Toll houses

[Kollyvas]

What Happens After Death - The Toll Houses

halsall (halsall@BWAY.NET)
Wed, 28 Aug 1996 08:51:52 -0400 Here is an file on the issue of Tollhouses. I gather that the issueis quite controversial - with much discussion on the Orthodox listserv.Paul Halsallorigin: http://silver.ucs.indiana.edu/~hckarlso ... on"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God"(Matthew 5:8). Within the beatitudes, Jesus told His followersthat they need to be pure in their heart in order to see God.This vision of God is one of the blessings that pure souls shallgain as a reward of their purity. St. Paul speaks of the futureglory in I Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see in a mirror,dimly, but then we will see face to face." On this vision, St.Augustine said "This vision is reserved as the reward of ourfaith..." (City of God 507). This vision allows one to haveglory within the presence of God. The glory allows one to"...participate, according to our slender capacity, in Hispeace..." (City of God 507). The soul which has the BeatificVision participates in God's glory. Yet to do so, the soul needsto be pure, so that there will be a capacity within the soul toexperience this glory. St. Augustine called the purification andpreparation the soul undertakes a journey: "The Soul must bepurified that it may have the power to perceive the light, and torest in it when it is perceived. And let us look at thispurification as a kind of journey, or a voyage to our nativeland" (On Christian Doctrine 525). How is the soul able to bepurified, and end its journey with the promised rest? ChristianTradition, both from the Greek East and the Latin West, has hadseveral individuals who reflected upon the traditions of theChurch. These individuals, trying to protect the traditions thathave been handed down to them, have helped to clarify ChurchTradition. With these clarifications, both the Eastern andWestern Traditions have given their versions of this journey ofthe soul, and an overall Christian Tradition can be ascertained.In both the East and in the West, the journey of the soul istwofold. The soul begins its journey in connection with the bodyand continues its journey while outside of this connection. Bothalso agree that the ultimate end is for the reunification of thebody and the soul, to be placed either with glory in heaven or intorment in hell. For many, if not most, of those who will havetheir soul totally purified, it will be completed in the lifethat is to come (that is, after the soul has left the body, butbefore the final judgement). St. Symeon the New Theologian, oneof the greatest mystics that the East has produced, stated thatit is possible to obtain some of the glory while the soul isstill within the body. For those who do not, they must not losehope. If they do not lose hope, they will eventually obtain thatglory. "Even though they do not succeed entering into the lightas long as they are in the body, at least they depart withserious hopes. They will obtain it little by little, but theywill obtain it" (qtd. in Krivocheine 205). That journey wherethe soul gains "little by little" the participation with thelight after soul departs from the body is understood slightlydifferently in the East and in the West. Because of thesedifferences, both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic theologians haveoften overlooked each other's beliefs, or try to show how theother has strayed from the overall Christian Tradition. Yet thephilosophical and textual background for each Tradition isultimately the same. For the Eastern Orthodox, the preliminaryjudgement of the soul after death is emphasized. The Catholicemphasis is upon the restoration of the soul to a purified state.Though with different emphasis, the Eastern Orthodox Tradition onthe soul after death does include purification, the the CatholicTradition does acknowledge a preliminary judgement on the soul.After examining the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholic Traditionsseparately, there is the need to examine the overall Traditionwhich is being explained, and to find the common ground betweenthe Eastern and Western explanations. In doing so, it will beshown that instead of greatly conflicting testimonies ofChristian Tradition, the Eastern and Western reflections arecomplements of each other, helping to better explain the complexChristian Tradition on the soul after death.IIThe Toll Houses"Reflect on the dreadful reckoning that is to come, how theharsh keepers of the toll houses will bring before us one by onethe actions, words and thoughts which they suggested but which weaccepted and made our own." Such is the warning of St. Theodorosthe Great Ascetic in his "A Century of Spiritual Texts"(Philokalia 25). This warning reflects the Eastern belief thatthe soul will receive a preliminary judgement after death, andthe place of that judgement is a place called the toll houses.Accordingly, the soul will try to ascend into heaven. On its wayit will be stopped and encounter the toll houses. At the tollhouses, there is traditionally up to twenty different trials thatthe soul will face by the demonic powers that rule the air. Atthe trials, the soul will have the aid of angels, but the demonicpowers will both accuse the person trying to enter into heaven ofsins, and will try to tempt the soul with more sins. There willbe one sin that is being examined for each "booth" or "trial."If the demonic power prevails, the soul is said to be draggeddown to hell, and the soul then has entered its state from thepreliminary judgement. At each booth, if the person prevailsthrough the help of the angels, the soul advances to the nextstage, until at last it is freed and able to enter into heaven.The souls, both during its advance, and the ones dragged to hell,are able to be affected by the petitionary prayers of the Church.The soul in hell is not necessarily doomed there forever. Therewill be some souls which will be judged worthy of eternalsuffering at the final judgement, but until the last judgement,souls can be affected, purified, and able to be finally judgedworthy of glory at the final judgement. The sufferings can alsobe ended before the final judgement, if the soul is purifiedbefore then. Not all souls will be able to be so purified, butall souls are seen as being able to have their sufferingslessened in intensity.The basis for the Eastern belief on the toll houses comesfrom many sources: Scripture, Church Fathers, and the lives ofmany Saints. The belief that there are demonic powers in theair, trying to prevent souls from entering into heaven can beseen within Christian Scripture. In Ephesians 2:2, St. Paulspeaks of the "ruler of the power of the air," who is Satan.Later within the same epistle, St. Paul wrote, "For our struggleis not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against rulers,against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of thispresent darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in theheavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Ephesians 6:12 describes thepowers who are fighting against the Christian as "forces of evilin the heavenly realms," that is demonic powers in the air. Thefact that these demonic powers are fighting with souls which aretrying to ascend to heaven, can be seen within many texts. Onecan find vivid descriptions of this struggle within the textswritten about the lives of many Saints. An example is found inthe biography of St. Antony as written by St. Athanasius:And his understanding was opened, and he understoodthat it was the passing of souls, and that the tallbeing who stood was the enemy who envies the faithful.And those whom he caught and stopped from passingthrough are accountable to him, while those whom hewas unable to hold as they passed upwards had notbeen subservient to him." (Athanasius, 213-214).Sources for belief in the toll houses come from homilies of manyChurch Fathers. St. Cyril of Alexandria, in a homily written todescribe the soul's journey after death, wrote, "The holy angelshold the soul; passing with them through the air and rising,it encounters the houses which guard the path from earth toheaven, detaining the soul and hindering its ascent further."(qtd. in Rose 74 ). St. Macarius, an ascetic of the fourthcentury, describes the demonic attack on the soul after death."And when they pass out of the body, if they are not completelypurified, they are not permitted to go up into the mansions ofHeaven there to meet their Master. For they are driven down bythe demons of the air." (Pseudo-Macarius 222) With these andother references (from various important Church Fathers such asSt. John Chrysostom, St. John Damascene, and St. Ephraim), thejudgement of the soul in the toll houses is in the EasternTradition.The judgement given after death is seen only as apreliminary judgement. The soul is seen as being eventually sentto hell, or as being free to move its way into heaven. If the soul isdragged down into hell, this is not necessarily the end of itsjourney. Until the final judgement, the Orthodox see that thereis still a possibility of change within the soul, which is oftenaccomplished through the prayers of faithful Christians, and withthe practice of commemoration of the dead at the Divine Liturgy.This belief is explained by the following quote from lateArchbishop John Maximovitch. "Until then [the final judgement]changes are still possible in the condition of the souls,especially through the offering for them the Bloodless Sacrifice(commemoration at the Liturgy), and likewise by other prayers"(qtd. in Rose 187). That there are souls who are purified afterdeath, Archbishop Maximovitch also said, "Many who died inrepentance, but who were unable to manifest this while they werealive, have been freed from tortures and have obtained repose"(qtd. in Rose 190). The Orthodox acknowledge that after thepreliminary judgement, some of the souls who were judged worthyof torture were released from their pains. The emphasis is on theplacement of the soul through the judgement of the toll housesinto that initial state of the soul after death. The possiblefreedom of the soul from the prison it is put into is accepted,but not fully described.While the soul which is "found to have wounds from wrestlingor any stains or effects of sin" is "detained" (St. Basil qtd. inRose 34), the souls of the Saints are able to be lifted up toChrist. This is done through a quick progression of the tollhouses, where the demonic forces have no means to accuse theSaint of sin, and no means to tempt the Saint into sin. The tollhouses are seen as a completion of the trials that the soulundergoes on earth, and the Saints are found to be successfulbefore their death in this contest. A Nineteenth Century RussianBishop, Ignatius Brianchaninov, said this quite clearly:The great saints of God pass through the aerial guardsof the dark powers with such great freedom becauseduring earthly life they enter into uncompromisingbattle with them and, acquiring victory over them,acquire in the depths of their heart complete freedomfrom sin... (qtd. in Rose 83).The souls of those who have been purified by the time they havedied, are able to go face to face to their beloved. It is onlyfor those who have not totally been made purified but are on thepath to purification that the preliminary judgement brings asuffering which is able to complete the purification.The teaching of the toll houses is summarized by RussianOrthodox Hieromonk Seraphim Rose in his book The Soul AfterDeath.What is certain is that there is a testing by demons,who appear in a frightful but human form, accuse thenewly-departed of sins and literally try to seizethe subtle body of the soul, which is grasped firmlyby angels; and all of this occurs in the air above usand can be seen by those whose eyes are open tospiritual reality (Rose 69).

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From: ZPASTATE@aol.com
Date: Sat Jul 19, 2003 5:47 pm
Subject: A Brief Patristic Consensus On The Doctrine Of The Toll Houses
To: rmichaelzacharyaz@yahoo.com ZPASTATE@aol.com
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The Argument for the Toll-House Theory

Fr. Seraphim relies heavily on the exegesis and writings of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov for support of the tollhouse theory. The following quote from Bishop Ignatius is a good example:

"The space between heaven and earth, the whole azure expanse of the air which is visible to us under the heavens, serves as the dwelling for the fallen angels who have been cast down from heaven…. The holy Apostle Paul calls the fallen angels the spirits of wickedness under the heavens (Eph. 6:12), and their chief the prince of the powers of the air (Eph. 2:2). The fallen angels are dispersed in a multitude throughout the entire transparent immensity, which we see above us. They do not cease to disturb all human societies and every person separately; there is no evil deed, no crime, of which they might not be instigators and participants; they incline and instruct men towards sin by all possible means. Your adversary the devil, says the holy Apostle Peter, walketh about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8), both during our earthly life and after the separation of the soul from the body. When the soul of a Christian, leaving its earthly dwelling, begins to strive through the aerial spaces towards the homeland on high, the demons stop it, strive to find in it a kinship with themselves, their sinfulness, their fall, and to drag it down to the hell prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). They act thus by the right which the have acquired." (Brianchaninov, vol. III, pp. 132-133).

Bishop Ignatius goes on further to say "For the testing of souls as they pass through the spaces of the air there have been established by the dark powers separate judgment places and guards in a remarkable order. In the layers of the under-heaven, from earth to heaven itself, stand guarding legions of fallen spirits. Each division is in charge of a special form of sin and tests the soul in it when the soul reaches this division. The aerial demonic guards and judgment places are called in the patristic writing the toll-houses, and the spirits who serve in them are called tax-collectors." (Brianchaninov, vol. III, p. 136).

The following are a sample of quotes from both patristic and liturgical sources, which are given as evidence that the tollhouse theory is the historical teaching of the Church:

1. "Then we will need many prayers, many helpers, many good deeds, and a great intercession from angels on the journeys through the spaces of the air. If when travelling in a foreign land or a strange city we are in need of a guide, how much more necessary for us are guides and helpers to guide us past the invisible dignities and powers and world-rulers of this air, who are called persecutors and publicans and tax-collectors." (St. John Chrysostom-Homily on Patience and Gratitude)

2. "Daily have death before our eyes and take care how to accomplish the departure from the body and how to pass by the powers of darkness that are to meet us in the air. When the soul leaves the body, angels accompany it; the dark powers come out to meet it, desiring to detain it, and testing it to see if they might find something of their own in it. (St. Isaiah the Recluse-Homily 5 and 17)

3. "When the fearful hosts come, when the divine takers-away command the soul to be translated from the body, when they draw us away by force and lead us away to the unavoidable judgment place - then, seeing them, the poor man… comes all into a shaking as if from an earthquake, is all in trembling…. The divine takers-away, taking the soul, ascend in the air where stands the chiefs, the authorities and world-rulers of the opposing powers. These are our accusers, the fearful publicans, registrars, tax-collectors; they meet it on the way, register, examine, and count the sins and debts of this man - the sins of youth and old age, voluntary and involuntary, committed in deed, word, and thought. Great is the fear here, great the trembling of the poor soul, indescribable the want which it suffers then from the incalculable multitudes of its enemies surrounding it there in myriad's, slandering it so as not to allow it to ascend to heaven, to dwell in the light of the living, to enter the land of life. But the holy angels, taking the soul, lead it away."

(St. Ephriam the Syrian, Collected Works (in Russian), Moscow, 1882, vol. 3, pp. 282-385.)

1. "O Virgin, in the hour of my death rescue me from the hand of the demons, and the judgment, and the accusation, and the frightful testing, and the bitter toll-houses and the fierce prince, and the eternal condemnation, O Mother of God." (Tone 4, Friday, 8th Canticle of the Canon at Matins.)

2. "When my soul shall be about to be released from the bond with the flesh, intercede for me, O Sovereign Lady … that I may pass unhindered through the princes of darkness standing in the air." (Tone 2, Saturday, Canticle 9)

I would conclude the support of the tollhouse theory with a quote by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow: "Such an uninterrupted, constant, and universal usage in the Church of the teaching of the toll-houses, especially among the teachers of the 4th century, indisputably testifies that it was handed down to them from the teachers of the preceding centuries and is founded on apostolic tradition." (Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 2, p. 535.)

[Kollyvas]

http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhiteford/tollhouses.htm

Evidence for the Tradition of the Toll Houses found in the
Universally Received Tradition of the Church

Note: What follows is not a comprehensive collection of evidence for
the Toll Houses, but evidence that I have repeatedly posted in
discussions with those who oppose the idea that the Toll Houses are a
legitimate image of what occurs after death, which the Church has
embraced. Rather than continue to repost it, I have compiled it here.

Patristic Evidence:

St. Mark of Ephesus:

"But if souls have departed this life in faith and love, while
nevertheless carrying away with themselves certain faults, whether
small ones over which they have not repented at all, or great ones
for which – even thought they have repented over them – they did not
undertake to show fruits of repentance: such souls, we believe, must
be cleansed from this kind of sin, but not by means of some
purgatorial fire or a definite punishment in some place (for this, as
we have said, has not been handed down to us). But some must be
cleansed in they very departure from the body, thanks only to fear,
as St. Gregory the Dialogist literally shows; while others must be
cleansed after the departure from the body, either while remaining in
the same earthly place, before they come to worship God and are
honored with the lot of the blessed, or – if their sins were more
serious and bind them, for a longer duration – they are kept in hell
[i.e., Hades], but not in order to remain forever in fire and
torment, but as it were in prison and confinement under guard" (First
Homily: Refutation of the Latin Chapters concerning Purgatorial Fire,
by St. Mark of Ephesus. Qtd. In "The Soul After Death, p 208f).

St. Boniface (8th Century Anglo-Saxon) records the following account
of a monk who died and came back to tell of his experiences:

"Angels of such pure splendor bore him up as he came forth from the
body that he could not bear to gaze upon them… "They carried me up,"
he said, "high into the air…" He reported further that in the space
of time while he was out of the body, a greater multitude of souls
left their bodies and gathered to the place where he was than he
thought to form the whole race of mankind on earth. He said also that
there was a crowd of evil spirits and a glorious choir of higher
angels. And he said that the wretched spirits and the holy angels had
a violent dispute concerning the souls that had come forth from their
bodies, the demons bringing charges against them and aggravating the
burden of their sins, the angels lightening the burden and making
excuses for them. He heard all his own sins, which he had committed
from his youth on and had failed to confess or had forgotten or had
not recognized as sins, crying out against him, each in its own
voice, and accusing his grievously… Everything he had done in all the
days of his life and had neglected to confess and many which he had
not known to be sinful, all these were now shouted at him in
terrifying words. In the same way the evil spirits, chiming in with
the vices, accusing and bearing witness, naming the very times and
places, brought proofs of his evil deeds… and so, with his sins all
piled up and reckoned out, those ancient enemies declared him guilty
and unquestionably subject to their jurisdiction. "On the other
hand," he said, "the poor little virtues which I had displayed
unworthily and imperfectly spoke out in my defense… And those angelic
spirits in their boundless love defended and supported me, while the
virtues, greatly magnified as they were, seemed to me far greater and
more excellent than could have ever been practiced in my own
strength."" (The Letters of Saint Boniface, tr. Ephraim Emerton,
Octagon Books (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux) New York, 1973, pp 25-27.
Qtd in The Soul After Death, by Fr. Seraphim (Rose).

St. Athanasius the Great, in the Life of St. Anthony the Great:

"For once, when about to eat, having risen up to pray about the ninth
hour, he perceived that he was caught up in the spirit, and,
wonderful to tell, he stood and saw himself, as it were, from outside
himself, and that he was led in the air by certain ones. Next certain
bitter and terrible beings stood in the air and wished to hinder him
from passing through. But when his conductors opposed them, they
demanded whether he was not accountable to them. And when they wished
to sum up the account from his birth, Antony's conductors stopped
them, saying, 'The Lord hath wiped out the sins from his birth, but
from the time he became a monk, and devoted himself to God, it is
permitted you to make a reckoning.' Then when they accused him and
could not convict him, his way was free and unhindered. And
immediately he saw himself, as it were, coming and standing by
himself, and again he was Antony as before. Then forgetful of eating,
he remained the rest of the day and through the whole of the night
groaning and praying. For he was astonished when he saw against what
mighty opponents our wrestling is, and by what labours we have to
pass through the air. And he remembered that this is what the Apostle
said, 'according to the prince of the power of the air [10].' For in
it the enemy hath power to fight and to attempt to hinder those who
pass through. Wherefore most earnestly he exhorted, 'Take up the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day
[11],' that the enemy, 'having no evil thing to say against us, may
be ashamed [12].' And we who have learned this, let us be mindful of
the Apostle when he says, 'whether in the body I know not, or whether
out of the body I know not; God knoweth [13].' But Paul was caught up
unto the third heaven, and having heard things unspeakable he came
down; while Antony saw that he had come to the air, and contended
until he was free. . And he had also this favour granted him. For as
he was sitting alone on the mountain, if ever he was in perplexity in
his meditations, this was revealed to him by Providence in prayer.
And the happy man, as it is written, was taught of God [14]. After
this, when he once had a discussion with certain men who had come to
him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place
will be after this life, the following night one from above called
him, saying, 'Antony, rise, go out and look.' Having gone out
therefore (for he knew whom he ought to obey) looking up, he beheld
one standing and reaching to the clouds, tall, hideous, and fearful,
and others ascending as though they were winged. And the figure
stretched forth his hands, and some of those who were ascending were
stayed by him, while others flew above, and having escaped
heavenward, were borne aloft free from care. At such, therefore, the
giant gnashed his teeth, but rejoiced over those who fell back. And
forthwith a voice came to Antony, 'Understandest thou what thou
seest?' And his understanding was opened, and he understood that it
was the passing of souls, and that the tall being who stood was the
enemy who envies the faithful. And those whom he caught and stopped
from passing through are accountable to him, while those whom he was
unable to hold as they passed upwards had not been subservient to
him. So having seen this, and as it were being reminded, he struggled
the more daily to advance towards those things which were before. And
these visions he was unwilling to tell, but as he spent much time in
prayer, and was amazed, when those who were with him pressed him with
questions and forced him, he was compelled to speak, as a father who
cannot withhold ought from his children. And he thought that as his
conscience was clear, the account would be beneficial for them, that
they might learn that discipline bore good fruit, and that visions
were oftentimes the solace of their labours" (Chapters 65-66).

http://orthodoxinfo.com/death/vita-antony.htm

St Adamnan (Eunan) who recorded the life of St. Columba:

http://www.usu.edu/history/norm/bk3ch7.html

"AT another time while the holy man was tarrying in the Iouan island
(Hy, now Iona), one of his monks called Brito, a person given to all
good works, being seized with bodily illness, was reduced to the last
extremity. When the venerable man went to visit him at the hour of
his departure, he stood for a few moments at his bedside, and after
giving him his blessing, retired quickly from the house, not wishing
to see him die, and the very moment after the holy man left the house
the monk closed this present life. Then the eminent man walking in
the little court of his monastery, with his eyes upraised to heaven,
was for a long time lost in wonder and admiration. But a certain
brother named Aidan, the son of Libir, a truly virtuous and religious
man, who was the only one of the brethren present at the time, fell
upon his knees and asked the saint to tell him the reason of so great
astonishment. The saint said to him in reply: "I have this moment
seen the holy angels contending in the air against the hostile
powers; and I return thanks to Christ, the Judge, because the
victorious angels have carried off to the joys of our heavenly
country the soul of this stranger, who is the first person that hath
died among us in this island. But I beseech thee not to reveal this
secret to any one during my life."

St. John Climacus:

In Step 7, section 50 of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John gives
the account of a

monastic who was dying, and who had begun to pass from this life to
the next, and to experience the accusations of the demons. The
account ends with statement:

"And while, thus being called to account he was parted from his body,
leaving us in uncertainty as to his judgment, or end, or sentence, or
how the trial ended."

Liturgical Evidence

In both the Greek and Slavonic Euchologion, in the canon for the
departure of the soul by St. Andrew , we find in Ode 7:

"All holy angels of the Almighty God, have mercy upon me and save me
from all the evil toll-houses [telonion poneron]."

For an English translation of this canon, see page 90, vol 3, of "The
Book of Needs" published by St. Tikhon Seminary.

Also in the Greek Euchologion, in the same canon, we find in the
first Ode:

"Behold a crowd of evil spirits has gathered bearing the record of my
sins, and they are shouting aloud and demanding shamelessly my humble
soul" (Quoted in the Mystery of Death, p. 391, by Nikolaos P.
Vassiliadis).

The prayer to the Theotokos at small compline:

".at the time of my departure taking care of my miserable soul, and
driving far away from it the dark countenances of the evil demons."

The Octoechos:

"When my soul is about to be forcibly parted from my body's limbs,
then stand by my side and scatter the counsels of my bodiless foes
and smash the teeth of those who implacably seek to swallow me down,
so that I may pass unhindered through the rulers of darkness who wait
in the air, O Bride of God." Octoechos, Tone Two, Friday Vespers

http://www.anastasis.org.uk/weekday_vespers1.htm

"Pilot my wretched soul, pure Virgin, and have compassion on it, as
it slides under a multitude of offences into the deep of destruction;
and at the fearful hour of death snatch me from the accusing demons
and from every punishment." Ode 6, Tone 1 Midnight Office for Sunday

http://www.anastasis.org.uk/weekday_vespers1.htm

The prayer of St. Eustratius, which is said in the Midnight Office
for Saturdays:

"And now, O Master, let Thy hand shelter me and let Thy mercy descend
upon me, for my soul is distracted and pained at its departure from
this my wretched and filthy body, lest the evil design of the
adversary overtake it and make it stumble into the darkness for the
unknown and known sins amassed by me in this life. Be merciful unto
me, O Master, and let not my soul see the dark countenances of the
evil spirits, but let it be received by Thine Angels bright and
shining. Glorify Thy holy name and by Thy might set me before Thy
divine judgment seat. When I am being judged, suffer not that the
hand of the prince of this world should take hold of me to throw me,
a sinner, into the depths of hades, but stand by me and be unto me a
savior and mediator…"

[Kollyvas]

St.
Nicholas of Ochrid and Zhicha, the New Chrysostom of Serbia:

...«Each one of the faithful can learn much, indeed very much, from the
life of the Virgin Theotokos. However, I would like to mention here only
two things. First, she had the habit to frequently pray on Golgotha, on
the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane, to go to Bethlehem and
to other places famous because of her Son. At all of these places,
especially Golgotha, she prayed on bended knees. By this, she gave the
first example and incentive to the faithful to visit the holy places out
of love toward Him Who, by His presence and by His passion and glory,
made these places holy and significant. Second, we learn how she, in her
prayer, prayed for a quick departure from this life that her soul, at
the time of her separation from the body, not see the prince of darkness
and his horrors, and hidden from the dark regions not encounter the
power of Satan. Do you see how terrible it is for the soul to pass
through the *toll-gates [mitarstva]! When she, who gave birth to
the Destroyer of Hades and, who herself has frightening power over
demons prayed thusly, what then is left for us? Out of very great
humility, she commended herself to God and did not trust in her own
deeds. So much less should we trust in our deeds and even more we should
commend ourselves into the hands of God, crying out for His mercy,
especially for mercy at the time of the departure of the soul from the
body.» (Reflection of 15/28 August)...

[Kollyvas]

Death become life (theosis):

On the participation in Christ's death as a being taken up
in His Life, II Corinthians 5 is very instructive. At first we
might think that being "absent from the body, present with the
Lord" refers merely to "dying". Yet St. Paul seems to speak of
this alternately being "at home" or "away" in II Corinthians 5:9
as part of his daily / nightly spiritual experience. And he as
much as says so in II Corinthians 5:13 which sounds very much like
a parallel to II Corinthians 12:3. So, if being "absent from the
body, present with the Lord" and "being clothed upon from above"
is about dying, it is equally about living --about "mortality
being swallowed up by life" (II Corinthians 5:4). Whatever dying
is or we thought it was, it has been so transformed in Christ that
even our old view of death has passed away (II Corinthians 5:17).
To experience "death before death" and "resurrection before the
resurrection", this is the aim of the Orthodox Christian here below.
Daily dying becomes a more and more perfect living union with the
Lord, casting out fear of death and the bondage it entails (Hebrews
2:14-15). To experience this is to experience Life Eternal here
and now, and to participate already in the Age to Come: "But it
seemed to me that with this body of mine, I was such as we shall
be after the resurrection, or rather, that with this very body I
had secretly slipped in among those there" (St. Andrew the Fool
of Constantinople, quoted in Rev. Lev Puhalo, The Soul, the Body,
and Death, Saints Cyril and Methody Society Educational Series,
1981, p.31). Although II Corinthians 5 can be validly read as a
commentary on what we commonly call "death" here below, we see
that its multiple levels of meaning also relativize death in Christ
as lived experience to this higher, deeper, and more mature level
of personal experience which the Orthodox Church calls "theosis"
(II Corinthians 3:17-18). It is no longer just "I know he will
rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24),
but now Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives
and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:
25). Resurrection may resuscitate, but even more, the Resurrection
is a Person, Who is also the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Bread,
the Vine, and the True Sabbath (, and also the Bethesda Pool,
as I heard Fr. Thomas Hopko say). Our old categories of thought
and perception must pass away. "Behold, the new has come!" (II
Corinthians 5:17).

St. Symeon the New Theologian:

"Is there then one who "has ears to hear" (Mt. 11:15), so
that he may be able to hear the sense of that which the
Spirit says (cf. Rev. 2:7,11)? Is there even now someone
who has acquired "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16) so that
he may rightly discern what He has written, in a manner
worthy of God? Can anyone be found even now who has Christ
speaking in him (cf. 2 Cor. 13:3), so that he may be able
rightly to interpret the mysteries that are hidden in the
words? As [the apostle] says, "We speak the wisdom, but not
that of this age which is doomed to pass away, but the wisdom
hidden in a mystery" (1 Cor. 2:6f.). It is hidden from most,
yet revealed and known to us who walk in the fear of God and
who always look to Him. We do not speak of that which we do
not know, but "we bear witness of that which we know" (Jn.
3:11), for "the light" already "shines in the darkness" (Jn.
1:5), both by day and by night, both within and without
--within in our hearts (2 Cor. 6:16), without in our minds.
It shines on us without evening, without change, without
alteration, without form. It speaks, works, lives, gives
life, and changes into light those whom it illuminates. We
bear witness that "God is light," and those to whom it has
been granted to see Him have all beheld Him as light. Those
who have received Him have received Him as light, because the
light of His glory goes before Him, and it is impossible for
Him to appear without light. Those who have not seen His
light have not seen Him, for He is the light, and those who
have not received the light have not yet received grace.
Those who have received grace have received the light of God
and have received God, even as Christ Himself, who is the
Light, has said, "I will live in them and move among them"
(2 Cor. 6:16)." (St. Symeon the New Theologian, in Symeon
the New Theologian The Discourses, Paulist Press, 1980
[trans. C. J. deCatanzaro], pp.297-298 [From XXVIII #4]).

"But the men of whom I speak and whom I call heretics are
those who say that there is no one in our times and in
our midst who is able to keep the Gospel commandments and
become like the holy Fathers. That is to say, they should
believe and practice, for faith is shown by deeds (cf. Jas.
2:18), just as the features of the face in a mirror. Further,
that they may be both great contemplatives and see God, by
the illumination and reception of the Holy Ghost, through
whom the Son is perceived together with the Father. Now
those who say that this is impossible have not fallen into
one particular heresy, but rather into all of them, if I
may say so, since this one surpasses them all in impiety
and abundance of blasphemy. He who makes this claim subverts
all the divine Scriptures. I think (that by making this
claim) this vain person states that the Holy Gospel is now
recited in vain, that the writings of Basil the Great and
of our other priests and holy fathers are irrelevant or have
even been frivolously written. If, then, it is impossible
for us to carry out in action and observe without fail all
the things that God says, and all the saints after first
practicing them have left in writing for our instruction
(cf. 1 Cor 10:11), why did they at that time trouble to write
them down and why do we read them in church? Those who make
these claims shut up the heaven that Christ opened for us,
and cut off the way to it that He inaugurated for us (cf.
Heb. 10:19f.). God who is above all (Rom. 9:5) stands, as it
were, at the gate of heaven and peers out of it so that the
faithful see Him, and through His Holy Gospel cries out and
says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest" (Mt. 11:28). But these opponents of God
or, rather, antichrists say, "It is impossible, impossible!""
(St. Symeon the New Theologian, op.cit., p.312 [From XXIX #4]).

[Kollyvas]

https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa ... R3585&I=-3

From: "Very Rev. Archpriest Benjamin Henderson" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: River of Fire/River Styx

..St. Theofan could not tolerate St. Ignaty's dualistic tendencies regarding
body and soul and spoke out against them with no personal acrimony.

It will still be necessary for you to explain what you understand under
"dualistic tendencies", and then to explain why such tendencies are wrong
and harmful, Father.

...We,for our turn, in our relationship by
prayer and communion with them in the One Mystery of the the Body of Christ
are given access to the revelation which they participate.

Quite true. And without excepting the revelations that our ascetic fathers
had concerning the Particular Judgement, how it happens. These revelations
were granted precisely for our benefit, so that we will not forget "hell",
or be carried by the "slumbering souls" idea.

...We Orthodox Catholic Christians must not proof text our own biases
elicited from selective reading. Even when it is popular and our "circle"
supports such biases.

Indeed.

The issue, the locomotive driving the toll booth
discussions, is in fact dualism; the notion that body and soul may have
independent existence.

OK, I guess our Fathers are dualists in that sense. Christ is dualist too,
I suppose. What is the problem with this?

When I first heard explanations of the airy toll booths I remembered
my mother reading to me as a child the "Golden Bough" by Frazer. I
remembered the pagan Greek myths of the death of the body and the wandering
of the soul, the placing of Drachma on the eyes of the reposed, the giving
of the "spiritual" body to the Ferryman - Charon and the "journey" across
the Styx, the River of Death.

As you may have also read from St. Theophane, not everything that
non-Christians see or recall in their myths or religions is wrong simply
because they lack an explicit revelation of true faith. Much of more important
things come across as very similar in several pre-Christian religions. Maybe
for the reason of the significance of this matter and its effect on our
lives while still in this world?

...I have looked at the evidence for the airy toll
booths and I am not impressed much less convinced. I am saddened at the
captivity of our theology which has inflicted the spiritual sickness of
dualism on so many. I am certainly within the "Tradition" in my reserve and
sorrow.

I am equally saddened to see you calling something a spiritual sickness
unjustly. Tell this to Blessed Theodora. Or even to St. Theophane the
Recluse, for you will not find his arguing "against the visions with
toll-houses". If you will, please post the relevant portion.

... St. Theophans works, "Soul and Angel - not Body but Spirit,
sub-title, "Against the Brochures on Death and the Supplement to that Homily
(Dusha i Angel ne Telo, a Dukh/Protiv Broshiur - Slovo o Smerti i
Pribavlenie k semu Slovu.) would best be read after reading St. Ignaty's
works. All of the above is available from the Library of Congress. St.
Theophan referred to St. Ignaty's ideal that angels have "subtle bodies" as
a "scandal" and as a "novel teaching".

And what this has to do with the "aerial toll houses"? St. Ignatius considered
angels still having something like a "very thin" body, God alone being
truly Bodyless. Yes, of course, comparing to us they are "bodiless", even if
ascetic literature is full of pretty "physical" manifestations of both
angels and demons. St. Theophane apparently argued that the soul and
the Angels are spirits only. Having read both of them, I really see
"disagreement" in terminology, what to call "spirit", what to call "body".

The "toll booths" or "aerial toll
houses" are simply an extension of such dualism. In a letter (#995, in Vol.
6 of his Works) dated June 5, 1886 St. Theophan wrote to a spiritual child
an answer to her question "What happens to those who have reposed?"

Code: Select all

   "the body returns to earth; and the soul receives from God a special

place, according to its condition (ustroenie) where it dwells until the end
of the ages, either in joyous expectation, or in terrifying lack of hope.

Absolutely true. The process of God giving that special place according to
its condition is what Orthodox call a Particular Judgement. According to
revelations of our ascetics this process takes place after person's death
(just as st. Theophane wrote). For the treatment of this issue, please see
the relevant portion of "ORTHODOX DOGMATIC THEOLOGY" by Abp. Macarius,
the book that predates whatever St. Ignatius wrote, and that pretty clearly
and systematically summes up an Orthodox teaching concerning the
Particular Judgement, with quotes, examples.

That land
is a land closed to us. What happens there is not defined with precision.
One thing is precisely defined - the condition over there wholly corresponds
to the way the human being had conditioned himself over here. How to do so
(to condition oneself) is precisely explained in the Gospels and in the
Epistles. This now is for us the main task . . . Do not trouble yourself
(ne much'te sebia pytaniem) what will happen and where shall we be. And
when such questions do arise in your head, say to yourself, it will be well
for those who are good, and it shall be ill for those who are bad;
correspondingly for the former, the place shall be full of light; for the
latter, the place shall be filled with darkness. So do let us concern
ourselves with being good, and that is all. As to what shall be there - we
shall see when we get there."

Absolutely true. Anyone will agree with it, including, no doubt, St. Ignatius
and everyone. It is not defined with precision, on the contrary, any
description of that later reality is incomplete and unprecise, for the lack of
words it is described as an analogy - to the toll houses. No one ever
understood it literally, not more than you can literally understand the
Revelation of St. John. And the words above are equally applicable to many
other parts of the Church teaching. Perhaps, care should be taken when
quoting the letters of personal spiritual advise given to the spiritual
child.

Code: Select all

   No mention of toll booths, emphasis is on responsibility - "as you

reap, so shall ye sow" - for one's own actions/life.

And how does God's Judgement, expressed in visions of the toll-houses,
alter this "as you reap, so shall ye sow"? What is your problem with it,
I simply can't understand? Why would St. Theophane be mentioning something
that he advise his spiritual child not to think about? Or does not thinking
about something means that this something is not existing? Logic?

The point is that for
the toll booths to be "real" presumes a heretical doctrine of the
relationship of body to soul. Dualism. Read also Fr. Michael Azkoul's new
book - "The Toll House Myth", available from Light and Life Publishers.

I just hope Fr. Michael did not overdo this one as he did with St. Augustine
in an earlier book by him. As to "heretic doctrine" of dualism, it is
pretty astounding to hear this. I thought the idea of "slumbering souls"
was just an exampel of ignorance, and nothing more. Apparently this is more
entrenched than I thought before.

Code: Select all

   Regarding the whole Toll booth/no toll booth debate I shall follow

my father in Christ St. Theophan's advice. His faith in regard to dualism
and the unity of soul and body is mine. We will know the answers when we
see the Saviour "face to face" and one way or the other, we shall.

Please forgive my comment, Father, but you will do good if in this "debate"
you will really follow St. Theophane, along with advice of so many before him.
And not infuse your particualr thoughts about "dualism" into St. Theophane's
mouth, because it did not come from there.

Read the original sources. It is good for us to remember that we will die.

Indeed. Not only read, but try not to say that they said what they did not.
And that there will be Judgement immediately after.
Why do you think we pray for the dead on 3, 7, 9 , 40 day? And "to be
spared while passing the "mytarstva" (those "dualistic" toll-houses)".

I won't dialogue on toll booths. That was all done for us by St.
Ignaty and St. Theophan and many, many others. I am going to die and wish
only to pray, to repent of my sins, live my life, such as it is.

Yes, monologue is easier. But calling something "dualistic heresy" makes
you responsible now, for our souls, the ones who apparently do not
consider it any heresy at all, but, quite in according to our Fathers
among Saints, oppose the idea of "slumbering souls", and affirm the Orthodox
teaching on the Particular Judgement. You will have either to take your words
back, or to explain what is so heretic, or harmful to our souls in it,
and why these ideas are found in our "Lives of Saints", ascetic literature,
our prayers?

In any case, I am at least as worried by your words, as you are convinced in
necessity to denounce the Particualar Judgement, and associated revelations,
as "heretic". Perhaps I should not be, I am no Priest after all, but at the
same time the only reaon I have to do it, is firm belief, and reading of much
literature you quote in my native language. So two years ago, when it first
became evident that there is a "controversy" on this subject in the US,
I could not realise its source at first - I have not read Fr. Seraphim's book,
but rather his sources, it later turned out. (He does have a chapter, I recall,
discussing the supposed "contradiction" between St. Ignatius and St. Theophane,
as well as a chapter in response to the "critics" by Abbot Lazar (Puhalo).

While I am writing about these things, there is another thing that you
(and Matushka) keep mentioning, about the depiction of the Ancient of Days
in Russian and Greek icons, in contradition to some Council, such depiction
being an old and wide-spread tradition. The reason for my commenting on this,
is that I can;t understand what spiritual harm it does make, what makes you
and others denouncing this as some major heterodoxy denounce it? Did it
cause any sould loss, or erosion of faith? Perhaps apostacy? Perhaps
irreverence? Instead of trying to extract a spiritual benefit for all, from
this tradition, quite in agreement with St. Theophane the Resluse and St. Paul
approach - be denouncing something that is unimportant at best? You can't
find anything to substantiate that is associated with any heretic or new
belief, when it is used in Church context, withing our worship. Why bother
denouncing? In a similar spirit, we sometimes read a blanket denounciations of
all things that Western theology contained, in corpora. Parhaps, some Bishop
will again bother to write a correction to Fr. Michael Azkoul's book - like
it happened with his book on St. Augustine.
Alexey

[Kollyvas]

http://www.oodegr.com/english/esxata/telwnismos1.htm

The Taxing of Souls
by Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos)

Taken From the book “Life After Death”, written by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, (Levadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 1995), pp. 62-80. translated by. Esther Williams.

Also related to the foregoing is the teaching of both Holy Scripture and the holy Fathers about the taxing of souls. At this point we shall examine the subject thoroughly, as it has a bearing on the terrible mystery of death. We find this topic in the whole biblico-patristic tradition and it corresponds to a reality which we need to look at in order to prepare ourselves for the dreadful hour of death. What follows is written not in order to arouse anxiety, but to prompt repentance, which has joy as its result. For he who has the gift of the Holy Spirit and is united with Christ avoids the terrible presence and activity of the customs demons.

According to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, the soul at its departure from the body, as well as when it is preparing to leave, senses the presence of the demons who are called customs demons, and is possessed with fear because of having to pass through customs.

Of course we must say from the start that the customs demons have no sovereignty over the righteous, those who have united with Christ. The righteous not only will not go through "customs-houses", but they will also not be in fear of that. We shall see all this better when we compare the teaching of the Fathers. The characterisation of the soul's passage through the demons as customs is taken from the tax collectors of that time. We may look briefly at this subject in order to understand why the Fathers characterise the soul's passage through the demons as customs.

In ancient times the name of tax gatherer was given to those who purchased the public taxes from the State and then collected them from the people" [48]. The tax gatherers were divided into two classes. The first class comprised the so-called "publicans ('confiscators') or tithe collectors", who were the wealthiest class and the force of authority, and the second comprised the "tax collectors". The publicans were the general public collectors, who had bought the taxes from the State, while the tax collectors were their salaried servants, who collected the taxes from the people and gave them to the publicans.

The tax collectors were unjust because they collected larger taxes than had to be paid to their masters. That is why they had a very bad reputation in ancient communities. Plato said that the tax collectors were oppressive, not so much when they collected duties from the visible imports, "but when in looking for what was hidden they meddled in other people's equipment and freight". Therefore when Theocritus was asked what were the fiercest beasts, he answered: "in the mountains, bears and lions, and in the cities, tax collectors and sycophants".

The tax collectors, in their effort to collect as many taxes as they could—and especially in order not to let some people escape who could not accept the very heavy and unjust tax—contrived various means: they would lie in wait in narrow roads and seize passers-by, forcing them to give what they owed. It was very unpleasant and odious to the people of that time.

It is just this familiar and odious image which the Fathers used in order to give the people of that time an understanding of the terrible mystery of death and of the terrible things that unfold when the soul is being prepared for departure, especially when it is leaving the body. St. Macarius of Egypt would say expressively: "Like the tax collectors who sit in the narrow roads and seize the passers-by and the oppressed, so also the demons watch carefully and grab hold of souls. And when they pass out of the body, if they are not completely purified, they are not permitted to go up into the mansions of Heaven there to meet their Master. For they are driven down by the demons of the air" [49].

The image of the tax collectors certainly belongs to the reality of that time. But the teaching that the demons try to seize a man's soul at its departure is mentioned in many texts of Holy Scripture and of the Fathers of the Church. We have already seen that after death the souls of the righteous are received by the angels and the souls of sinners and the unrepentant are received by the demons. With the malice which all the demons have against men, they would like to dominate everyone and have them in their power for ever. But they cannot have authority over the righteous.

A basic passage which the Fathers of the Church interpret as referring to the customs demons is what Christ said shortly before His Passion: "for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me" (John 14, 30). The ruler of this world is the devil. He is called the ruler of the world not because he is really the ruler and final authority in the whole world, but because he dominates the world of the unjust. Christ declares that the devil has no authority over Him. He is surely referring here to the devil and death.

St. Paul, referring to the spiritually dead who were deprived of the grace of God, writes: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the ways of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2, 1-2). This passage indicates that men are deadened by sins and the work of the devil.

Likewise the devil is characterised as the prince of the power of the air because he is in the atmosphere and is constantly waging war on men. It is precisely this image which the Fathers have in view, saying that when the soul leaves the body and passes through the air towards heaven, it meets the ruler of the air. The passage also mentions that this ruler is working now too in the sons of disobedience.

There are many passages in the Old Testament which the Fathers use to indicate what is called the souls' payment of customs duties. I should like to mention two of them. One comes from a psalm of David in which the Prophet King speaks to God and says: "0 Lord my God, in you I put my trust; save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me, lest they tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces, with no one to rescue me" (Psalm 7, 1-2). The other passage is in the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, where it says: "there seemed to be a fire burning in my bones; I was wearied and could not endure, for I heard many mocking me on every side" (Jer. 20, 9-10).

Now that we have quoted the most basic passages interpreted by the Fathers, we shall go on to their teaching about the "taxing" of souls. We should say that we will first compare their teaching about the taxing and then speak of the mystical interpretation of this condition. As will be seen more clearly in what follows, the souls of the righteous are not in fear, since they have the grace of God, and the demons have no power over them. The souls of the unrepentant are in anguish, being subject to the influence of the demons and to the action of the passions as well. There are demons, but the customs payment also means the action of the passions. We should never forget this point, because to be unaware of it creates false conceptions. The reader of this chapter must be particularly careful in studying the patristic teaching.

St. Basil the Great, interpreting the passage from the Psalms: "save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me, lest they tear my soul like a lion" (Psalm 7, 2-3), says that the brave men who have struggled throughout their lives against the invisible enemy, towards the end of their lives "will be searched by the ruler of the age" in order to hold them captive if they are found to have wounds or stigmata or imprints of sins. But if they are found uninjured and unstained, then "as they are invincible and free, Christ will give them rest". Therefore he who is under the power of death, since he knows that "One is He who saves, One is He who redeems", cries out to Christ the Saviour: "deliver me in that time of searching, lest they tear my soul like a lion". And Christ, since he was free of sin, said: "now the ruler of this world is coming and he will have nothing in me"; for man, however, it is enough to say that the ruler of the world is coming and he will have "few and small things" in me" [50].

The hour of death is terrible because then the person recalls his sins, but also because he sees frightening things. St. John Chrysostom bears witness that there are many men who recount terrible visions, which the departing one cannot repel. They are so terrible that "his very bed shakes violently, and he gazes in fear at the bystanders".

That is to say, his very body is shaken by his soul's fear, and he makes many disturbed movements. St. John Chrysostom adds that if we are frightened by the sight of terrible men, how much more frightened we will be when at the departure of our soul from the body we see "angels threatening us and stern powers". The soul which is parted from the body wails uselessly, in vain [51].

St. Symeon the New Theologian speaks about this, emphasising especially that he who has God's Light conquers the demons that come near him, for the demons are burnt by the divine Light. This is the case even now, as far as the person is in the vision of God and is clothed in God's Light. It will be much more the case when a person's soul is leaving his body. St. Symeon says that the Christian has no benefit from the spiritual struggle which he is going through if the devil is not set ablaze by the Light of God. And this means that the essence and aim of the spiritual life is to be united with the Light. St. Symeon writes:

"If the prince of darkness, when he comes, does not see Thy glory accompanying me and is not utterly confounded—he, the darkness, consumed by Thy inaccessible Light—and if all the hostile powers with him do not flee on seeing the mark of Thy seal, while I pass through, trusting in Thy grace perfectly intrepid, and approach Thee and bow down what is the use of that which is going on in me now?" [52].

The demons that want to seize a person's soul even at the last moment are characterised by St. Diadochos of Photike as tartar rulers, that is to say, rulers of hades. A person who loves God will not be in fear, for love casts out fear, and he will freely outdistance "the tartar rulers". The soul of a man who rejoices in the love of God, at the hour of death, "is lifted with the angels of peace above all the hosts of darkness" [53].

Thus the holy Fathers are not satisfied just to emphasise the existence of the demons and their aggressive rage against men, but they also emphasise the way in which we can escape their threats. By confessing his sins completely a person is released from cowardice and fear, is filled with the love of Christ, and so he is freed from the evils of the demons. The devil has no power over him.

Abba Isaiah calls the demons which approach the soul when it is leaving the body "rulers of darkness" and "rulers of evil". He teaches that when a man's soul leaves his body, the angels travel with it. But then the powers of darkness also go out to meet it and to dominate it. At that moment the angels do not fight with the demons but wall the person round with the good deeds that he has done. When the person has conquered the demons because of the good deeds which he has done in his life, then "the Angels will rejoice with him when they see him, freed from the powers of darkness". That is why Abba Isaiah exhorts us to love peace, to have love towards men, to think of God and His righteousness, to ignore need for the world and its honour, and so forth [54].

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers contain the teaching of Theophilos the Archbishop on the subject we are dealing with. He says that at the time of departure a court case takes place between the angels and the demons. The demons present "all the sins committed either deliberately or through ignorance from birth to this last hour", and they make accusation against the person. Likewise the angels bring up the good deeds which the soul of the particular person has done. Then the soul under judgement is in great fear. If the demons win, it hears the words: "Take away the ungodly soul, that it may not see the glory of God". But if it comes out the victor and is given freedom, the demons are put to shame and the angels receive the soul and guide it "into that unspeakable joy and glory" [55].

We find these views in many patristic texts. Hesychios the Priest prays that when the ruler of darkness comes, he may find our misdeeds few and petty [56]. He teaches that when the soul has Christ with it, "He will speedily avenge it" [57].

Likewise St. Theognostos says that the righteous soul rises to heaven, going in peace "to meet the radiant and joyful angel that comes down for it and travelling with him unimpeded through the air, totally unharmed by the evil spirits" [58].

The holy Fathers teach all these things not from their imagination, but from enlightening experiences. Sometimes other holy men have revealed these things to them, and at other times they themselves, illumined by God, have had such frightening experiences.

Antony the Great once reached the point of personally seeing such dreadful things. In his cell he went into rapture and then saw himself go out of his body and walk in the air, obviously led by angels. Some bitter and terrible demons prevented them from ascending to heaven and sought a reason for several deeds. Then those leading Antony the Great fought with the terrible demons, saying that God had forgiven him all his deeds from his birth and that they should accuse him only of what he had done from the moment when he became a monk. "Then when they had accused him and not proven him wrong, his way became free and unhindered" [59].

In a dreadful story of Antony the Great the following is told: During the night a voice wakened him and urged him to go out of his cell and look. Then in fact he saw someone "tall, without bodily form and dreadful", who was the devil, standing straight with his hands raised, preventing some from ascending by keeping hold of them, and gnashing his teeth at others because they had escaped and were ascending to heaven. It was revealed to Antony the Great that this dreadful spectacle was "the passage of souls" [60].

St. John of the Ladder describes a terrible spectacle seen by the hermit Stephen, who was an ascetic on Mt. Sinai, near the cave of the Prophet Elijah. On the day before his death, while his eyes were open, he went into ecstasy and began to took to the right and left of his bed. Those present heard him answering as if he were being interrogated. Sometimes he said: "Of course it is true. That was why I fasted for so many years". Or again: "Yes, that is correct, but I wept and served my brothers". Or again: "No. You are accusing me falsely. "Or sometimes: "Quite right. No, I have no excuse. But God is merciful". And St. John of the Ladder adds that "this unseen and relentless interrogation was a truly awful and frightening spectacle". Worst of all was the fact that they accused him of things which he had not done" [61].

From what we have cited it seems that the whole tradition of the Church speaks of the existence of the customs demons, the spirits in the air, which fight a man with hatred and evils not only throughout his life, but especially before and after his soul's departure from the body.

In the tradition of the Church, however, it is seen clearly, that the demons have no mastery over the men of God, because those who have put on God do not go through such a martyrdom. If the ruler of the world has no power over Christ, this is also true of those men who are united with Him. This is why the Fathers advise us to live within the Church, with repentance, confession and spiritual works, that we live and die in the Church with the orthodox faith and the prayers of our Fathers, so that the ruler of darkness and the spirits of evil may not have power over us.

In any case it is a fact that during the soul's departure from the body a great battle goes on, chiefly in people who have insufficient purification. The terrible thing is that many people in our time die without being aware of the shocking hour of death. That is to say, the illnesses of our time, as well as the powerful pharmaceutical culture, distort man's psychosomatic constitution and make it difficult for him to go through these crucial hours with fitting attention, fear of God and prayer. Of course medicines do help us not to feel the pain of our illnesses, but they also alter our whole psychosomatic constitution; they do not allow us to realise what is going on and to seek God's mercy.

These hours are very crucial. This is why all who fear God and have spiritual knowledge of the crucial moments pray to be made aware of the events of that time. It is a real opportunity for the person to repent of all that he has committed, to seek God's mercy. To be watchful at this frightful hour is the most important work. That is why the Church prays for God to deliver us from "sudden death".

But we must look at the existence of the customs houses from two sides. One side is the demons' malice and the other is the existence of passions. In the patristic teaching we find that there is also another interpretation of the customs houses. Without, of course, overlooking the teaching about the existence of the rulers of darkness and the spirits of evil, I would also like us at this point to turn our attention to the mystical teaching of the Fathers of the Church about the customs-houses.

We also said before that when a person's soul is about to leave the body, the memory of the sins which he has committed in his life comes back to him. It is a truly intolerable state. St. John Chrysostom speaks of it. He says that on the last day of a person's biological life "sins contort his soul", they stir up his soul. This refers to passions which "move up from below the heart" [62]. The passions seek satisfaction, but the person cannot respond. It is a terrible state.

This insatiable desire of the soul is intensified even further when the soul is separated from the body. St. Gregory of Nyssa attributes this kind of interpretation to his sister Macrina. He says that as it happens with people who have remained in filthy places for a long period of time, that they are not released from the odiousness of the dirt even if they live in clean air afterwards, the same happens to the soul when it parts from the body. Lovers of the flesh, even if they have turned to the incorporeal and refined life, are unable to free themselves from the carnal odour. Precisely then the soul becomes more materalised and in that way "they are in great distress". St. Gregory adds that if what some people say is true, that the shadowy shapes of the departed are seen in the vicinity of the graves, this is an indication that the soul does not want to be parted from the life of the flesh even after it has left the body. The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in which the Rich Man, finding himself in Hades, seems to be thinking about his relatives, indicates that the souls of lovers of the flesh really cannot part from the passions which constitute the carnal life [63].

We know from the Orthodox Tradition that there are passions of the body and passions of the soul. Since there is unity between soul and body, there is also a relationship between the passions of soul and body. The passions of the soul work through the bodily senses. When the soul is released from the body, it cannot satisfy its passions. Ungratified passions produce intolerable pain and a suffocating condition. They stifle the soul. This is the real hell and a frightful affliction. For this reason the holy Fathers advise us to cleanse our souls from the passions while we are in the present life, so that the soul may be released and freed after its departure. It should be satisfied and attracted to God Himself.

There is also another problem for the soul after its departure from the body. St. Gregory of Nyssa teaches that all nature is attracted to what is like it, to its relatives. So too the soul is drawn towards the divine and is related to it, since man is related to God and contains within himself copies of the archetype. After leaving the body, the soul is light, without any bodily pain, and therefore it is easy and pleasant to proceed towards what attracts it, towards God. But if the soul is held down by material habits and by the nails of the passions, then it undergoes suffering in the way in which the body suffers during earthquakes, when it is not only crushed by the weight of the earth but can also be pierced by various pointed objects which are in the earth [64].

It is just this which constitutes the torment of the soul. It experiences a dreadful bifurcation, we could say. On the one hand, it wants to ascend towards God and unite with Him, since it is His image. On the other hand it is impeded by the passions which riddle, press and torment it. And this view is one part of the interpretation of the holy Fathers concerning the customs houses.

The torment of a soul which is parted from the body is described in a wonderful and realistic way by Abba Dorotheos. He says that during this life the soul is comforted through being distracted by the passions. It can feel great sorrow and dreadful pain, but by means of the body and the passions it can take comfort and ease its pain. In such a melancholic and frightful state the person "is fed, drinks, sleeps, meets and associates with friends", that is to say he is entertained by persons dear to him. Thus he is comforted in part and can more easily forget the deepest problem which worries him. But when the soul leaves the body, "it is alone with its own passions and, in short, is always tormented by them". At this time the soul is burning with the annoyance of the passions, it is distracted by them and cannot be mindful of God. This is a real tragedy, for at this time, because there is no body either, it cannot feel even the slightest comfort.

In what follows Abba Dorotheos takes an astonishing example. Suppose someone was shut up in a dark cell with no food or drink for three days without sleeping or meeting anyone, or psalmodising, or praying, or thinking of God at all. Then he would know "what the passions do to him". Actually in such a situation the soul and the whole man is infuriated. We are assured of this by various people who experience the agony of places of torture and frightful imprisonment. If this is the case even while the soul is linked with the body, how much more so when it has left the body and is isolated with its passions.

Abba Dorotheos also makes use of the image of the sick person with a burning fever. This of course creates many other problems as well, especially if the person has a melancholic and ill-tempered body. The same thing happens with the impassioned soul. "The conflict arising from its own bad habits punishes it all the time, the memory being always embittered, the mutterings of its passions constantly emerging, always burning it and enraging it". If one adds to this torment and suffering of the soul the terrible places of Hell and the demons and the fire and the darkness, and so forth, then one can understand the suffering and torment of the soul after its departure and its sojourn in Hades and Hell".

The things that we have said so far show just what those customs houses are that are spoken of in the patristic texts. On the one hand, they are the passions of the soul which, because of the non-existence of the body, cannot be satisfied, and therefore stifle the soul. On the other hand, they are the evil demons which have gained mastery over passionate people, and it is natural that after the soul's departure they have greater mastery over them. The righteous people, who during their lives have purified their souls and bodies from passions of the soul and body and have been clothed in the pledge of the Spirit and united with God, escape the power of the customs houses, since the demons have no power over them. The souls of the righteous are led, free and undistracted, towards God, with whom they are united.

So the whole problem is not to be afraid of the customs demons, but as long as we live, to cure our soul and our whole being of passions, to partake of the uncreated grace of God, so that the departure of our soul from our body may be a matter of joy and delight.

Of course there are some who maintain that such notions as customs houses and aerial spirits have come into Christianity from Gnostic theories and pagan myths which prevailed during that period.

There is no doubt that such views can be found in many Gnostic texts, in pagan ideas which are found in Egyptian and Chaldaean myths. However it must be emphasised that many Fathers adopted the teaching about customs houses, but they cleared it of idolatrous and Gnostic frames of reference and placed it in the ecclesiastical atmosphere. The holy Fathers were not afraid to do such creative work.

It is a fact that the Fathers were working creatively and productively when they took many views and theories from the pagan world, but gave them an ecclesiastical content. It is well known that the Fathers took the teaching about the immortality of the soul, about the ecstasy of man and the dispassion of the soul and body, the teaching about the tripartite soul and many other things from the ancient philosophies, as well as from ancient traditions, but clearly they gave them another content and a different perspective. We cannot discard the teaching about the immortality of the soul just because the ancient philosophers spoke of it. We must look at the content which the holy Fathers gave to it.

Therefore what happened to other topics happened also to the subject of the customs houses. It is true that ancient traditions and heretical views spoke of "rulers of the astral sphere", about "gates of an astral journey", about "aerial spirits", and so forth. We find several of these phrases in the Bible and in patristic texts. As we have mentioned in this chapter, many Fathers of the Church speak of customs houses and aerial spirits, but they have given them different content and different meanings. The patristic teaching about customs houses must be interpreted within the following four points.

First. The symbolic language of the Bible requires the necessary interpretation. Anyone who only keeps to the images used distorts the Gospel message. For instance, we must say that words in the Bible can be misinterpreted if we only look at their theological meaning. The same thing is true in the case of the customs houses. We should not be thinking only of today's customs houses, through which everyone has to pass at the national borders. The symbolic image is intended to present something, but it must be interpreted in an orthodox way.

Second. There are demons, which are dark angels. They are persons and therefore have freedom, and with God's permission, but also through the wrong use of freedom by man, they have been able to dominate him. That is to say, after the soul's departure from the body, the demons demand to possess a soul which they have mastered because of its unrepentance. In Christ's well-known parable about the foolish rich man there is the sentence: "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?". According to the patristic interpretation it is the demons who demand possession of the soul of the foolish rich man after its departure from the body.

Third. The demons have no authority over the men of God. All who are united with God and have within their soul and heart the uncreated energy of God are outside the control of the demons. So the deified will not go through the so-called customs houses.

Fourth. According to the teaching of the Fathers, as we have seen before, the demons, which are real spirits, act by means of the passions. The fact that the passions cannot be gratified after the soul's departure from the body is a suffocation of the soul.

When we examine the customs houses in these theological frames, the use of this teaching is not inappropriate. But if we have other conceptions, we are on the wrong path.

Endnotes

1. See extended analysis in G. Konstantinou: Dictionary of holy Scriptures, ed. Grigori, op. 966 (Gk).

2. Macarius of Egypt: Homily 43, 9, CWS p. 222.

3. Basil the Great: Homily on Psalm 7, 2. PG 29, 232B, D.

4. John Chrysostom: Homily 44 on Matthew, EPE 11, p. 170 (Gk).

5. SC 174, p. 310.

6. Diadochus of Photiki: On spiritual knowledge, 100, Philokalia 1, p. 295.

7. Evergetinos, op. cit. p. 101f.55. Ibid. p. 102f.

8. Hesychios: On watchfulness and holiness 161, Philok. 1, p. 190.

9. Ibid 149, p. 188.

10. Theognostos: On the practice of the virtues 61, Philok. 2, p.

11. Evergetinos, op.,cit. p. 99.

12. Ibid. p. 100.

13. John of the Ladder: Step 7, CWS p. 142.

14. John Chrysostom: Homily 44 on Matthew, EPE 11, p. 168 (Gk).

15. Gregory of Nyssa: On the Soul and the Resurrection, Ch. 6, SVS p. 76.

16. Ibid. p. 83.

17. Dorotheos: Discourse 12, Fear of punishment, CS 33, p. 183f.

[buzuxi]

The toll house theory is an opinion. The best argument against the toll houses is that its unique to ROCOR. Greek old calendarists dont take it sersiously except for the Cyprianites who have been heavily influenced by ROCOR. In fact Chrysostomos (goc) a few years ago was credited for eradicating "certain" foreign teachings influenced by ROCOR. Any cradle Orthodox who have roots in the old country regardless of jurisdictional affilation can tell you that their grandmothers and granfathers were completely unaware of a "toll-house". Its sporadic and has become a controversy due to ROCOR. the Yia-yias and Babushkas from time immemorable never taught of a toll-house only a ladder to heaven that the immoral will not be able to succeed in reaching heaven. But the righteous have nothing to fear. (another words the icon of divine ascent)