Keep Calm and Prepare to Die No. 1 | Orthodox Christian Hardcover Journal

Death is inherited by every person who lives on this planet. How the world fools us! It toys with everyone like a cat plays with mice. It teases us, it makes us imagine fictitious things, it deceives us, and at the time of death it reveals the truth to us. At that moment every soul realizes that it has been tricked by the devil, the world, and the flesh. The world feeds our imagination with so many things, which it serves to us as appetizing bait, in order to hook us in with sin.

The time of death is terrifying, as the hymnologist [St. John of Damascus] attests: “What a struggle the soul has as it departs from the body! How it laments and wails! It turns its eyes to the angels and beseeches them in vain. It stretches its hands toward its kin, but no one can help it.” The soul all alone prepares to meet the righteous judge and give an account for its actions. It is overcome with immense fear and trembling at that moment. Now we are discussing these things, but we have not experienced them. The people who have departed and have suffered through this frightful hour are not present to reveal and describe it to us, even though it cannot be expressed with human words.

We will all be subject to the mystery of death. It is up to us, it is within our power (through the help and compassion of God) to get ready to meet this moment with our soul prepared as much as possible, but this will ease the fear and trembling of death.

+ Elder Ephraim, The Art of Salvation