too was a doer of sinful deeds, but I do not remember my righteous deeds at all.
When I approached the end of my life, and the hour of separation of the soul from the body came, I saw many Ethiopians standing around my bed; their faces were black as soot and tar, their eyes burned like coals of fire, and their whole appearance was as terrible as the sight of fiery Gehenna. And they began to make noise and confusion: some roared like cattle and beasts, others barked like dogs, some howled like wolves; at the same time, all of them, looking at me with fury, threatened me, pounced on me, gnashing their teeth, and wanted to immediately devour me. They also prepared charters, as if in anticipation of a certain judge who would come there, and unrolled scrolls on which all my evil deeds were written. And my poor soul was in great fear and trembling. Then I suffered not only the mortal torment that came from the separation of the soul from the body, but also the most severe suffering from the vision of those terrible Ethiopians and their terrible rage, and this was for me like another death, more difficult and fierce. I tried to turn my gaze away from the vision, first in one direction, then in the other, so that I would not see the terrible Ethiopians or hear their voices - but I could not get rid of them - for there were countless numbers of them everywhere, and there was no one who would help me.
Already completely exhausted from such suffering, I suddenly saw two luminous angels of God who appeared to me in the form of beautiful young men, whose beauty is impossible to describe. Their faces were brighter than the sun, their eyes looked at me tenderly, the hair on their heads was white as snow, a golden-like radiance spread around their heads, their clothes shone like lightning and were cross-shaped with golden belts on their chests. Approaching my bed, they stood to my right, quietly talking to each other. When I saw them, I rejoiced and looked at them with tenderness of heart. The black Ethiopians, seeing them, shuddered and retreated further away. And one luminous young man angrily said to them:
O shameless, damned, gloomy and evil enemies of the human race! Why do you always rush prematurely to the dying and with your shameless noise frighten and confuse every soul that is separated from the body? But now stop your joy, because here you will not gain anything. You do not have any part in this soul, because God's mercy is with it.
At these words of the bright young man, the Ethiopians immediately became agitated and began, with shouts, to show the writings of my evil deeds, committed from my youth.
How is it that we don’t have a part in it? Whose sins are these? Wasn't she the one who did this and that?
So to speak, they stood waiting for death.
And then death came, roaring like a lion; her appearance was very terrible, she had some resemblance to a person, but had no body at all and was made up of only naked human bones. With her she carried various instruments of torment: swords, arrows, spears, scythes, sickles, iron horns, saws, axes, adzes and other unknown weapons. Seeing all this, my humble soul trembled with fear; the holy angels said to death:
Why are you delaying? Release this soul from the bonds of the flesh, quickly and quietly, for it does not have many sinful burdens.
Death immediately approached me, took an ax, cut off first my legs, then my arms, then, using another weapon, destroyed all the other parts of my body and separated my limbs from their joints. And I had neither arms nor legs, and my whole body was dead. Death took and cut off my head, so that I could not turn my head, and it was a stranger to me. After all, death made a solution in a cup and, raising it to my lips, gave me a drink. And the solution was so bitter that my soul, not having the strength to endure the bitterness, shuddered and left the body, as if forcibly torn from it. The holy angels immediately took her into their arms. Looking back, I saw my body lying soulless, insensitive and motionless. Having taken him off like one takes off clothes, I looked at him with immense surprise. At this time, demons, appearing in the form of Ethiopians, surrounded the angels holding me and began to scream, showing the writing of my sins:
This soul has many sins, so let it give an answer before us.
The holy angels then began to look for good deeds in my life and, with the help of the Lord God, by whose grace I did good, they found them. They brought to mind all the good things I did - when I gave alms to the poor, when I fed the hungry, or gave drink to the thirsty, or clothed the naked, or brought a stranger to the house and laid him to rest, or served the saints, - when I visited the sick or prisoner to prison and helped them; they remembered when I came to church with zeal and with tenderness and heartfelt contrition I prayed there, listening attentively to the singing and reading of church prayers and hymns, when I brought incense and candles or some other offering to the church, or poured wooden oil into the lamps , so that they would warm up before the icons, and reverently kiss the most honest icons: they brought to mind when I spent my time abstinently and when I fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays and during all holy fasts, and how many prostrations I made and stood idle at night vigils; they pointed out how I mournfully groaned about my sins and sometimes cried about them for whole nights, how I confessed my sins to God and repented of them with contrition before my spiritual father, satisfying the Truth of God with my contrition and heartfelt repentance; they remembered everything that I did good to my neighbors, how I was not angry with those who were at enmity against me, how I patiently endured all annoyance and reproach for myself, did not remember evil and repaid evil with good, how I humbled myself when people attacked me, how I was sick with her heart and grieved for someone else’s misfortune, as she gave someone a helping hand or assisted someone in a good deed, or turned him away from evil; they recalled that I turned my eyes away from vanity, kept my tongue from swearing, lying, slander and all sorts of vain words; My holy angels collected all this and all other smallest good deeds, preparing to put them on the scales against my evil deeds. The Ethiopians, seeing this, gnashed their teeth at me, wanting to kidnap me from the hands of the angels and bring me down to the very bottom of hell.
At this time, our Reverend Father Vasily unexpectedly appeared there and said to the holy angels:
My lords, this soul has served me a lot, pleasing my old age: I prayed to God to give it to me, and the Lord sent this soul down to me.
Having said this, he took out from under his clothes a bag filled with something (I think it contained only pure gold), and gave it to the holy angels, saying:
When you go through airy ordeals and crafty spirits begin to torment this soul, you will redeem it from its debts. By the grace of God, I am rich and have collected many treasures through my labors and sweat, and so I give the bag to this soul who has served me.
After these words he walked away. The crafty demons, seeing this, were perplexed, and then, filling the air with crying, disappeared.
Meanwhile, the saint of God, Vasily, came again and brought with him many vessels of pure oil and valuable myrrh; opening the vessels one after another, he poured oil and ointment on me, so that I was filled with a spiritual fragrance and at the same time changed and became a bright being.
The Monk Basil again said to the holy angels:
My lords, after you have completed everything necessary for this soul, lead it into the abode prepared for me by the Lord, and let it abide there.
Having said this, the saint became invisible; The angels took me and carried me through the air to the east.
When we rose from the earth to the heights of heaven, we were first greeted by air spirits the first ordeal, where they are judged for the sins of the tongue, for every idle, abusive, disorderly word. Here we stopped, and the demons brought scrolls to us, on which were written all the frivolous words that I had spoken from my youth - everything that I said that was unreasonable and nasty, especially the blasphemous and ridiculous speeches that I allowed to be uttered in my youth, like this happens to many people. There appeared before me all the worldly shameless songs that I had once sung, all my disorderly exclamations, all my frivolous speeches, and the demons denounced me with all that, pointing out the times, places and persons when, where and with whom I indulged in vain conversations. and I angered God with my words, without imputing it to myself as a sin and without confessing it to my spiritual father. Seeing all this, I was silent as if speechless, because I did not have anything to say to the evil spirits: they denounced me quite rightly, and I was surprised how they did not forget anything; for many years have passed since all these sins were committed by me, and I had long forgotten about them and never thought about what I had done in my mind. They cited all my words as if they had just been spoken by me, recalling everything in detail and to the subtleties, as it really was. And when I was silent with shame, at the same time trembling with fear, the holy angels, in contrast to those sins of mine, presented some of my good deeds done in the last years of my life, and since they could not outweigh the severity of my sins, they filled the lack from what was given by my venerable father Vasily. So they redeemed me and carried me higher.
Here we come to another ordeal called the ordeal of lies, in which every false word is tortured, especially perjury, calling the name of God in vain, false witness, breaking vows given to God, incomplete confession of sins, and the like. The spirits of this ordeal are very ardent and ferocious - they tested me very persistently, not missing a single detail. And I was convicted by them of two sins: namely, that sometimes I allowed myself to lie about some small things, without counting it as a sin, and also that many times, ashamed of my sins, I brought an incomplete confession to my spiritual father. As for perjury and false witness, these sins, by the grace of Christ, were not found in me. Still, the demons triumphed over the sins of lies found in me and already wanted to kidnap me from the hands of the angels who were leading me, but they, putting some of my good deeds against those sins, and filling in what was missing from what was given by St. Basil, ransomed me and carried me higher without hindrance.
After that we reached third ordeal, which is called the ordeal of condemnation and slander. Kept there, I saw how grave the sin is to slander someone, to dishonor, to blaspheme, and also to laugh at other people’s vices, forgetting about one’s own. All who surrender to the power of this sin are cruelly tortured by evil spirits as a kind of antichrist, who anticipated the power of Christ, who has to come to judge people, and who created themselves as judges of their neighbors, while they themselves are more worthy of condemnation. But in me, by the grace of Christ, little could be found of any of these sins, for I strictly observed myself all the days of my life, taking care not to condemn or slander anyone, not to laugh at anyone, not to blaspheme anyone. . And if sometimes I heard how someone condemned another, then I paid little attention to the condemner and if I added something of myself to this conversation, then only such that could not serve as a further offense to my neighbor, and even then I immediately stopped, looking myself for this little. However, even such offenses were made a sin to me by the torturers. But the holy angels redeemed me with the gift from Saint Basil and began to rise higher with me.
And we got to fourth ordeal, called the ordeal of gluttony. The evil spirits of this ordeal immediately ran out to meet us, rejoicing as if they had acquired something. They were very disgusting in appearance, depicting all the abomination of gluttony and drunkenness; at the same time, some of them held dishes and pans with food, while others held bowls and mugs with drink, and I saw that that food and drink were like stinking pus and unclean excrement. The demons holding both looked satiated and drunk; they galloped around with various whistles and did everything that drunkards and feasts usually do, cursing over the souls of sinners brought to them. Having blocked our path and walked around us like dogs, they immediately exposed all my past sins of gluttony, when I indulged in excess in food and drink and ate forcefully and without any need, when I, like a pig, started eating in the morning without prayers and the sign of the cross, or when, during fasting, she sat down at the table earlier than the rules of the church charter allowed. They also presented the cups and vessels on which I drank while indulging in drunkenness, and even indicated the number of cups I drank, saying:
She drank so many cups at such and such a feast and with such and such people. At another time and in another place, she drank herself into unconsciousness with so many cups; Moreover, she feasted so many times to the sound of pipes and other musical instruments, indulging in dancing and singing, and after such feasts they brought her home with difficulty; so she was exhausted from immeasurable drunkenness.
Imagining all these and similar gluttonies, the demons triumphed and rejoiced, as if they already had me in their hands and were already preparing to grab me and bring me down to the bottom of hell. I trembled, seeing myself exposed by them and not having anything to answer them. But the holy angels, having taken a lot from what was given by St. Basil, offered a ransom for me. The demons, seeing this, became confused and cried out:
Woe to us, for our work is lost, our hope is lost.
With these words they began to throw into the air the charters in which my sins were written. I, seeing this, had fun and walked from there unhindered. Rising higher with me, the angels began to talk to each other like this:
Truly, this soul has great help from the saint of God Vasily: if his works and prayers had not helped her, she would have suffered great need, going through the airy ordeals.
Then, having boldness, I said to the holy angels:
My lords, I think that no one living on earth knows what happens here and what awaits the sinful soul after its death.
The holy angels answered me:
Do not the Divine Scriptures, constantly read in holy churches by the mouths of clergy, testify to everything that happens here? But those addicted to earthly vanity neglect all this, putting all the sweetness of life in daily gluttony and drunkenness: every day they eat without measure and get drunk, putting aside the fear of God; and having a belly instead of God, they do not think at all about the future life and do not remember the Word of God, which says: Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will weep and wail.”(Luke 6:25). They think with little faith that everything that is said in the Divine Scriptures are fables, and they neglect what is written, "feasting with tympani", like the evangelical rich man, "and every day they feasted brilliantly"(Luke 16:19). However, those of them who are merciful to the poor, do good to the poor and needy and help those in need of help, receive forgiveness of their sins from God and go through ordeals without hindrance for the sake of their mercy, for the Holy Scripture says: “ Almsgiving saves you from death"(Tob. 4:10). Thus, those who give alms receive eternal life; for those who do not try to cleanse their sins with mercy, it is impossible to avoid these trials, and they are kidnapped by the gloomy publicans whom you saw; subjecting these souls to cruel torment, they bring them down to the lowest places of hell and keep them there in bonds until the Last Judgment of Christ. It would also be difficult for you to avoid this fate if you had not received the redemption given to you by the Monk Basil.
Thus talking, we reached fifth ordeal, called the ordeal of laziness, in which all the days and hours spent in idleness are tested, and parasites who live on the labor of others while doing nothing themselves, as well as mercenaries who receive remuneration for work that they do not perform properly, are tortured. In the same ordeal, those who do not give praise to God and are lazy on holidays and Sundays to go to Matins, to the Liturgy and to other services of God are also subjected to torture. There one also experiences despondency and neglect of one’s soul, and every manifestation of both is strictly punished, so that very many people of worldly and spiritual rank are cast from this ordeal into the abyss. At this ordeal, I was subjected to many trials, and it would have been impossible for me to be free from his debts if my poverty had not been fulfilled by what was given to me by St. Basil, by which I was redeemed and through this I received freedom.
After that we walked ordeal. We were also stopped there, but, having given a little there, we soon passed it, for no sin of theft was found on me, except for the small offense I committed in childhood due to foolishness.
From there we came to the ordeal of love of money and stinginess, but even then they were soon over. For, with the assistance of the Lord God, I did not care about much acquisition and was not a lover of money, but was content with what the Lord sent me, I was also not stingy, but what I had, I diligently gave to those in need.
Rising higher, we met ordeal more than worth, where all kinds of covetous people and robbers are tested, as well as all those who give their silver for interest and acquire wealth by lawless means. The evil spirits of this ordeal, having diligently examined everything about me, found nothing of which I was guilty, and gnashed their teeth at me in rage. We went higher, thanking the Lord God.
After that we reached ordeals of untruth, where all unrighteous judges are tortured, taking bribes and acquitting the guilty, while condemning the innocent. There they also punish the withholding of wages from hired workers, any irregularity in the scales of merchants, and any untruth is exacted. But we, by the grace of Christ, went through that ordeal without any special obstacles, giving little to the tax collectors.
We also safely passed what followed ordeal of envy, without giving anything there, because I didn’t envy anyone. During this ordeal, I also experienced the sins of enmity and hatred, but by the grace of Christ I found myself innocent of these sins. Seeing this, the demons became enraged and gnashed at me, but I was not afraid of them and joyfully rose higher.
In the same way I went through ordeal of pride, where arrogantly proud spirits exact the sins of vanity, conceit and grandeur. There, they are diligently tormented to see whether anyone has shown disrespect and disobedience to parents or elders who received power from God, as well as other sins of pride and conceit. There we put very little of what St. Basil had given, and I became free.
Then we reached ordeals of anger and rage, but even there, although the aerial torturers were fierce, they did not receive much from us, and we moved on, rejoicing in the Lord God, who saved my sinful soul through the prayers of my venerable father, Saint Basil.
After that we reached ordeals of anger, in which those who hold a grudge against their neighbor and repay evil for evil are mercilessly tortured and then brought down by evil spirits to Tartarus. But God’s mercy helped me there too; for I did not hold malice against anyone, I did not remember evil about the troubles caused to me, but I had kindness towards everyone who was hostile to me and, according to my strength, showed love for them, defeating evil with good. Thus, no sin of malice was found on me at this ordeal, so that the demons wept with rage, seeing that my soul was freely leaving them; We began to climb further, rejoicing in the Lord.
Rising higher and higher, I asked the holy angels leading me:
I beg you, my lords, tell me: how do the terrible air authorities know about every evil deed of all people living in the world, such as my evil deeds, and, moreover, not only about those that are clearly created, but even about those which were done secretly?
And the holy angels said to me:
Every Christian, from holy baptism, receives from God the guardian angel given to him, who, invisibly protecting a person, instructs him day and night in every good deed throughout his life until the hour of death and records all his good deeds done throughout his life , so that as a reward for them a person can receive mercy from God and eternal reward in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the same way, the prince of darkness, who wants to attract the human race to his destruction, assigns one of the evil spirits to a person, who constantly follows a person, monitors all his evil deeds committed from youth, with his machinations seduces him into criminal acts and records everything that man has done something evil. Then, going to the ordeals, this evil spirit writes each sin into its corresponding ordeal, which is why the air publicans are aware of all the sins committed by people. And so, when the soul of a person separates from the body and begins to go to its Creator in the heavenly villages, then the evil spirits standing at the ordeals block its path, showing all its recorded sins. And if there are more good deeds in her than sins, then the demons will not be able to restrain her. If more sins are found in her than good deeds, then the demons hold her back for a while and imprison her, as if in prison, where, by God’s permission, they torment her until that soul accepts redemption from their torment, through the prayers of the Church and through alms , created in memory of her by her loved ones. If any soul turns out to be so sinful and abominable before God that it has no hope of salvation and eternal destruction awaits it, then the demons immediately cast such a soul into the abyss, in which a place of eternal torment is prepared for themselves , and in this abyss they keep her until the Second Coming of the Lord, after which she must suffer forever in fiery hell along with her body.
It is also necessary to note that only those who are enlightened by faith and holy baptism ascend this way and accept such tortures. Infidel pagans, Saracens and all other people of other faiths in general do not follow this path. While still alive in body, they are already dead in soul, buried in hell; therefore, when they die, demons immediately, without great testing, take their souls, as rightfully belonging to them, and bring them down to the abysses of hell.
When the angels announced all this to me, we entered ordeal of murder, in which not only robbery is tested, but also every wound, every blow inflicted anywhere, on the shoulders or on the head, as well as any blows or pushes made in anger. All this is carefully tested at the ordeal and relied on scales; but we passed it safely, leaving a little for the ransom.
We also passed ordeal of enchantment, poisoning with herbs and invoking demons for the purpose of magic. The spirits of this ordeal were like four-legged reptiles, scorpions, snakes, vipers and toads, and their appearance was very terrible and vile. But there, by the grace of Christ, no sin was found on me, and we immediately went through the ordeal, without giving anything to the evil tax collectors. In rage they shouted at me and said:
Now you will come to the ordeal of fornication. Let's see how you avoid him!
When we rose higher, I asked the holy angels leading me:
My lords, do all Christians go through these ordeals, and is it possible for a person to go through them without any torture and terrible torment?
And you, if you had made a perfect confession and repented of all your sins, you would not have endured such terrible tortures at the ordeal
The holy angels answered me:
For the souls of the faithful, there is no other path leading to heaven, and everyone will come this way, but not everyone is subjected to such torture as you were subjected to, but only sinners like you, who made an imperfect confession of their sins before their spiritual father, ashamed of their lawless deeds and hiding many of them. If someone sincerely and in truth, without hiding anything, confesses all his deeds and with heartfelt contrition repents of all the sins he has committed, then the sins of such a person, by the mercy of God, are invisibly blotted out, and when his soul comes through the ordeal, the airy tormentors, having opened their books, they do not find in them any manuscripts of her sins and cannot do her any harm, so that soul ascends unhindered and in joy to the throne of grace. And you, if you had made a perfect confession and repented of all your sins, you would not have endured such terrible tortures at the ordeal. But now it helped you that you had long ago stopped committing mortal sins and spent the last years of your life virtuously, and the prayers of your reverend father Vasily, whom you served for a long time and diligently, especially helped you.
Thus talking, we reached ordeal of fornication, on which all fornication, every lustful thought and dream, as well as passionate touches and lustful touches are tortured. The prince of this ordeal sat on his throne, dressed in foul and stinking clothes, sprinkled with bloody foam, and many demons stood before him. Seeing me reach them, they marveled a lot, and then, having brought out the writing of my fornication, they denounced me, pointing out with whom, when and where I sinned during my youth. And I had nothing to object to them, and I trembled with fear, filled with shame. Then the angels said to the demons:
But she had not committed fornication for many years and lived the last years of her life in a fasting manner, in purity and abstinence.
The demons answered them:
We know that she has long fallen behind from prodigal sin, but still she belongs to us, because she did not completely and not completely sincerely repent before her spiritual father of the sins she had committed earlier, hiding a lot from him; therefore, either leave it to us, or redeem it with good deeds.
The angels gave them a lot from my good deeds and even more from the gift of St. Basil, and, barely getting rid of the cruel misfortune, I was taken away from there.
After that we reached ordeal of adultery, in which the sins of those living in marriage and not observing marital fidelity, but desecrating their bed, are tortured, as well as all kinds of abductions of virgins for the purpose of corrupting them and all kinds of fornication. Here those who dedicated themselves to God and made a vow to keep their lives in purity and virginity, but then did not keep this vow, are also tortured by the fall. At this ordeal, I was exposed as an adulteress and had nothing to say in my justification, so that the merciless torturers, bad and unclean spirits were already planning to kidnap me from the hands of the angels and bring me down to the bottom of hell. But the holy angels entered into an argument with them and presented all my subsequent labors and exploits; and thus they redeemed me with all my remaining good deeds, which they put everything there to the last, leaving at the same time very much of what was given by the Monk Basil. They put all this on the scales against my iniquities and, taking me, carried me further.
Here we are approaching ordeal of the sins of Sodom, where they torture the unnatural sins of men and women, sodomy and bestiality, incest and other secret sins that are shameful to even remember. The prince of this ordeal had a very nasty and ugly appearance and was all covered with stinking pus; His servants were like him in everything: their stench was very unbearable, their appearance was vile and terrible, their rage and cruelty was excessive. Seeing us, they hastily came out to meet us and surrounded us, but not finding in me, by the grace of God, anything for which they could bring them to trial, they ran away in shame; We happily moved on.
Rising higher, the angels said to me:
Know that few souls go through the ordeals of fornication without hindrance
Here you are, Theodora, you saw the terrible and vile ordeals of fornication. Know that few souls go through these ordeals unhindered, since the world lies in evil (See 1 John 5:19), but people are very weak and from youth are addicted to fornicating sins. There are few, very few people who mortify their carnal lusts, and therefore rarely do these ordeals go through freely and unhindered; on the contrary, there are a lot of people who, having reached this ordeal, die here, for the torturers of fornication kidnap people addicted to fornication and cast them into hell, subjecting them to the most severe torments. The princes of prodigal ordeals even boast, saying: “We alone, more than all other tax collectors of the air, replenish the number of those cast down to the bottom of hell, who thus seem to come into kinship with us, subjecting themselves to the same fate as us.” Therefore, Theodora, you thank God that, through the prayers of your reverend father Vasily, you passed these ordeals and you will no longer experience any evil and you will not know fear.
Meanwhile we have come to ordeal of heresies, where wrong wisdom about faith, deviations from the Orthodox confession of faith, unbelief, doubts about the truths of revealed teaching, blasphemy against sacred things and similar sins are tortured. I passed this ordeal without any testing and was already close to the gates to the Heavenly Kingdom.
Finally, the evil spirits of the last ordeal, called ordeal of hard-heartedness. The torturers of this ordeal are very cruel and fierce, but their prince is especially cruel, having a very sad and mournful appearance, breathing the fire of rage and unmercifulness. At that ordeal, the souls of the merciless are tested without any mercy. And if someone, although he performs many deeds, constantly observes fasts and prays fervently, and also maintains his purity undefiled, but at the same time turns out to be unmerciful and closes his heart to his neighbor, he is cast from there into hell and is imprisoned in the abyss, and thus he himself remains deprived of mercy. But we also passed this ordeal, by the grace of Christ, without any special obstacles, thanks to the prayers of St. Basil, who gave us much from his good deeds for my redemption.
Thus, having passed all the terrible ordeals, we approached with great joy the very gates of the heavenly kingdom. These gates were like a bright crystal and an indescribable radiance emanated from them; At the gate stood light-like young men who, seeing me carried by angelic hands, were filled with joy, rejoicing that I had escaped the airy ordeals, and, having met us with love, led us through the gates into the Heavenly Kingdom.
And what I saw and heard there, O child Gregory,” continued Blessed Theodora, “it is impossible to tell in detail! I saw that “The eye of man has not seen, nor the ear of man heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man.”(1 Cor. 2:9). Finally, I appeared before the throne of Divine glory, surrounded by seraphim, cherubim and many heavenly warriors, always praising the Lord with ineffable songs. Here I fell and bowed to the invisible and unknown God. And the heavenly powers sang a sweet song, glorifying Divine mercy, which no human sins can overcome. At that time, a voice was heard from the throne of God’s glory, commanding the holy angels who were leading me to show me all the heavenly abodes of saints and all the torments of sinners and then to place me in the monastery of St. Basil.
And the holy angels took me everywhere, so that I saw many beautiful villages and abodes, filled with glory and grace - abodes that were prepared for those who love God. I saw there apostolic, prophetic, martyr, monastic and other monasteries, special for each rank of saints. Each monastery was of indescribable beauty, equal in breadth and length, I would say, to Constantinople, but at the same time they were distinguished by incomparably greater beauty, having many bright chambers not made by hands. Everywhere in those monasteries the voice of joy and spiritual joy was heard and the faces of the joyful righteous were visible, who, seeing me, rejoiced at my salvation, met me with love and kissed me, praising the Lord, who delivered me from the snares of the enemy. Having completed my tour of the heavenly abodes, I was relegated to the underworld and saw the terrible and unbearable torment prepared for sinners in hell. Showing them, the holy angels said to me:
Look, Theodora, how cruel torment the Lord has delivered you through the prayers of His holy saint Vasily.
Walking around the abysses of hell, I heard and saw crying, screaming and bitter sobbing of those in those torments. Some of them cried out: “Oh, woe to us”; others sighed: “Alas, how hard it is for us!”; still others cursed their birthday.
After all, the angels who led me led me to the monastery of St. Basil, which you see, and installed me here, saying:
Now the Monk Basil is creating a memory of you.
And I realized that I came to this place of calm on the fortieth day after my separation from the body.
The Monk Theodora told Gregory all this in a dream vision and showed him the beauty of the monastery in which she was located, and all its spiritual riches, collected through the many labors and sweat of Blessed Father Vasily.
A fragment of the life of St. Vasily the New from Chetiy-Minea
ordeals - something like outposts or customs houses that meet the souls of dead people on their way, ascending to the Throne of the Heavenly Judge. The spirits of evil stand with them and collect from every soul guilty of a certain sin a kind of fee or ransom, which consists of providing them with a good deed seemingly opposite to this sin. The names of the ordeal and tax collectors are borrowed from Jewish history. The Jews called publicans the persons appointed by the Romans to collect taxes. They usually farmed out the collection of these duties and used all sorts of measures, not even neglecting torture, in order to extract the greatest benefit for themselves. Publicans stood at special customs houses, or outposts, collecting duties on transported goods. These outposts were called mytnitsy, ordeals. Christian writers also transferred this name to places of aerial torture, in which souls ascending to the throne of the Heavenly Judge are detained by evil spirits, trying to convict them of all kinds of sins and through this bring them down to hell. The essence of the doctrine of ordeals lies in the word of St. Cyril of Alexandria († 444) about the exodus of the soul, usually placed in the Followed Psalter: “When our soul is separated from our body, the armies and powers of heaven will appear before us on the one hand, on the other - the powers of darkness, the airy publicans, the accusers of our deeds. Seeing them, the soul will shudder, tremble, and in confusion and horror will seek protection from the angels of God; but even being accepted by the angels and flowing through the air space under their roof and ascending to heights, she will encounter various ordeals that will block her path to the Kingdom, will stop and hold back her desire for it. At each of these ordeals, an account of special sins will be required... Every passion, every sin will have its publicans and torturers. In this case, both divine powers and a host of unclean spirits will be present, and just as the former will represent the virtues of the soul, so the latter will expose its sins, committed by word or deed, thought or intention. Meanwhile, the soul, being among them, will be agitated by thoughts in fear and trembling, until finally, by its actions, deeds and words, either having been condemned, it will be imprisoned in chains, or, having been justified, it will be freed (for everyone is bound by the bonds of their own sins). And if she turns out to be worthy for her pious and godly life, then the angels will accept her, and then she will fearlessly flow to the kingdom, accompanied by holy powers... On the contrary, if it turns out that she spent her life in negligence and intemperance, then she will hear that terrible voice: let the wicked be lifted up, let him not see the glory of the Lord(Isa. 26:10)…; then the angels of God will leave her, and terrible demons will take her...; and the soul, bound by insoluble bonds, will be cast into a gloomy and dark country, into the places of hell, into underground prisons and hellish dungeons, to the sentence of the invisible Judge by demons into their dark abodes.” Thus, ordeals are nothing more than a private judgment, which is carried out invisibly by the Lord Himself over human souls through the mediation of angels, allowing in the slanderers of our brethren (Apoc. 12:10) - evil spirits - a trial in which the soul and all its deeds are impartially assessed, and after which its known fate is determined. This judgment is called private in contrast to the universal, which will be carried out on all people at the end of the world, when the Son of Man comes to earth again in his glory. The life of St. Basil the New depicts all the details of this private trial during the ordeal. Reading all these details, we must remember, however, that just as in general, in the depiction of objects of the spiritual world for us clothed with flesh, more or less sensual features are inevitable, so, in particular, they are inevitably admitted in the detailed teaching about the ordeals that the human soul goes through through separation from the body. Therefore, we must firmly remember the instruction that the angel gave to the Monk Macarius of Alexandria († 391), beginning to tell him about the ordeals: “Take earthly things here for the weakest image of heavenly ones.” It is necessary to imagine the ordeals not in a crude, sensual sense, but, as far as possible for us, in a spiritual sense, and not to become attached to particulars, which are presented as different by different writers and in different legends of the Church itself - despite the unity of the basic thought about the ordeals.
East appears in the Holy Scriptures as a land of light, a symbol of the kingdom of Christ, which is called the East from above, while West is synonymous with the kingdom of darkness and darkness, the kingdom of Satan.
Those. at the sound of tympans and choral singing. Tympanum- a musical instrument that is struck with a stick, something like timpani and hand tambourines.
Tartarus- an immeasurable abyss, a hellish abyss. This word is borrowed from Greek works, in which tartarus means an underground abyss, never illuminated or warmed by the sun, where the cold is raging. Christian writers use this word to designate a place of unbearable cold where the souls of sinful people will be sent.
Gehenna fiery- a place of eternal torment (Matt. 10:28; John 8:6). This name comes from Hebrew words that mean the valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, where children were burned in honor of Moloch (2 Kings 16:3-4). After Josiah abolished this terrible sacrifice (2 Kings 23:10), the corpses of executed villains, carrion and all unclean things were dumped into the valley of Hinnom, and all this was consigned to fire. That is why we come across the expression “gehenna of fire” (see Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 18:9; Mark 9:47).
Saracens was originally the name of a nomadic bandit tribe of Arabian Bedouins, and then Christian writers transferred its name to all Muslims in general.
Echidna- poisonous snake. Being wounded by it is very dangerous and in most cases ends in quick and inevitable death. In the Holy Scriptures and in other sacred books, snakes generally serve as an image of that which by nature causes harm and destruction (Eccl. 10:11; Prov. 23:31-33; Matt. 7:10).
Underworld- lower, low, underground. The underworlds of the earth refer to the abysses of hell, which appear underground in contrast to the heavenly abodes of paradise.
On the 40th day after the separation of the soul from the body, according to the teachings of the Church, the soul’s journey through ordeals ends and a temporary judgment is pronounced on it, after which it is settled either in a place of joy or in a place of torment, where it remains until the time of the Second Coming of the Lord to earth and the final Judgment of the Son of God over people.
ORDERAL 18th
After that we reached the ordeal Sodomsky, where sins that disagree with either male or female nature are tortured, as well as copulation with demons and dumb animals, and incest, and other secret sins of this kind, which are shameful to even remember. The prince of this ordeal, the worst of all the demons that surrounded him, was completely covered with stinking pus; its ugliness is difficult to describe. They were all burning with rage; They hastily ran out to meet us and surrounded us. But, by the grace of God, they did not find me guilty of anything sinful and therefore ran back in shame; We, rejoicing, emerged from this ordeal.
After this, the holy Angels said to me: “You saw, Theodora, terrible and nasty prodigal ordeals. Know that a rare soul passes through them without being detained, because the whole world lies in the evil of temptations and defilements and all people are voluptuous and prone to fornication. A person is already inclined towards these things from early youth, and is unlikely to save himself from uncleanness; a few who mortify their carnal lusts and therefore freely pass through these ordeals; the majority die here; fierce torturers kidnap the souls of fornicators and, terribly torturing them, take them to hell. You, Theodora, thank God that through the prayers of Saint Basil you passed through these prodigal ordeals, and you will no longer encounter delays.”
From the book The Story of Blessed Theodora about the Ordeals author Seraphim HieromonkORDERAL 2nd We have approached another ordeal, called the ordeal of lies. Here a person gives account for every false word, and mainly for perjury, for calling on the name of the Lord in vain, for false testimonies, for failure to fulfill those given to God.
From the author's bookORDERAL 3rd Ordeal, which we came to later, is called the ordeal of condemnation and slander. Here, when they stopped us, I saw how gravely the one who condemns his neighbor sins, and how much evil there is when one slanders another, dishonors him, scolds him, when he swears and
From the author's bookORDERAL 4th Continuing our journey, we reached a new ordeal, which is called the ordeal of gluttony. Bad spirits ran out to meet us, rejoicing that a new victim was coming to them. The appearance of these spirits was ugly: they depicted different types of voluptuous
From the author's bookORDERAL 5th Having talked in this way, we reached the ordeal, called the ordeal of laziness, in which a person gives an answer for all the days and hours spent in idleness. Parasites also linger here, feeding on the labors of others and not wanting to do anything themselves, or taking
From the author's bookORDERAL 6th The next ordeal is theft. We were detained in it for a short time, and few good deeds were required to cover my sins, because I did not commit theft, except for one, very small one, in childhood.
From the author's bookORDERAL 7th After the ordeal of theft, we came to the ordeal of love of money and stinginess. But we also passed this ordeal safely, because, by the grace of God, during my earthly life I did not worry about acquiring property and was not money-loving, but was content with the fact that
From the author's bookORDERAL 10th We also successfully passed the next ordeal, called the ordeal of envy. I didn’t have any sins of this kind at all, because I never envied. And although other sins were experienced here: dislike, brotherly hatred, enmity, hatred, but, according to
From the author's bookORDERAL 11 In a similar way, we went through the ordeal of pride, where arrogant and proud spirits test those who are vain, think a lot about themselves and boast; The souls of those who are disrespectful to father and mother, as well as to those appointed by God, are especially carefully tested here.
From the author's bookORDERAL 12th The new ordeal, which we later achieved, was the ordeal of anger and rage; but even here, despite the fact that the spirits torturing here are fierce, they received little from us, and we continued on our way, thanking God, who covers my sins with the prayers of my father
From the author's bookORDERAL 13th After the ordeal of anger and rage, we were presented with a ordeal in which those who harbor evil in their hearts against their neighbors and repay evil for evil are mercilessly tortured. From here the spirits of evil with particular fury reduce the souls of sinners to Tartarus. But it didn’t leave me here either
From the author's bookORDERAL 14th While I was talking in this way with the holy Angels, we entered the ordeal called the ordeal of murder. Here, not only robbery is tormented, but they demand an account for any punishment inflicted on anyone, for any blow on the shoulders or on the head, on the cheek
From the author's bookORDERAL 15th We also passed through the next ordeal without any hindrance, where we are tortured by spirits for sorcery, witchcraft, charm, whispering, and invoking demons. The spirits of this ordeal are similar in appearance to four-legged reptiles, scorpions, snakes and toads; in a word, scary and
From the author's bookORDERAL 16th During this conversation, we reached the ordeal, called the fornication, where a person is tortured for all fornication and for all kinds of unclean passionate thoughts, for consenting to sin, for nasty touches and passionate touches. The prince of this ordeal sat on the throne
From the author's bookORDERAL 17th The next ordeal was the ordeal of adultery, where the sins of those living in marriage are tortured: if someone did not maintain marital fidelity, or desecrated his bed, he must give an account here. Those who sin in abduction for fornication and violence are also tortured here.
From the author's bookORDERING 18th After this, we reached the ordeal of Sodom, where sins that disagree with either male or female nature are tortured, as well as copulation with demons and dumb animals, and incest, and other secret sins of this kind, which are shameful to even remember.
From the author's bookORDERAL 19th After the fornication ordeals, we came to the ordeal of heresies, where people are tortured for incorrect opinions about objects of faith, as well as for apostasy from the Orthodox faith, distrust of the true teaching, doubts in the faith, blasphemy and the like. I went through this ordeal
