Trampling Down Death By Death No. 3 (Skull Street Sign) | Orthodox Christian Art Poster

Cruel death only respects the slave of Christ. Since it was trampled down by Christ, it respects only the life in Christ. Often, a heavenly messenger comes to tell the servants of Truth of their imminent passase into blessed eternity. Those who were prepared for death by their life, who were consoled both by their clear conscience and a message from above, quietly, with a smile on their faces, fall asleep into the long sleep of death.

Has anyone ever seen the body of a righteous man after the soul departed? It does not smell. One does not fear to approach it, and during the funeral all sorrows dissolve into unexpected joy. The expression of the face, the same as it was in the last minutes of life, sometimes shows the deepest calmness, sometimes the joy of a long-expected meeting—of course, they saw the angels and the saints sent from heaven to accompany the souls of the righteous. 

Oh my death! Help me to remember you! Come to me, you bitter but beneficial remembrance! Frighten away my sin! Direct me to the path of Christ! Let this remembrance weaken my hands to the doing of any empty, vain, sinful deed.

+ St Ignatius Brianchaninov, The Field