Eternal Mysteries Beyond the Grave

— About the Book —

Death is perhaps one of the least discussed and frequently concealed realities of life in contemporary Western societies. Nonetheless, it remains the one event we all expect to encounter, even if we perceive it only dimly as something in our distant future.

Archimandrite Panteleimon, was a Russian who came to the United States in 1913 and in 1930 founded the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. It was to become the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia during the long years of Communist control of his homeland. He compiled this books from a wide variety of Russian and other sources out of the conviction that:

The science of sciences, the education of human beings so that they may become worthy representatives of the human race, cannot be correct and sensible if it is not founded on a broad and true knowledge of man’s spiritual life.

He shows how this true knowledge is founded upon the understanding of the One God as a Trinity of three Persons and that inextricably linked to this is belief is the immortality of the human soul. Thus he concludes that:   An expectation of a future life, together with faith in God, forms the foundation of a well ordered life on earth, not to speak of a future life.

He goes on to offer many examples of the awareness of the life beyond death and in so doing offers the clear hope of a growth in life “beyond the grave” of this temporal existence.

This 2nd edition was reedited, re-ordered, newly typeset. It includes  subject and scripture indexes, and includes a biography of the author.

— Author Biography —

Archimandrite Panteleimon was the founder and first abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery, in Jordanville New York.  Father Panteleimon was born Peter Nizhnik on January 16, 1895 in the village of Rechitsa, Grodno Province, Russia.  Immigrating to the United States in 1913, he found work in a factory in Chicago.  Spurred by the radical changes that were occurring in his homeland due to the Revolution and Civil War, he entered St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania in 1918.  Quickly ordained first a deacon and then a priest, Fr. Panteleimon was in charge of agricultural projects at the monastery.  Desiring a life even more removed from the vanity and bustle of the world, he wanted to build his own monastery far away in the woods. Along with a fellow desirer of the quiet monastic life Ivan Kolos, (the future Archimandrite Joseph) Fr. Panteleimon received permission to work in the Sikorsky factory in Connecticut to raise money to buy land for a monastery.  Eventually, in 1928 he was able to purchase farmland near Jordanville NY, where he started to slowly build Holy Trinity Monastery.  Facing many early challenges, including a fire that burned down the first wooden church that was built, Fr. Panteleimon and his fellow monks nevertheless continued to labor, and eventually were able to build a stone cathedral dedicated to The Holy Trinity, along with a large building to house the monks and printing press.  Strengthened with the movement of the St. Job of Pochaev Brotherhood from Slovakia, which drew its roots from the famous Pochaev Lavra, the monastery continued the printing tradition of the Pochaev monastery, and became one of the main sources for Russian language spiritual literature and service books during the Soviet period.  Father Panteleimon was a tireless compiler and author of spiritual texts.  He fell asleep in the Lord in 1984.

— Contents —

Preface

Introduction to the Second Edition

Part I: BELIEF IN GOD AND THE EXISTENCE OF AN AFTERLIFE

1. Orthodox Teachings on the Existence of God

2. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity

3. The Immortality of Our Soul

4. The Origin of Death

5. The Actual Existence of the Devil

6. The Fallen Angels

7. St Anthony’s Struggles Against Devils

8. What Is Death?

9. What Is the Soul, and What Is Its Origin?

10. How Significant for Our Lives Is Belief in Immortality?

Part II: TEACHING ON THE AFTERLIFE, HEAVEN, AND HELL

11. Proofs of Immortality

12. The Particular Judgment

13. Church Teaching on the Trials of the Departed

14. The Mystery of Death

15. Teaching from the Holy Fathers on the Journey After Death

16. The Mysteries of Life Beyond Death

17. A General View on the Immortality of the Soul and on

Life Beyond the Grave

18. The Life of Departed Souls Before the Universal Judgment 

Part III: TALES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

19. The Journey Beyond Death as Revealed to Gregory, a Disciple

of St Basil the New

20. Testimony of the Departed About the Immortality of the

Soul and the Afterlife

21. The Deaths of the Christian Boys

22. Two Visions of the Heavenly Kingdom

23. Two Marvelous Occurrences

24. The Miraculous Dream of the Novice Thecla

25. The Clairvoyant Girl

26. The Experience of a Certain Ascetic

27. An Ancient Tale

28. The Soldier Taxiotes

29. The Tale of Gabriel Ivanovich Gonchar

30. A Tale from the Holy Mountain

31. The Suffering Paralytic 

Part IV: PRAYING FOR THOSE IN ETERNITY

32. How Important It Is to Remember the Dead

33. The Departed Request the Living to Pray for Them

and Are Grateful

34. The Departed Appear to Their Relatives and Friends to

Tell Them of Their Death

35. The Departed Take an Interest in Their Survivors

36. More Accounts of Appearances of the Departed

Part V: PREPARING OURSELVES FOR DEATH

37. A Moral Conclusion to Be Drawn from the Previous Accounts

38. What the Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the Church

Teach About the Location of Paradise

39. What the Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the

Church Tell Us About the Location of Hell

40. The Future Punishment of Sinners

41. An Answer to the Eternal Question: Shall We Live After Death?

An Attack on Atheism and the Doctrine That Death Is Final 

Part VI: FINAL WORDS ON IMMORTALITY

42. More About Proofs of Man’s Immortality and of the

Preservation of His Own Identity After Death

43. After His Death, Man Preserves His Identity and Leads a

Fully Spiritual Life

Part VII: COMMENTS ON CHRISTIANITY, ENDTIMES, STRUGGLES, AND REWARDS

44. On the Holiness of the Christian Religion

45. A Last Word on the Divine Origin of the Christian Religion

46. The End of the World, the Resurrection of the Dead, and

the Last Judgment

47. The Blessed Condition of the Righteous in the Future Life

48. About the Eternal Blessedness of the Saints

Part VIII: CONCLUSION           

49. A Defense of Christian Faith Against Disbelief

50. Final Exhortation—Stand Firm

Appendix 1: A Prayer for Mercy

Appendix 2: A Short Biography of Archimandrite Panteleimon

Subject Index

Scripture Index