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Russia. As the biographer describes “to the
astonishment of the brethren, for three hours after
he died, his fingers continued to move over his
prayer rope; his body did not decompose and gave
off no odor.” 9 It is worth noting that well before
the occurrence of his death, he had ordered his
fellow monks to keep him unburied for three days.
Another interesting example appears in the
martyrdom of Saint Dionysios Areopagite. “After
working many miracles in the city of Paris, he was
decapitated; taking his head in his own hands, he
walked for two miles causing wonder to those who
watched him. He only released it from his hands
when he met a woman named Katoula and, with
God’s providence, he placed this treasure in her
hands.” 10 These miraculous incidents indicate that
it is possible for the soul to remain in the body
after death and continue to enliven it, as well as
for the body to maintain certain functions. It is
such reports that support the teaching of the
Orthodox tradition that death can be generally
described but not exactly defined, because along
with a biological event it implies an unknown
mystery. Therefore, the Orthodox Christian
Church avoids clear-cut statements that identify
death with the cessation of the brain, cardiac or
any other function.
Orthodox anthropology, together with its
eschatology, is profoundly rooted in Biblical
tradition. The Church believed that those who
commit themselves to Christ, who submit
themselves to His lordship, death is no longer an
implacable enemy. Death in fact has been
transformed into a paschal entryway into kingdom
of God. “Our true death occurs at our baptism,
when we die and are buried with Christ, in order
to rise up with him in newness of life. From that
moment onward, death has lost its string.” 11 St.
Paul suffered imprisonment and knew he might
well follow his Lord to martyrdom. Yet Paul also
knew the joy and ineffable wonder of a mystical
vision so powerful that he was unable to determine
whether he was in or outside of the body. His
experience in the face of death and his unshakable
hope in the promise of coming glory, the
transformation of his physical body into a glorified
spiritual body, can and should inform the
approach every Christian takes to the mystery of
death and the promise of eternal life. 12 St. Macarius
of Egypt says,Every soul that through its own
effort and faith is privileged in this present life to
put on Christ completely, and to unite with
heavenly light of his incorruptible image, is
initiated here and now, personally, into the
knowledge of all the heavenly mysteries.
Moreover, in the great day of the resurrection, the
body also will be glorified with that same
heavenly image of glory. It will be caught up by
the Spirit to the heavens, it will be given a form
like the body of Christ’s glory, and with him it
will co-inherit the eternal kingdom. 13
Bibliography
Breck, John. Stages on Life’s Way: Orthodox Thinking on
Bioethics. Crestwood,NY:
Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006.
Christodoulos, Archbishop. The Church and the
Problem of Euthanasia. Thessaloniki: Holy
Synod of the Church of Greece. 2002.
Hatzinikolaou, Nikolaos. “Prolonging Life or
Hindering Death? An Orthodox Perspective on
Death, Dying and Euthanasia,” Christian Bioethics,
2003, Vol. 9, No. 2-3, pp. 187–201.
Loudovikos, Fr. N. Metaphysics or Eschatology of the
Body, Thessaloniki: School of the Aristotelian
University, 1990.
St. SymeonMetaphrasis, “Paraphrase of the
Homilies of St. Macariose of Egypt,” in
Philokalia, Vol. 3, eds. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard,
and Kallistose Ware. London: Faber and Faber, 1984
Sophrony, A.On Prayer. England: Stavropegic
Monastery, 1996.
Trembelas, P. N. Dogmatics of Easter Orthodox
Church. Vol. 3. Athens: The Saviour, 1961.
Vassiliades, N. The Mystery of Death. Athens: The
Savior, 1993.
Footnotes
1
Gregory the Theologian. Ethical Poems. 34, 25 PG
37.947A, cited in Nikolaos Hatzinikolaou,
“Prolonging Life or Hindering Death? An Orthodox
Perspective on Death, Dying and Euthanasia,”
Christian Bioethics, 2003, Vol. 9, No. 2-3, pp. 187–201
2
Trebelas, P.N. Dogmatics of Eastern Orthodox Church,
Vol. 3 Athens: The Saviour, p.337
3
Nikolaos Hatzinikolaou, “Prolonging Life or
Hindering Death? An Orthodox Perspective on
Death, Dying and Euthanasia,” Christian Bioethics,
2003, Vol. 9, No. 2-3, pp. 188
4
Christodoulos, Archbishop, The Church and the
Problem of Euthanasia,. Thessaloniki: Holy Synod of
the Church of Greece. 2002, p 21.
5
Loudovikos, Metaphysics or Eschatology of the Body,
Thessaloniki : School of the Aristotelian University,
1990, pp. 113–137.
6
Vassiliades, N., The Mystery of Death. Athens: The
Savior, 1993, pp. 3–7
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