Prologue in Sermons: October 5 (a)

On the Afterlife

October 5

(The Account of the Vision of Abbot Kosmas, Terrifying and Very Beneficial)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We ought to be especially grateful to those Saints who, having been deemed worthy during their lifetime to behold the world after death, have left us accounts of it. For such accounts resolve many questions that are exceedingly difficult for us, dispel many of our unfounded judgments, and strengthen our faith in the truth of the gospel. As proof of this, here is something from the account of a pious man who was deemed worthy to behold the dwelling places of the Saints.

“I was placed,” he says, “in a certain level place where everything was good, joyful, and pleasant, while off to the side there was an even better place, lush and beautiful, the full loveliness of which it is impossible to convey in words. In the midst of this latter place sat a venerable elder, and around him were children whose number surpassed the number of the sand of the sea. Wishing to know who this elder was, I asked the Apostles Andrew and John, who were accompanying me, and they said that it was Abraham, and that the place where the children were was called his bosom. Having bowed before the greatest of the patriarchs, I was led by my guides to a place called Eleon, where an innumerable multitude of trees grew, and beneath each one was a shade. There were also many people there, and many of them were known to me. Some of them had been brought up at the royal court, others were ordinary citizens, some were farmers, and others were monks. All those known to me were already dead. When I wanted to ask in detail about the place I was seeing, the Apostles anticipated me and said: ‘You wish to know what this great and beautiful Eleon is and what all that you see in it means? Know that it is the house of the heavenly Father, in which there are many dwellings. And these dwellings are distributed among all according to their piety and according to the measure of their virtues.’”

What question that troubles us does this account resolve? The question of where our children go when they die in infancy. “What becomes of them? Where are their souls?” we often think, and, because of our lack of faith, we sometimes give ourselves over to excessive sorrow over our separation from them. But here it is made clear that they are in the bosom of Abraham and that, therefore, there is no need to be anxious about their destiny, and that the Lord’s word is true: “For of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).

What unfounded judgment of ours does this account dispel? The notion that “there is no way to be saved in the world, but only in a monastery or in some wilderness.” In reality, as you see, it is not so. In the Kingdom of Heaven, as we heard in the account, there are, together with monks, those who had been brought up at the royal court, citizens, and farmers. It is therefore clear that it is not a place that saves or destroys a person, but deeds alone save or destroy. Let us remember that “the Lord,” as Venerable Niphon says, “receives equally into His embrace the righteous soul from the throne and from the plow, from the altar and from the battlefield,” and let each person remain in his own calling.

Therefore, brethren, it is true that we ought to be especially grateful to the Saints who, having been deemed worthy of visions, have left us their accounts of them. We will express our gratitude to them when we pay heed to their accounts and when we make use of the lessons contained in them for the salvation of our souls. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.