Victory Over Death

A Sermon on the Day of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

I will sing of your Dormition with joy (Irmos of Ode 1)

Brethren, what does it mean that the Church calls the passing of the Mother of God not death, as we ordinarily call the passing of people, but Dormition—or, what amounts to the same thing, repose or a peaceful sleep—and that the Church not only does not grieve or weep at her tomb, but, on the contrary, sings joyful, triumphant songs at her departure? It means that the all-blessed Mother of the Lord truly did not die as people ordinarily die, but fell asleep, as it were, 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 within itself much joy for the Christian: from this tomb, as from the tomb of the risen Lord, there breathes upon us even a heavenly incorruption—or, better to say, this tomb infallibly promises us as well immortality of the soul and incorruption of the body, destroying in us the fear of death. Glory to the Conqueror of death, the Lord Jesus! Before His coming, death was very terrible for man, because it carried off its prey irrevocably, and there were no means whatever of being delivered from it, for sin, by which death was made strong, spread abroad like a flood of the sea, and nothing had the power to stop that flood; meanwhile people knew that those carried off by death were being held as captives in the place to which they ordinarily departed after death. There were, indeed, two or three examples: two men never tasted death at all, while one, by prayer and tears, obtained a delay from it at the very moment when it had already raised its murderous hand against him—and it was not permitted to touch him for another fifteen years.

But what did these two or three examples mean in comparison with the millions of people going on dying? The same as a drop in the ocean. Besides, the last example was not altogether consoling for people, because King Hezekiah could not possibly be entirely delivered from death, but only won for himself by prayer a deferral of it, while the first two—Enoch and Elijah—were considered inimitable in the holiness of their lives, for which they were taken up alive into heaven. But what do we see now, after the appearing of the Lord in our flesh and after the victory He won over sin and death? The whole terror of death has vanished; it has become as it were a peaceful sleep, after which the joyful morning of the universal resurrection will dawn. In proportion as each of us conquers the sin that still lives within us—and now all the means of conquering it have been given to us[1]—the fear of death vanishes as well, so that the triumphant victors over sin meet the bed of death with gladness and no longer die, but truly fall peacefully asleep. «Now, says St. Chrysostom, the Lord has crushed the gates of hades and annihilated the very face of death. But what am I saying—the face of death? He has changed even death’s very name: for it is now called no longer death, but repose and sleep». The most evident example of triumph over death we see in the all-pure Mother of the Lord. She lay down in the tomb only for a brief rest of her flesh. We say, brief, because, according to the testimony of tradition, on the third day after her death her all-pure body was no longer found in the tomb; it was raised up and taken to heaven, where, together with her soul, it began to enjoy the blessedness of heaven.

After the Mother of God we see the apostles and martyrs, who meet death with joy as their greatest friend, one who, in return for the swiftly passing goods of the present world, or in return for its woes and sorrows, bestows on them the everlasting joys of the heavenly kingdom. After them we see all the saints, who likewise looked upon death with joy, seeing in it the end of earthly labors and the beginning of heavenly glory. Holy Church strives to implant this same fearlessness of death in us as well, exhorting us to drive away its fear by the gradual uprooting of the sins within us, and her dead she calls now by no other name than the departed, that is, those asleep as it were, because immortal life in the age to come is now so undoubted for us, and our right to it so sure, that we cannot or ought not look upon death other than as a sleep. Glory to the infinitely good God! Before, men wept long and inconsolably over the dead, and it was even directly commanded to pour out tears over the dead: My child, says the divinely enlightened sage, pour out tears over the dead, and, as one suffering grievously, begin lamentation…. Make the lament bitter, and the weeping fervent, and make mourning as is fitting for him[2]; but now, instead of the lamentation over the grave, we sing the song Alleluia or Praise God, glorifying the divine wisdom and goodness by which death has been made a passage into immortality.

Brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling: you saw on the icon of the all-honorable and glorious Dormition of the Mother of God how She reposes in peace—what tranquility, and what a reflection of the joy of heaven on Her face! It is truly a sleep, a brief passing from earth to heaven. Let us, then, learn ourselves to make our death a peaceful sleep by zeal for virtue and disdain for vice. As long as sin reigns within us, so long will death also be terrible for us, because indeed the death of sinners is cruel[3]. Sin is the cause of death: the wages of sin, it is said, are death[4].

Let us then, with what strength we have, overcome the sin within ourselves as the cause of death. Conquering it is very hard only at first; afterward it will be easy, and sweet as well, for in proportion as the sufferings caused by the struggle with sin increase, the consolation of Christ[5] within us will increase as well, and the Lord, who said that His yoke is good and His burden light[6], will surely make light and life-giving even the labors of those who struggle. Besides, what is gained by labor is prized the more, and we delight in it all the more. We were created for labors, not for comfort and idleness. Yes, the heavenly glory, which has no end, is beyond doubt worth a whole lifetime of labors within our strength. That incomparable blessedness, that kingdom of glory, is not given for free. The kingdom of heaven, it is said, is taken by violence, that is, it is acquired by force, and men of force carry it off[7].

Is it not because our faith in the life of the age to come is weak that we are so sluggish about conquering the passions and evil inclinations within ourselves? Yet it is just as beyond doubt as our present life. Would He who gave us the beginnings of life here on earth refuse us full, perfect life in heaven? Yes, this must inevitably be, and it is harder for this not to be than for it to be. And the unfailing word of God assures us of this: All those who are in the graves, it says, will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, will come to life, and will come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment[8].

Brethren! That there is eternal life beyond the grave admits of no doubt whatever. But it is likewise subject to not the smallest doubt that this life can be of two kinds: blissful for the righteous, and tormenting for hardened sinners. Death is the limit, the boundary line between the present life and the life that is to come, and we do not know whether it lies far from us or near. Let us always be ready to stand at this awe-inspiring boundary between the two lives. Amen.