Sixteenth Torment. “During our conversation we approached the
torment of fornication, where souls are accused not of actual
fornication only but also of amorous daydreaming, of finding such
thoughts sweet, of impure glances, lustful touches and passionate
strokings. The prince of this torment was clothed in a dirty and
stenching garment befouled by a bloody foam, and there was a multitude
of demons standing around him. When they saw me they marveled that I had
already ‘Passed so many torments. They brought out the records of all
my deeds of fornication and accused me by pointing out the persons, the
places, and the times: with whom, when, and where I sinned in my youth. I
kept silent and was trembling with shame and fear. The holy angels,
however, said to the devils: ‘Long ago has she left her deeds of
fornication and has spent the remainder of her life in purity,
abstinence, and fasting.’ But the demons replied: ‘We too know that she
has long ago ceased sinning, but she has not sincerely confessed to her
spiritual father and has not received from him proper directions for the
satisfaction which she should do for her sins. Therefore she is ours!
Either leave her to us or ransom her with good deeds.’ The angels put
down many of my good deeds but even more did they take from the gift
given us by the holy man Basil; barely did I save myself from great
grief.
Seventeenth Torment. “We reached the torment of adultery,
where are accused of their sins those who are married but do not observe
marital fidelity toward each other and do not keep their marriage bed
undefiled; and here too rapes are punished. Besides, here are strictly
punished those who have devoted themselves to God and promised to live
for Christ alone, but have fallen and failed to keep their purity. I too
had a great debt here; the evil spirits already had accused me and were
about to tear me from the arms of the angels, but the angels began to
argue with them and show them all my later labors and good deeds. After
some time they rescued me, but with difficulty, and not so much by my
good deeds, all of which, down to the last, they deposited here—but
rather by the treasure of my father Basil, from which they also took
very much to put on the scale to balance my iniquities. Then they took
me and we went on.
Eighteenth Torment. “We approached the station of the Sodomic
sins; here souls are Accused of all unnatural sins, incests, and others
revolting deeds performed in secret, shameful and frightening even to
think about. The prince of this torment was more disgusting than any
other devil; he was befouled by pus and full of stench. His servants
were similar to him. The stench that came from them was not to be
endured, their ugliness was unimaginable, their cruelty and ruthlessness
not to be expressed. They surrounded us but by the grace of God found
nothing in me and ran away from us in their shame. We, however, went on.
“The holy angels said to me: ‘You have seen, Theodora, the
frightening and disgusting torments of fornication! Know then that few
are the souls that pass them without stopping and paying their ransom;
for the whole world lies immersed in the evils of seductive foulness,
and all mankind is sensuous. Few guard against the impurities of
fornication and deaden the desire of their own flesh. And this is the
reason why few pass here freely; many come as far as this place but
perish here. The rulers of the torments of fornication boast that they
more than any of the others fill the fiery abyss of hell with the souls
of men. But you, Theodora, must thank God that you have already passed
the torments of fornication by the prayers of the holy man Basil, your
father. Now you will no longer fear.’
Nineteenth Torment. “Thereafter we came to the torment of
heresies, where are punished those reasonings about faith which are not
right, and also turning away from the Orthodox confession of faith, and
lack of faith, doubts about it, denial of holy things or a negative
attitude toward them, and other sins of the kind. I passed this torment
without being tested; we were no longer far from the gates of Heaven.
Twentieth Torment. “But here we were met by the evil spirits
of the last torment, the station that tests lack of compassion and
cruelty of heart. Cruel are the tormentors of this place, and their
prince is terrible, and dried-up and depressed is his appearance. Here
the souls of the unmerciful are tormented without mercy. Even if a man
performs the most outstanding deeds, mortifies himself by fasting, prays
ceaselessly, and guards and keeps the purity of his body, but is
merciless from this station he is cast down into the abyss of hell and
will receive no mercy in all eternity. We, however, by the grace of
Christ, passed this place without trouble, for we were helped by the
prayers of the holy man Basil.
“Now we approached the gates of Heaven. We entered joyfully,
for we had passed unharmed through the bitter tests of the torments. The
gates resembled crystal, and the buildings that stood there glistened
like stars. The youths who stood there were wearing golden garments.
They joyfully received us, for they saw that a soul had escaped from the
bitter tests of the torments of the air.
“As we were walking in heaven, joyful and glad to be saved,
the water that was above the earth parted, and, then it closed again
behind us. We came to a very awesome place where there were very
beautiful youths in fiery garments. They saw the angels carrying me and
met us with joy at the salvation of my soul for the kingdom of God. They
went together with us and sang the Divine Song.
“As we continued walking, a cloud descended on us, and then
another cloud; and when we had gone somewhat farther, we saw an
inexplicable height on which was the throne of God; it was very white
and enlightened all who stood before it. Around it stood very beautiful
youths clothed in red and shining. Why should I, my child Gregory, tell
you about it? There are things that cannot be either understood or
explained. Reason is clouded by incapacity to understand fully, and
memory vanishes there; I forgot where I was.
“The holy angels who had brought me there led me to the
throne of God, and here I bowed before the Unseen God; and then I heard a
voice which said: ‘Go with her and show her all the souls of the
blessed and of the sinners, all the dwellings of the saints that are in
Paradise, and the dwellings in the nether regions of hell; then grant
her rest wherever my follower Basil will indicate.’
“We went on a road unknown to me and came to the dwellings of
the saints. What shall I say about them? I am in confusion. There are
various chambers arranged artfully and beautifully. Of course they are
created by God’s hand and are what the Scripture calls ‘the cool place,
the fruitful place, the place of rest.’
“When I saw all this I marveled and was very joyous and
happily looked at everything. A holy angel who was showing these things
to me explained: ‘This is the abode of the Apostles; that one—of the
prophets and other martyrs; those others of the holy bishops, holy
monks, and the holy righteous.’ All these were in their breadth and
length like a king’s city.
“When we entered and found ourselves inside these lovely
dwellings, the saints met us and kissed us in spirit and rejoiced in my
salvation. Then they took me to the abode of the patriarch Abraham and
showed me everything that was there. Everything was full of glory and of
spiritual joy; of fragrant flowers, myrrh, and sweet odors.
“There were various chambers, which are made and upheld by
God’s Spirit alone. We saw there a multitude of infants who were happy
and rejoicing. I asked my angel leaders: ‘Who are these infants gathered
here, bathed in light, rejoicing around this holy old man?’ The angels
replied that this was the patriarch Abraham, and that the multitude was
composed of Christian infants.
“Then we went to see the surroundings of Paradise; but their
beauty simply cannot be described. If I should begin to tell all that I
saw and heard there, I should be filled with fear and trembling.
“Then
I was led into the nether reaches of hell, where the Lord has bound and
imprisoned Satan. There I saw frightening torments. Thence they led me
westward, and there too I saw similar horrible torments, ready for
sinners. As the angels showed all this to me, they said: ‘Do you see
from what misfortunes you have been saved by the prayers of the holy
man?’
“The sinners in their horrible torments were shrieking and
begging for mercy. I saw torments of such a kind that it is excruciating
even to tell about them.
“When we had passed and examined all this, one of the angels
who, accompanied me said: ‘You know, Theodora, that in the world there
is the custom to remember the dead on the fortieth day after their
death; today the holy man Basil remembers you on earth in his prayers.’
“Yes, my spiritual child Gregory, forty days have now passed
since the time when my soul parted from my body, and I am in the place
which is ready also for our holy father Basil. You are still in the
world, and so is holy Basil, but he shows the way of truth to all who
come to him, and by compelling them to repent he makes many turn to the
Lord.
“Come with me. We shall enter my inner chamber and you will
look at it. Not long before you came, the holy man Basil was also here.”
I went after her and we entered together. As we were walking along I saw that her garments were as white as snow.
We entered a palace decorated with gold. In its midst there
were various trees that bore splendid fruit. When I looked east I saw
luxurious halls, light and high. There was a large table on which stood
golden vessels; they looked very expensive and were wondrous to look at.
In the vessels were vegetables of all sorts, and fragrance issued from
them.
The holy man Basil was there, sitting on a marvelous throne.
Near the table there stood people, but they were unlike those who live
on earth and have bodies: they were surrounded as if by the rays of the
sun, but they still looked human.
As they ate the food that was on the table, the amount of the
food became replenished of itself. Beautiful youths were serving them.
When any of those who were at the table wished to drink, he poured a
liquid into his mouth and experienced a spiritual sweetness. They spent
long hours at this table. The youths who were serving them were girded
with golden belts, and on their heads were crowns made from a precious
stone.
Theodora approached the holy man and begged him for me. The
holy man looked at me and joyfully called me to himself. I approached
and bowed before him to the ground, as was our custom. He quietly told
me: “God will be merciful to you and forgive you, my child! He is the
All-merciful; He will reward you with all the heavenly goods.” He lifted
me from the ground and continued: “Here is Theodora. You very much
wished to see her and asked me for this so intently: now you do see her,
and you see where she is and of what destiny her soul has been found
worthy in this our life beyond death. Look at her well.”
Theodora looked at me and said: “My brother Gregory! Because
you thought about me humbly, the merciful Lord has fulfilled your wish
through the prayer of our father, the holy man Basil.”
The holy man turned to Theodora and said: “Go with him and
show him my garden. Let him see its beauty.” She took me by my right
hand and brought me to a wall in which there was a golden gate. After
she had opened the gate, she led me inside the garden. There I saw trees
of a marvelous beauty. Their leaves were golden, they were full of
flowers and emitted an unusually pleasant fragrance.
There was a countless number of such lovely trees. Their
branches were bowed to the ground because of the weight of the fruit.
All this astonished me. Theodora turned toward me and asked: “Why do you
wonder? How much would you marvel if you saw the garden called
Paradise, which the Lord Himself planted in the East!? You would be
astonished at its greatness and beauty. As compared to it, this garden
is nothing.”
I begged Theodora to tell me who had planted this garden, for
I had never seen anything like it. She replied that it was obvious that
I never had, for I was still living on earth; here, however, everything
was other than earthly, and the life led here was other than earthly.
“God grants such dwellings in the life beyond death, but only
to those who have led a life full of labors and sweat, such as the life
of our holy father Basil has been from his youth to his deep old age.
Such dwellings are granted to those who pray zealously and deny their
desires, as he has done when he slept on bare ground, endured intense
heat and frost, ate on occasion nothing except grass. This is the kind
of life which he has led before he came to Constantinople, but this life
was a source of salvation to himself, and through him, to many others.
This kind of life, and prayers of holy men like Basil, enable the
departed to enter the abodes of the blessed.
“He who during his earthly life endures many griefs and
misfortunes; he who strictly keeps the Lord’s commandments and does not
swerve from them—he receives his reward and his comfort in the life
beyond death. The holy author of the Psalms, David, said about the
difficult life on earth that pleases God: ‘Eat of the fruit of your
labors’.”
When Theodora told me that life in heaven is different from
life on earth, I could not help touching myself, for I seemed eager to
know if I was still in the flesh; as of course I was. My feelings and
thoughts were pure, and my spirit rejoiced in all that I had seen. I
wished to return to the palace by the same gate through which I had
entered. When, however, I had returned to the palace, I no longer found
anyone at the table.
I bowed to Theodora and returned home; and at that very
moment I awoke and thought to myself: where have I been and what was all
that which I have seen and heard?
I rose from my bed and went to the holy Basil in order to
learn from him whether my vision was from God or from the devils. When I
came to him, I, according to our custom, bowed to the ground. He
blessed me, bade me to sit near him and asked me: “Do you know, my
child, where you were this night?”
I pretended to know nothing and replied: “My father, I have
been nowhere; I was sleeping on my bed.” The holy man said: “This is
true. Your body actually was asleep on your bed, but your spirit was
elsewhere, and you still know everything that was revealed to you this
night.
“You have seen Theodora. When you approached the gates of the
heavenly kingdom, she met you joyfully, led you inside the house,
showed you everything, told you about her death and about all the
torments that she had passed.
“Was it not at my bidding that you went into the court where
you saw a marvelous table and its wondrous arrangement? Did you not see
the vegetables placed there, and did you not recognize their sweetness
and see the flowers, and what the feasters drank, and what youths were
serving them?
“Did you not stand still and look at the beauty of those
halls? When I came, did I not tell you to look at Theodora, since you
had so much wished to see her and learn from her how she had been
rewarded for her saintly life?
“Did she then not lead you at my bidding within the sacred enclosure? Did you not see all this in your vision this night?
“How is it then that you are saying that you have seen nothing?”
When I heard the saint saying all this, I no longer doubted
that this was no delusion, no dream, but an actual vision sent to me by
the Lord God.
I said to myself: how great must this holy man be before God!
He himself was there in both his body and his soul, and now he knows
all that I have seen and heard there! My eyes filled with tears and I
said: “It is true, my holy father; everything was such as you have said.
I thank the Lover of Men, the Lord our God Jesus Christ, Who has
granted it to me to see all this and has put it in my thoughts to take
recourse to you, so that I can constantly be under the protection of
your prayers and can be filled with the sweetness of my vision, in which
such great marvels have been revealed to me.”
The saint said to me: “If, my child Gregory, you will
complete your earthly journey rightly and will not swerve from the
Divine commandments, the evil spirits of the torments in the air will be
unable after your death to harm you; you have heard this from Theodora:
you will pass the stations of torment and will be blessed. Joyfully
will you be met where you have been this night and have seen Theodora;
and where 1, sinner that I am, also hope to be admitted to the abode
which you have seen; for I place my hope upon Christ, Who has promised
to give His grace to me.
“Listen, my child, to what I am saying to you, but keep the
secret of your father. I wish to die before you, and you will follow me
after a long time, when you will have perfected yourself in good works.
This has been revealed to me by the Lord.
“Keep secret all that I have told you, while I am alive; let no one find out anything of what you have heard.
“When
I am dead, if you should wish to undertake the labor and not to leave
my humble life without remembrance, describe it as it is customary to
describe the lives of those who have exerted themselves in virtue.
“Describe, that is, not so much my life as that divine grace
which has led and strengthened me throughout my entire life, and give me
the ability to perform not only good deeds but even miracles.
“Represent all that you seen and heard, and let it benefit
those who will read or listen to your account. But be careful to state,
first of all, that the Lord, when He so deigns, helps any man to do
great wonders; and tell everything about these wonders witnessed by you,
so that those who will learn about them from you may praise God, Who is
generous with what is good.
“Beware of the traps of the evil one at all times of day and
night until the Lord should call you.” All this and many other things
did the holy man tell me. Then he prayed and dismissed me.
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