Remembrance of death

[Alexander Zhdanov]

I would like to discuss what the remembrance of death is from Fathers point of view. I found an interesting explanation on the remembrance of death in father Sophrony's book about St Siluan but I cannot find it now. So I would be grateful if you explained this virtue. I also would like to discuss this article http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/death/stignaty_death.aspx with you.

Bye,


Alexander

[Marianthy]

Dear Alexander,

For some reason, everytime the question of remembrnce of death has come up I always turn to this video. Maybe it might be of some help to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI363U3uPN0&feature=related

Marianthy

[Ilaria]

A wonderful word on remembrance of death:
"Christ has promised me forgiveness of sins, but He did not promise me the day of tomorrow"

and a funny word, of an elder:
"I know that some Fathers advise us to imagine ourselves in the tomb and so on...so, I tried to imagine myself in the tomb...and what happened? I saw me in the tomb, but what I have seen was what I knew of myself: that I am alive!"

[Alexander Zhdanov]

Dear Marianthy,

Thank you for the video. A wonderful elder.

As for me, death is equivalent of temporariness or variability of the world. Some Father says that death is the variability. And further He says that we experience a lot of changes in our life: youth, maturity, old age and all these changes are signs of death. In this way, remembrance of death is remembrance of temporariness of the world and me as part of this world.


Bye,


Alexander

[Alexander Zhdanov]

"The vivid remembrance of death is a check upon diet; and when the diet is lessened, the passions are diminished along with it." Maximus, Sermon 52, p. 654.— Antonius Melissa, Book I. Sermon 54.

St. Anthony the Great says, Death, if one keeps it in mind, is immortality; but to not keep it in mind is death.

"St. John of the Ladder devoted an entire chapter to the concept of the Rememberance of Death. Here are a few examples of how the Desert Fathers approached this subject:

2. The remembrance of death is a daily death; and the remembrance of our departure is an hourly sighing or groaning.

4. As of all foods, bread is the most essential, so the thought of death is the most necessary of all works. the remembrance of death amongst those in the midst of society gives birth to distress and meditation, and even more, to despondency. But amongst those who are free from noise, it produces the putting aside of cares and constant prayer and guarding of the mind. But these same virtues both produce the remembrance of death, and are also produced by it.

10. Never, when mourning for your sins, accept that cur which suggests to you that God is tenderhearted (this thought is useful only when you see yourself being dragged down to deep despair). For the aim of the enemy is to thrust from you your mourning and fearless fear.

11. Anyone who wishes to retain within him continually the remembrance of death and God’s judgment, and at the same time yields to material cares and distractions, is like a man who is swimming and wants to clap his hands.

20. Let us rest assured that the remembrance of death, like all other blessings, is a gift of God; since how is it that often, when we are at the very tombs, we are left tearless and hard; and frequently when we have no such sight, we are full of compunction? This is the sixth step. He who has mounted it will never sin again. Remember thy last, and thou shalt never sin unto eternity. (The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John Climacus, Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, Mass., 1979, pp. 66-70.)

Until we live a Traditional life of prayer and fasting for a number of years, these words will seem strange and harsh. But with the passage of time, they become less and less so. Those who pursue the Traditional life in a humble way will eventually come to understand these concepts more profoundly. In the meantime, we must seek to have the humility and patience to allow the process to work on us."( A Few Words Concerning Orthodox "Death Literature"
by Protopresbyter David Cownie, with Patrick Barnes)

"A Christian is called to have the remembrance of death, that is, not to forget his mortality, but to remember that the final triumph of light will appear only after the resurrection of the dead. Preparedness for death does not mean that earthly life loses its value. On the contrary, it remains the greatest good, and the Christian is called unto the fullness of the present life, insofar as he can fill each moment of this life with the light of Christ's love." Fr. V. Potapov

[Alexander Zhdanov]

"Every word is preceded by thought. And the remembrance of death and sins precedes weeping and mourning.

Not every desire for death is good. Some, constantly sinning from force of habit, pray for death with humility. And some, who do not want to repent, invoke death out of despair. And some, out of self-esteem consider themselves dispassionate, and for a while have no fear of death. And some (if such can now be found), through the action of the Holy Spirit, ask for their departure.

Some inquire and wonder: “Why, when the remembrance of death is so beneficial to us, has God hidden from us the knowledge of the hour of death?” – not knowing that in this way God wonderfully accomplishes our salvation. For no one who foreknew his death would at once proceed to baptism or the monastic life; but everyone would spend all his days in iniquities, and only on the day of his death, would he approach baptism and repentance. From long habit, he would become confirmed in vice, and would remain utterly incorrigible.

And I cannot be silent about the story of Hesychius the Horebite. He passed his life in complete negligence, without paying the least attention to his soul. Then he became extremely ill, and for an hour he expired. And when he came to himself, he begged us all to leave him immediately. And he built up the door of his cell, and he stayed in it for twelve years without ever uttering a word to anyone, and without eating anything but bread and water. And, always remaining motionless, he was so rapt in spirit at what he had seen in his ecstasy, that he never changed this manner of life but was always as if out of his mind, and silently shed hot tears. But when he was about to die, we broke open the door and went in, and after many questions, this alone was all we heard from him: "Forgive me! No one who has acquired the remembrance of death will ever be able to sin." We were amazed to see that one who had before been so negligent was so suddenly transfigured by this blessed change and transformation. We reverently buried him in the cemetery near the fort, and after some days we looked for his holy relics, but did not find them. So by Hesychius's true and praiseworthy repentance, the Lord showed us that He accepts those who desire to amend, even after long negligence." (On Remembrance of Death in The Ladder of Divine Ascent)

[Alexander Zhdanov]

The foolish are afraid of death as the greatest of evils, but wise men seek it as a rest after their toils and as the end of evils. --St. Ambrose of Milan

"A Christian has great difficulty in attaining three things," Abba Isaias the Anchorite says, "grief (over sins), tears, and the continual memory of death. Yet these contain all of the other virtues."

Of the remembrance of death specifically, he writes: "He who succeeds in saying each day to himself, 'today is the last day of my life,' will never willingly sin before God. He, however, who expects to have many years to live, without fail entangles himself in the nets of sin. God sanctifies the soul which is always prepared to give an accounting for its deeds. Whoever forgets the Judgment remains in the bondage of sin."

[Elizabeth Riggs]

Dear Alexander,

For some reason, everytime the question of remembrnce of death has come up I always turn to this video. Maybe it might be of some help to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI363U3uPN0&feature=related

Marianthy

Here is a transcription of the English commentary from the video:


Elder Cleopa
Heiromonk Ilie Cleopa - Duhovnic - Manastirea Sihastria

What's the greatest wisdom that guards a man from all sin and takes him to Heaven?

What did Great Basil say?

The greatest wisdom that guards a man from all sin, and guides him to perpetual happiness is to always see the death in front of you! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! And to have Jesus Christ (the prayer) in mind and heart!

Here is what Saint Basil says, The Scriptures say: One should walk straight in front of God without deviating - neither to the left, nor to the right. In order to walk straight one needs two walls! But not made of bricks! Nor of stone, nor cement, nor iron, nor wood! Two spirual walls! To have on your right the fear of God and to your left, the fear of death. The Scriptures say: With fear of God any man shall push evil away!

Who has the fear of God to his right, and the fear of death to his left, goes straight ahead, in front of God!

We're sleeping submerged in sin, all the time!

If we weren't sleeping submerged in sin, we would be crying our sins all day long!

Did you see St. Arsenios the Great? He was in the desert for 80 years! His eye lashes fell from so much crying! And he had lived in palace, in Rome, with the emperors, and left for the desert. Those were saints, who cried their sins!

Because we do wrong in front of God, all the time. May Heaven consume you! You've come to an old rotten man?!

With Love in Christ
Dr. Elizabeth, the sinner
and Perennial Student

[Rick H.]

(On Remembrance of Death in The Ladder of Divine Ascent)



Can anyone tell me if this section of The Ladder is available online somewhere to read please?

Thank you.

[Rick H.]

Can anyone tell me if this section of The Ladder is available online somewhere to read please?

Thank you.


I think this is it:


http://www.e-imprimatur.com/ClimacusTwo.htm

[Andrew D. Morrell]

"To be reminded of death each day is to die each day; to remember one's departure from life is to provoke tears by the hour. Fear of death is a property of nature due to disobedience, but terror of death is a sign of unrepented sins. Christ is frightened of dying but not ter*rified, thereby clearly revealing the properties of His two natures." from "the Ladder Of Divine Ascent"

Remembering death - tasting it, experiencing it - can and should help an individual to get his/her priorities in order. Of course, that is not always the case.... and that is sad beyond measure.

In Christ,
Andrew



I think this is it:


http://www.e-imprimatur.com/ClimacusTwo.htm

[Alexander Zhdanov]

I read a book "About God and People" by St. Nikolai Velimirovich and found quotations on death and death remembrance. I tried to translate them (Don't judge very severe, I am only a beginner)

1. In this kingdom of dying, there is no more obvious than death.

2. People not only afraid of, but they are also ashamed of death. This shame is the strongest evidence that death is a consequence of human sin. This shame before death irrefutably witnesses about our immortal origin and so much immortal destiny.

3. Thought about death is a cold heavy shower extinguishing a fire of passions.

4. If death were something high-grade considerable and contradicting to life, it would be significant counterbalance to a reason. But everything opposing the reason contradicts the life laws. Consequently death in this world is not something absolute having it's own existence. It's also not a solid line on which life is only a point. More likely on the contrary, it is similar to a point on a boundless line of life.

Bye,

Alexander

[Alexander Zhdanov]

A hermit, who was living the ascetic life in the desert of Jordan, had not been tempted by the devil for many years. This had given him courage, and he frequently asserted that the enemy would not dare to tempt strugglers, but went only to those who were negligent and lazy. Once the devil appeared before him and complained to him: "What have I done to you that you play me down so? Did I ever tempt you?"

"Get out of here, evil spirit," the hermit fearlessly yelled, picking up his staff to strike him. "You have no right to bother the servants of Christ. Go to those who invite you with their inattentiveness."

"So that is what you think?" the devil said maliciously. "Do you think I will not find an opportunity, in the forty years you still have to live, to prove you wrong?"

Sure, now, that the bait had all but succeeded, the devil became invisible, leaving a shuddering laugh in the air. From that moment then, the hermit's thoughts were confused.

"Forty more years of life; Oh, that is an awfully long time!" he said to himself continually. Then, after a while: "Should I not go into the world to see my relatives? Let me give my tormented body a little rest. When I return, I will continue my ascetic life. I have years before me ..., forty years of life!"

He came to a decision and one morning, with his staff in his hand, he set out for the city. But God, in his benevolence, regretted the loss of so many years of labor and sent his angel to stop him.

"Where are you going, Abba?" the angel asked, stopping him on the road.

"To the city," the hermit hastened to say.

"Dear man, now, at the end of your life, you let the devil deceive you? Hurry and return to your but and bemoan your foolishness, before it is too late for you."

Embarrassed by his setback, the old hermit returned to his cell and died three days later.

[David Robles]

In the book, “Christ Our Way and Our Life”, Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou writes about many of the stages of the spiritual life, including, remembrance of death. He is an Archimandrite in the monastery of St John the Baptist, in Tolleshunt Knights near Maldon, Essex in England. Archimandrite Zacharias spent decades under the spiritual direction of Elder Sophrony of blessed memory, whom, we know, was himself the disciple of St Silouan the Athonite. Here are some passages from his book;

"Considered within the whole mystery of Christ, death is transformed into a challenge on a sublime and metaphysical level, which inspires ‘repentance unto life’, and mindfulness of death proves to be a gift of the Holy Spirit…The purpose of his (man’s) pre-eternal destiny is the acquisition of eternity as an inalienable possession. ..If life comes to a definitive end with death, it has absolutely no meaning. Awareness of our mortality poses the problem of eternity without accepting concession to anything except God. The grace of God, which seeks out the lost sheep wherever he may be, is able to provoke man'seizing him by the throat’, and intensifying his quandary by bestowing a mindfulness of death, which – according to the experience of Fr. Sophrony – proves, as scalding as a ‘mass of molten metal’. The remembrance of death, when it takes the form of awareness of eternity in a negative form, is a remarkable ‘calling’ of man to his pre-eternal destiny to become á ‘partaker of the divine nature’ (2 Pet.1:4). This remembrance, which is activated by the grace of God, is a spiritual phenomenon entirely set apart from the natural or psychological knowledge that man is mortal. Charismatic mindfulness of death is a reality of another order, ‘non-earthy, incomprehensible’. It visits man with sovereign might and prepares him to accept the revelation of the Living God. In his heart a new interior sensitivity is born, which changes his spiritual outlook. It is a spiritual state, which assist man, who is as yet unable to contemplate God, in his quest for eternal truth.

Awareness of death is accompanied by ‘a vision, difficult to explain, of the outside world’. This vision reveals the futility of this world and its transitory ephemeral form which lies in the power of the evil one….remembrance of death brings and interior apprehension of the great chasm separating man from the Holy God. When man realizes that he is condemned to die, he becomes terrified, he suffers unbearably. With his spirit he beholds the bottomless pit and remains in this mysterious, indescribable sphere, whilst his mind and affections live normal everyday life

The charismatic gift of mindfulness of death is essential for the spiritual development of the Christian. It is the starting point of his rebirth in God. When his awareness of death intensifies, man despises all the visible world and all the events of life- even intellectual assets, for they are unable to afford an answer to his search. Whatever does not remain for all eternity has no value and ceases to attract the attention of man. This grace given awareness brings with it a revelation which, although in negative form, is effective and reveals the depth of Being. In an eschatological perspective, the material world loses its consistency , and time loses its duration, the revelatory experience of this captivates the spirit of man, and casts it into a newly revealed and somber realm where time does not exist. In this unstable and painful state, man will find rest and support only in the evangelical revelation of the Word of God…The Lord, however hides Himself, with wisdom and love teaching man until such time as he deepens his experience of the mystery of death, and contemplates it ‘not only in the body, in death terrestrial forms, but in eternity’. He understands the fearful dimensions of death and suffers dreadfully inside the gloomy abyss of the Eternal absence. He looks for a way out. In essence, however, everything, even while it is proclaiming vanity, corruption, and death, is directing him towards knowledge of another Being and its depths. To someone in this sacred state of mind, God is announcing His very Self. Although initially man can see no way out, in fact it all depends on how he directs his spirit at this point. …two apparent solutions may suggest themselves. The first is to treat death as an inevitable fact of nature, of no account, utterly insignificant – one less man on earth. The second way of thinking rejects the first out of deep feeling, desire and yearning that man has in himself for life….This is where he finds the true solution, as long as he avoids the temptation to blame God for his spiritual suffering, for this would engulf him utterly in the abyss of darkness. If he instead resorts to prayer, he will be born anew….mindfulness of death ..brings about a divestiture of the mind from everything created, concentrating its attention within. This is the most precious condition for ‘re-clothing’ and further development in godliness.

The horror of mindfulness of death gives a foretaste of Gehenna: man is humbled, broken. (It) inspires prayer that vanquishes even the most persistent passions. Remembrance of death teaches man to live without earthly cares, eschatologically, and to find his wealth in all the charisms bestowed by God. …man learns…to feel ontologically united with all the human race. Later, in the ultimate perfection in Christ, this negative experience is transformed into a positive knowledge of the resurrection of the soul and prayer ‘for all Adam’.” Christ Our Way and Our Life, selections from p.71 to p.82 by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, St Tikhon Seminary Press, 2003

ISBN: 1-878997-74-2

After reading the above passage is clear that the spiritual state described by Elder Sophrony and Fr Zacharias is beyond the comprehension of anyone that has not gone through it. In the pages following this passage, Fr Zacharias explains that the state of mindfulness of death in its deepest form immediately precedes the vision of the uncreated light, by the soul thus initiated in eternity!

[Alexander Zhdanov]

Archimandrite Justin Popovich
Condemned to Immortality
A meditation on the Resurrection
from Philosophical Gifts

People condemned God to death; with His Resurrection He condemned them to immortality. For striking Him, God returned embraces; for insults, blessings; for death, immortality. Never did men show more hate towards God than when they crucified Him; and God never showed His love towards people more than when He was resurrected. Mankind wanted to make God dead, but God, with His Resurrection, made people alive, the crucified God resurrected on the third day and thereby killed death! There is no more death. Immortality is surrounding man and his entire world.

With the Resurrection of the God-Man, the nature of man is irreversibly led toward the road of immortality and man's nature becomes destructive to death itself. For until the Resurrection of Christ, death was destructive for man; from the Resurrection of Christ, man's nature becomes destructive in death. If man lives in the faith of the Resurrected God Man, he lives above death, he is unreachable for her; death is under man's feet. Death where is thy sting? Hell, where is thy victory? And when a man who believes in Christ dies, he only leaves his body as his clothes, in which he will be dressed again on the Day of Last Judgment.

Before the Resurrection of the God-Man, death was the second nature of man; life was first and death was second. Man became accustomed to death as something natural. But after His Resurrection the Lord changed everything: and it was only natural until Christ's Resurrection, that the people became mortal, so after Christ's Resurrection it was natural that the people became immortal.

Through sin, man becomes mortal and temporal; with the Resurrection of the God-Man, he becomes immortal and eternal. In this lies the strength, in this lies the power, in this lies the might of Christ's Resurrection. Without the Resurrection there is no Christianity. Among the miracles, this is the greatest one; all other miracles begin and end with it. From it sprouted the faith and the love and the hope and the prayer and the love toward God.

[Alexander Zhdanov]

Yesterday I read Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach and found the following verses about the death remembrance:

[1] O death, how bitter is the reminder of you to one who lives at peace among his possessions, to a man without distractions, who is prosperous in everything, and who still has the vigor to enjoy his food!
[2] O death, how welcome is your sentence to one who is in need and is failing in strength, very old and distracted over everything; to one who is contrary, and has lost his patience!
[3] Do not fear the sentence of death; remember your former days and the end of life; this is the decree from the Lord for all flesh,
[4] and how can you reject the good pleasure of the Most High? Whether life is for ten or a hundred or a thousand years,
there is no inquiry about it in Hades.

Where do you think it is possible to find an interpretation on this place?

In Christ,


Alexander