Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 14

The Month of November

Day 14

78. Unrepentant Sinners, After Death, Are Delivered into the Power of Demons and Go to Hell

(From the Life of the Holy Apostle Philip)

Once, while the Holy Apostle Philip was preaching the word of God to the pagans, he raised a dead man before them in order to convince them by an actual deed that Jesus is truly Christ, the Son of God. The circumstances were as follows. While the Apostle was speaking about the Lord to the pagans, a dead man was being carried past the place where they were gathered. Seeing him, those listening to Philip said to him: “If you raise this dead man, then we will believe in your God.” Hearing this, the Apostle raised his eyes to heaven and, after praying for some time, said in a quiet voice to the dead man lying on the bier: “Theophilos!” At these words of Philip, the dead man came to life, raised himself, sat up on the bier, and opened his eyes. Philip said to him again: “Christ commands you: rise from the bier and speak with us.” Immediately, the man who had been raised did as he was commanded, fell at the Apostle’s feet, and exclaimed: “I thank you, holy servant of God, for delivering me from many evils at this hour. For after my soul was separated from my body, two black and foul-smelling demons mercilessly dragged me to Hell; and if you had not come to my aid and delivered me from them, I would certainly have been cast into grievous Tartarus.” From these words of the resurrected Theophilos, as you see, brethren, it becomes clear that sinners, after death, are delivered into the power of demons and go to Hell. Is this true?

That sinners, after death, are delivered into the power of demons is indeed true, for this is evident from the following account.

In a monastery called Galat, there was a monk whom the brethren considered a saint. In reality, however, this was not so: he was a hypocrite. For example, he fasted only when people were watching, but did not observe a genuine fast. His hypocrisy was exposed before his death under the following circumstances. Having fallen ill, he asked his brethren to come to him, and they did not keep him waiting long, thinking that they would hear from him, as from a saint, a word of spiritual instruction. How great was their astonishment, then, when he began speaking to them, trembling and shaking: “Woe to me, wretched man, brethren! Now I have been delivered into the hands of a cruel enemy, for I lived impurely. Before you, I appeared to be one who fasted, but in reality I was not. And now, because of this, I am in the power of the devil. He has taken the form of a serpent, coiled himself around me, and with terrible torment is wrenching my soul from me.” “And with these words spoken by him,” adds the compiler of this account, “he immediately died; and God did not permit him to remain alive, so that he might be able to escape the serpent which he saw through repentance.” (Prologue, October 16.)

Let us now consider whether it is true that sinners go to Hell after death.

A certain abbot had twenty monks under his direction in a monastery. One of them was very lazy: he did not observe the fasts, drank immoderately, and was especially unrestrained in his speech. The elder abbot constantly urged him to amend his ways and even implored him to do so. “Brother,” he would tell him, “take care of your soul: you are not immortal, and therefore you will not escape torment if you do not come to your senses.” But the monk went against the elder, paid not the slightest attention to his words, and died in such negligence. The compassionate elder was deeply grieved for his soul and began to pray. “Lord Jesus Christ, our true God,” he said, among other things, “show me where the monk’s soul is now.” He often asked God for this, and at last his prayer was heard. One day, a certain terror came upon him, and he saw a river of fire and a multitude of people in it, being scorched by the flames and groaning loudly. To his greatest sorrow, among these sufferers he also saw his disciple, who had died in negligence, standing in the flames up to his neck. “Was it not so that you might escape this torment that I implored you,” the abbot exclaimed, “to take at least some care for your soul, my child? Do you now see what you have brought upon yourself?” “O Father,” the monk replied, “thanks be to God even for this, that through your prayers at least my head has found some relief!” With this, the vision ended. (Prologue, December 9.) From this account it becomes clear that sinners truly do go to Hell after death.

What lesson, brethren, should we draw from all this? Without doubt, first and foremost, it is that, remembering that sins deliver us into the power of our most evil enemy and plunge us into Gehenna, we should flee from them as from a deadly plague. “Guard yourself against every sin,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “as against deadly poison, for every sin offends and provokes the great God to anger; it separates the one who sins from God and places obstacles in the way of eternal salvation. Therefore, beware of sin, lest it put you to death forever.” (Works of Saint Tikhon, vol. 1, p. 122.)

Secondly, the accounts presented also clearly reveal another lesson: while guarding ourselves against every sin in general, we should particularly avoid hypocrisy, not be negligent in prayer, observe the fasts, be moderate in all things, and restrain our tongues. Why did the first monk fall into the power of the devil? Because of hypocrisy. Why was the other cast into Hell? Because he was very lazy: he did not observe the fasts, drank immoderately, and was especially unrestrained in his speech. Therefore, we must also take this latter lesson to heart.

Finally, in order to learn generally to flee from sins and to acquire the habit of virtue, let us hear what Saint Tikhon says further. He speaks as follows:

“To avoid sins, remember often death, the Judgment of Christ, eternal torment, and eternal life. Then the world, with all its lusts and deceptions, will inevitably become repugnant to you. You will no longer wish to grow rich, gain glory, and rejoice in this world. Your sole concern will be to please God, to die blessedly, not to be put to shame at that Judgment of Christ, to escape eternal torments, and to enter the Kingdom of God. Truly, this is a great and powerful means by which a person may avoid being deceived by the vanities of this world and may remain in true repentance and contrition of heart, which are absolutely necessary for every Christian. Truly, this remembrance and sure reflection can move even the most corrupt person and keep him in fear. The very name of this alone—an eternity of misery or torment—brings a person to trembling and terror. The reason people cling to vanity and sin is truly that they forget eternity. O eternal torment, how bitter is even the remembrance of you! It is fearful and grievous to fall into that torment; but it is also fearful and grievous to be deprived forever of God and eternal life. Therefore, remember these last things, and you will never sin.” (Saint Tikhon, vol. 1, pp. 132–133.)

After such instruction from Saint Tikhon, it is clear that we have nothing to add of our own to his teaching. All that remains is to wish for the salvation of your souls, which we sincerely do. Amen.

Questions for Discourse 78:

1. Under what condition, according to Theophilus’s words to the Apostle Philip, would he have been cast into grievous Tartarus?

2. What did the brethren expect to hear from the monk of Galat before his death?

3. According to the words of the monk of Galat, what does the devil, in the form of a serpent, wrench away because the monk had lived impurely?

4. According to the words of the deceased lazy monk to the abbot, why had his head found some relief?

5. According to Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, what should we remember often in order to avoid sins?

 

Source: The Cheti-Minei: Homilies for Every Day of the Year (Book 1: September, October, November) by Archpriest Viktor Guryev. Publication of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, 1896. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.