Thinking Upon our Own Death
Saint Sisoes, the great ascetic, standing before the tomb of Alexander the Great, beheld the skeletal remains of one who was once covered in magnificent garments. Astonished, the saint mourned for the vicissitudes of time and the transience of glory, and tearfully proclaimed, “The mere sight of you, tomb, dismays me and causes my heart to shed tears, as I contemplate the debt we, all men, owe. How can I possibly stand it? Oh, death! Who can evade you?”
During these past few years I have also lost a number of old friends, and given my age, I expect to lose more friends as the next few years progress. Death will come for us all, and it is to our benefit not to avoid the thought, for we never know when we will be required to account for our lives.
The days of this Great Lenten Fast should be filled with thoughts of our own eventual death, and how we should use whatever time God has for us, in repentance for our own sins, and in service to others.
For the Christian, death itself is not to be feared, for Christ’s Holy Resurrection will be ours, as well. Yet we also know that in order to be joined to His Kingdom,
we must have been transformed, that the Fire of God will not be for us, a lake of fire.
Abbot Tryphon