Homily on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos
By St. John of Kronstadt
(Delivered on August 14/27, 1904)
By St. John of Kronstadt
(Delivered on August 14/27, 1904)
"Rejoicing, I will hymn her dormition."
(Irmos, Ode 1 of Matins on August 15th)
Brethren, what does it mean that the Church calls the death of the Mother of God not death, as we usually call the death of people, but dormition or, which is all the same, repose or peaceful sleep, and not only does not mourn, does not weep at Her grave, but, on the contrary, sings joyful, celebratory hymns at Her departure? The fact is that the most blessed Mother of the Lord did not really die, as people usually die, but seemed to fall asleep for a short time in a peaceful sleep after the heavy sorrows of life, and that Her tomb, which was for Her the door to the Heavenly Kingdom, conceals much joy for a Christian; from this tomb, as from the tomb of the risen Lord, heavenly incorruption blows on us, or better said, this tomb immutably promises us immortality in the soul and incorruptibility in the body, destroying the fear of death in us.
Glory to the Conqueror of death, the Lord Jesus! Before His coming, death was very terrible for man because it stole its prey irretrievably, and there were no means of getting rid of it, since sin, with which death was strong, spread like a sea flood and nothing could stop this flood; meanwhile, it was known that people stolen by death were kept like captives in the place where they usually went after death. There were, however, two or three examples of two people who did not experience death at all, and one, through prayer and tears, received a reprieve from it when it was about to raise its murderous hand against him, and it was forbidden to touch him for another fifteen years. But what did these two or three examples mean in comparison with the millions of people who died?! The same as a drop in the ocean. Moreover, the last example was not entirely comforting for people, because King Hezekiah could not completely get rid of death, but only begged for himself a reprieve from it, and the first two, Enoch and Elijah, were considered inimitable because of the holiness of the life for which they were taken alive to heaven.
What do we see now, after the appearance of the Lord in our flesh and after His victory over sin and death? All the horror of death disappeared; it has become as it were a peaceful sleep, after which will come the joyous morning of the universal resurrection. To the extent that each of us overcomes the sin that still lives in us – and now we have been given all the means to overcome it (2 Pet. 1:3) – the fear of death also disappears, so that the triumphant conquerors of sin joyfully greet the bed of death and no longer die, but are as if falling asleep peacefully. "Now," says Saint Chrysostom, "the Lord has broken down the gates of hades and destroyed the very face of death. But what do I say: the face of death? He even changed the very name of death, for it is no longer called death, but rest and sleep."
The most obvious example of the triumph over death we see in the Most Pure Mother of the Lord. She bowed down in the coffin only for a brief rest of the flesh. We say "for a short time" because, according to tradition, on the third day after Her death, Her most pure body was no longer found in the tomb – it was resurrected and taken to heaven, where together with Her soul it began to enjoy heavenly blessedness. Behind the Mother of God we see the apostles and martyrs, who meet death with joy, as the greatest friend, who, in exchange for the transient blessings of the present world or in place of its troubles and sorrows, grants them the eternal joys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Behind them we see all the saints, who also looked at death with joy, seeing in it the end of earthly labors and the beginning of heavenly glory. The Holy Church tries to instill in us the same fearlessness towards death, exhorting us to drive away the fear of it by the gradual eradication of sins in ourselves, and she now calls her dead only the deceased, i.e. as if they have fallen asleep, because immortal life in the future age is now so indubitable for us and our right to it is so certain that we cannot or should not look at death in any other way but like a dream.
Glory to the infinitely good God! Previously, they wept over the dead for a long time and inconsolably, and it was even commanded to shed tears directly over the dead. "Child," says the divinely enlightened sage, "shed tears over the dead man, and as one who suffers evil begin to weep... Make bitter weeping, and warm weeping, and make lamentation, as it is due to him" (Sir. 38:16-17). And now, instead of the funeral lamentation, we sing the song of Alleluia, or Praise God, praising the divine wisdom and goodness, which death has made the transition to immortality.
Brethren! You have seen the calling of a heavenly communicant on the icon of the all-honorable and glorious Dormition of the Mother of God, how She peacefully rests. What tranquility and reflection of heavenly joy on Her face! This is definitely a dream, a short transition from earth to heaven. Let us also learn to make our death a peaceful sleep by zeal for virtue and contempt for vice. As long as sin reigns in us, so long will death be terrible to us, for surely "the death of sinners is evil" (Psalm 33:22). Sin is the cause of death. "The wages of sin," it is said, "is death" (Romans 6:23). Let us conquer sin in ourselves as much as possible, as the cause of death. To conquer it only at first is very difficult, and then it will be easy and sweet, since as the sufferings caused by the struggle with sin increase, the consolation of Christ in us will also increase (2 Corinthians 1:5), and the Lord, Who said that His yoke is easy and light (Matt. 11:30), will surely make the labors of the ascetics light and life-giving.
Moreover, what is obtained through labor is valued more highly and we enjoy it the more. We were created for work, not for bliss and inaction. Yes, the heavenly glory, which has no end, is undoubtedly worth the labors of a lifetime. This incomparable blessedness, this kingdom of glory is not given for nothing. "The Kingdom of Heaven," it is said, "suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matt. 11:12). Is it not because we are so lazy to conquer passions and evil inclinations in ourselves that we have a weak faith in the life of the age to come? But it is as inevitable as our real life. Will not He Who gave us the beginnings of life here on earth give us a full, perfect life in heaven?! Yes, it must inevitably be, and it is more difficult not to be than to be. And the true word of God assures us of this. "All who are in the graves," it says, "shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they shall live, and shall come forth, having done good, unto the resurrection of life: but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29).
Brethren! Eternal life beyond the grave is beyond any doubt. But there is also not the slightest doubt that it can be twofold: for the righteous – blessed, and for hardened sinners – painful. Death is the limit, the boundary between the present and the future life, and we do not know whether it is far or close to us. Let us always be ready to stand on this formidable border between two lives. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Brethren, what does it mean that the Church calls the death of the Mother of God not death, as we usually call the death of people, but dormition or, which is all the same, repose or peaceful sleep, and not only does not mourn, does not weep at Her grave, but, on the contrary, sings joyful, celebratory hymns at Her departure? The fact is that the most blessed Mother of the Lord did not really die, as people usually die, but seemed to fall asleep for a short time in a peaceful sleep after the heavy sorrows of life, and that Her tomb, which was for Her the door to the Heavenly Kingdom, conceals much joy for a Christian; from this tomb, as from the tomb of the risen Lord, heavenly incorruption blows on us, or better said, this tomb immutably promises us immortality in the soul and incorruptibility in the body, destroying the fear of death in us.
Glory to the Conqueror of death, the Lord Jesus! Before His coming, death was very terrible for man because it stole its prey irretrievably, and there were no means of getting rid of it, since sin, with which death was strong, spread like a sea flood and nothing could stop this flood; meanwhile, it was known that people stolen by death were kept like captives in the place where they usually went after death. There were, however, two or three examples of two people who did not experience death at all, and one, through prayer and tears, received a reprieve from it when it was about to raise its murderous hand against him, and it was forbidden to touch him for another fifteen years. But what did these two or three examples mean in comparison with the millions of people who died?! The same as a drop in the ocean. Moreover, the last example was not entirely comforting for people, because King Hezekiah could not completely get rid of death, but only begged for himself a reprieve from it, and the first two, Enoch and Elijah, were considered inimitable because of the holiness of the life for which they were taken alive to heaven.
What do we see now, after the appearance of the Lord in our flesh and after His victory over sin and death? All the horror of death disappeared; it has become as it were a peaceful sleep, after which will come the joyous morning of the universal resurrection. To the extent that each of us overcomes the sin that still lives in us – and now we have been given all the means to overcome it (2 Pet. 1:3) – the fear of death also disappears, so that the triumphant conquerors of sin joyfully greet the bed of death and no longer die, but are as if falling asleep peacefully. "Now," says Saint Chrysostom, "the Lord has broken down the gates of hades and destroyed the very face of death. But what do I say: the face of death? He even changed the very name of death, for it is no longer called death, but rest and sleep."
The most obvious example of the triumph over death we see in the Most Pure Mother of the Lord. She bowed down in the coffin only for a brief rest of the flesh. We say "for a short time" because, according to tradition, on the third day after Her death, Her most pure body was no longer found in the tomb – it was resurrected and taken to heaven, where together with Her soul it began to enjoy heavenly blessedness. Behind the Mother of God we see the apostles and martyrs, who meet death with joy, as the greatest friend, who, in exchange for the transient blessings of the present world or in place of its troubles and sorrows, grants them the eternal joys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Behind them we see all the saints, who also looked at death with joy, seeing in it the end of earthly labors and the beginning of heavenly glory. The Holy Church tries to instill in us the same fearlessness towards death, exhorting us to drive away the fear of it by the gradual eradication of sins in ourselves, and she now calls her dead only the deceased, i.e. as if they have fallen asleep, because immortal life in the future age is now so indubitable for us and our right to it is so certain that we cannot or should not look at death in any other way but like a dream.
Glory to the infinitely good God! Previously, they wept over the dead for a long time and inconsolably, and it was even commanded to shed tears directly over the dead. "Child," says the divinely enlightened sage, "shed tears over the dead man, and as one who suffers evil begin to weep... Make bitter weeping, and warm weeping, and make lamentation, as it is due to him" (Sir. 38:16-17). And now, instead of the funeral lamentation, we sing the song of Alleluia, or Praise God, praising the divine wisdom and goodness, which death has made the transition to immortality.
Brethren! You have seen the calling of a heavenly communicant on the icon of the all-honorable and glorious Dormition of the Mother of God, how She peacefully rests. What tranquility and reflection of heavenly joy on Her face! This is definitely a dream, a short transition from earth to heaven. Let us also learn to make our death a peaceful sleep by zeal for virtue and contempt for vice. As long as sin reigns in us, so long will death be terrible to us, for surely "the death of sinners is evil" (Psalm 33:22). Sin is the cause of death. "The wages of sin," it is said, "is death" (Romans 6:23). Let us conquer sin in ourselves as much as possible, as the cause of death. To conquer it only at first is very difficult, and then it will be easy and sweet, since as the sufferings caused by the struggle with sin increase, the consolation of Christ in us will also increase (2 Corinthians 1:5), and the Lord, Who said that His yoke is easy and light (Matt. 11:30), will surely make the labors of the ascetics light and life-giving.
Moreover, what is obtained through labor is valued more highly and we enjoy it the more. We were created for work, not for bliss and inaction. Yes, the heavenly glory, which has no end, is undoubtedly worth the labors of a lifetime. This incomparable blessedness, this kingdom of glory is not given for nothing. "The Kingdom of Heaven," it is said, "suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matt. 11:12). Is it not because we are so lazy to conquer passions and evil inclinations in ourselves that we have a weak faith in the life of the age to come? But it is as inevitable as our real life. Will not He Who gave us the beginnings of life here on earth give us a full, perfect life in heaven?! Yes, it must inevitably be, and it is more difficult not to be than to be. And the true word of God assures us of this. "All who are in the graves," it says, "shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they shall live, and shall come forth, having done good, unto the resurrection of life: but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29).
Brethren! Eternal life beyond the grave is beyond any doubt. But there is also not the slightest doubt that it can be twofold: for the righteous – blessed, and for hardened sinners – painful. Death is the limit, the boundary between the present and the future life, and we do not know whether it is far or close to us. Let us always be ready to stand on this formidable border between two lives. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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