By the way, there can be various states before death. When the Angels came for Venerable St. Sisoes the Great, despite the fact that he had been told that he was already perfect, he asked to be given additional time in which to repent. He thought that he had not even begun to repent. Then he suddenly became radiant, and said, "Lo, Christ is come, saying 'Bring me the chosen vessel of the desert.'" With those words, he left his body and was taken up in Christ's arms to the Heavens. On the other hand, others rejoiced at the time of their death. One ascetic named Apollonius, rejoiced and was glad before his death. Others asked him, "Why are you rejoicing?" He answered, "I was meek, like Moses, zealous, like Aaron, courageous, like Joshua son of Nun, pious, like David, wise, like Solomon. If the Lord God granted that unto me, could he possibly not grant me the Heavenly Kingdom?" Very interesting, is it not? One could say that he spoke out in a way that was immodest. However, this was in fact modesty. The Lord granted this, the Lord granted everything, so could He possibly not grant the Heavenly Kingdom?

Remember (and this is something important to remember at the moment of death), our hope is based not our good works, but on the death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, strive to keep your arms crosswise, hugging the Cross to yourself. Ask that [an icon of] the Crucifixion of Christ the Savior be suspended before you, so that remembrance of Him might accompany you at your departure from this world, and so that you might depart from this world into life. One who has properly prepared himself can count on that.

I know examples of people who departed so peacefully. Physical pain is entirely unimportant. The venerable Holy Hierarch St. Gregory Palamas died of intestinal cancer. Awful pain. Yet, despite those pains, what did he say? The future Partriarch Philotheus, sitting near him, heard the following words, "To the Upper Room, to the Upper Room, to the light." He smiled, and wearing a smile, departed from his body, while the room became filled with a sweet aroma and with light. There were physical pains, but they were like martyrs' trials. A martyr's body is submitted to tortures, but for him, it is all irrelevant. Do you understand? The soul is seized with an unearthly joy, entirely unconnected to the body. That is a state attainable by all of us today: When a Christian is already so caught up by an attraction to Heaven, physical suffering has no meaning for him.

How does a person who is unprepared die? Ordinarily, life begins to ebb, as if falling away. Death begins from the tips of his toes and his hands. It goes at first from the fingers, then abruptly goes along the joints. Actually, as you known, Blessed Theodora saw how death would successively cut off and remove joint after joint. Often, ordinary people see this. Then it is as if life is concentrated in two places: in the heart and in the forehead. Later, if the person sees death, he seems to sense that he is taking a drink, or that death is cutting through the final thread, or he feels a sharp, painless blow. There are various sensations. For a moment he loses consciousness and has the sensation of falling. Many people see a tunnel. What is this? This is the return of consciousness. Sometimes this happens without a tunnel, and the person is suddenly beside himself. Sometimes, the person does not immediately realize that he has died. This happens frequently, especially when he had not prepared for death.

In this regard, it is very important to know that after their death, people keep their convictions. Nowhere in the Scriptures does it say that people change after their death. To the contrary, it is said that in Hades, they do not confess God: "...in death there is none that is mindful of Thee, and in Hades who will confess Thee?" (Psalm 6: 4), because the person continues to be under the sway of his superstitions. Moreover, as I had said, after one's death, the passions against which one has not struggled, come to the fore.

Perception After Death

So, the person finds himself in a new world. At first, he finds it very easy: if he had been sick and in pain before, or even if he had not been sick, things become easier for him. Why? Because, as St. Gregory the Theologian had said, after the fall into sin, our soul became the bearer of a corpse. The body interferes with the soul. Well, you had probably noticed that. You want to think, but you have a headache, your stomach has started to rumble, your heart has suffered a twinge, or you have become sleepy. Yes? There is no shortage of such instances.

Any activity of the soul involves the body. Here, the soul senses that it is in a more natural state. While it does not yet know that it is no longer able to perform one of its principal tasks, the animation of the body. Then there come a few minutes when the person, still unconvinced that he is dead, is unable to make contact with his surroundings. However, if the person had prepared himself that seems quite natural to him. He has already anticipated the moment. What does he need to do next? At that moment, he should not try to lurch about in various directions. Rather it is essential to die with prayer on one's lips. What prayer?

As the Lord said upon the Cross, "Into Thy hands, O Lord, do I commit my Spirit." We say this as we do before sleep; in departing from the body, we should glorify the Holy Trinity, so that the glorification may continue.

Do you remember how Blessed Macrina died? I always like to talk about it. Before her death, she had been extremely ill, and was so weakened that people thought that she was dying. As evening fell, they brought lamps, lighted lanterns, into her room. She reacted as any ordinary Christian would. What do they do in the evening when lanterns are carried in She began to quietly sing the evening hymn, "O gladsome light, of the holy glory of the immortal, heavenly, holy and blessed Father, Jesus Christ! Having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, we praise God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is meet at all times to praise Thee with reverent voices..." With those words, she left her body, and then continued, "O Son of God, and Giver of Life. Therefore the world doth glorify Thee." That was a beautiful death, a truly noble death. Therefore, right before death it is good to begin singing a hymn to God, a song giving thanks to God for leading us out of the body, to once again return us to it.

Before dying, remember that we will once again meet the body on the day of the Resurrection. It is with this body, cleansed by God. And one who departs while thanking God, ordinarily will strive to immediately ascend to Him. As it says in the Book of Ecclesiastes, "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12: 7).

According to widely-prevalent tradition, one who had lived an ordinary life, walks the earth for three days. He can go to those places which were dearest to him. I recommend that you go down to the Holy Sepulcher, the Tomb of our Lord. According to Orthodox teaching, distance has no meaning for the deceased. There are many cases in which, at the moment of their death, the souls of people have appeared to various people, to family members, to announce that they had died, and to say goodbye.

I recommend that you go to the Holy Sepulcher or attend the next Divine Liturgy. Remember that at the Liturgy, we can participate in prayers, for sacrifices are brought both for the living and for the deceased. That is why the prayer of St. Ambrose of Milan says "...we pray Thee O Lord, that this sacrifice, which is brought also for those who have died, might be for them redemption and cleansing, and that Thy Life-giving Blood might satiate them..." . Thus, what should we strive toward? Toward the living font of God's grace, to the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Unfortunately, many people strive toward some earthly thing. Of course, each person makes his own choice. You cannot be forced to be good.

Some rush about the earth over the course of the first three days, but no longer; they are not allloted any more time. One strives to visit what he had done before his death. That is why it is said, I will judge you in what I find you. If a person had clung to many habits on earth, it is to the earth that he will strive to go. Understand?

-- Should you pray at that moment [of death]?
If you have been so trained, prayer will come. If not, prayer will not come. Understand? The enemy immediately takes you away, and that's that.

-- Batiushka, what about that monk, about whom God said, "He did not give Me a day's rest." What did that mean?
Very simply, he did not give God any rest at all. His ascetic struggles were all for the sake of vanity and pride. He communed, but did not give any rest to the soul. He did not give God any rest.

So, my advice is, you have to depart this earth with prayer. If you want to spend some time on earth, if you still are drawn to it, go to church. Remember, you have a wonderful opportunity: you can go to any church on the planet Earth, you can visit any holy place. Accordingly, of course, if he so desires, an ordinary Christian could go to Golgotha, to the Holy Sepulcher, the Tomb of Our Lord, and worship there before he leaves this earth. But three days is a rather relative period. Often, our enemies are already attacking us during this period; the very same day, the first attacks of the enemy begin, and the enemy can act in various ways. He can scare us, and can be seductive.