The toll houses scare me

Petros2015

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Even the Theotokos was scared of the toll houses. If they scared even her, why shouldn't I be scared?

Could you share the reference that states this? I'm not familiar with it
(I'm not familiar with a lot of things ;) Curious about this one though)
 
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Jude1:3Contendforthefaith

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The best we can do is repent as much as we can and go to confession to get rid of our current sins.

That and ask The Holy Spirit for help to repent and ask for the intercessions of Theotokos, The Saints, Our Guardian Angel and All The Heavenly Hosts.

Our Guardian Angel will help carry us through :


departure-of-the-soul-orthodox-church-005652__07824.1541619819.500.659.jpg


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OrthodoxWanderer

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Jude1:3Contendforthefaith

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Could you share the reference that states this? I'm not familiar with it
(I'm not familiar with a lot of things ;) Curious about this one though)

I'm not sure what sources he (St. Nikolai Velimirović) is using though :



"We can learn a lot from the life of the Virgin Theotokos (Mother of God). But let us mention for now only these two examples. She had a habit to often visit Golgotha, mount Heleon, Getsiman garden, and Bethlehem and other important place of her Son. At all those places, especially Golgotha, she prayed to God while on her knees. This is how She gave to us faithful an example how to treat the places that her Son made holy with His presence, passion and glory.

The second example She gave to us: is how she prayed to prepare for death, the separation of soul from the body, She prayed that her soul, after the separation, does not see the prince of darkness and his fields of suffering, and that She remains hidden from the dark regions and satanic power. Do you not see how terrifying is for the soul to pass through the Toll Houses? Can you not see, if she prayed like that, She who gave birth to the Destroyer of Hades, She who has terrifying power over demons! What hope do we have? This is Her great humility, she did not want to rely only on her deeds. Even less should we rely only on our deeds. We should ever more rely on God's mercy, especially we should rely on God's mercy when the soul is separating from the body."


- St. Nikolai Velimirović of Žiča and Ohrid (1881-1956 A.D.)


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SamanthaAnastasia

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Even the Theotokos was scared of the toll houses. If they scared even her, why shouldn't I be scared?

EDIT: I know I shouldn't be scared, but I still am.
Me too
 
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ArmyMatt

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actually the Theotokos wasn't afraid of them. she, in her purity, only wanted to see her Son and not the corruption of the demons. she, as Fr Hopko rightly points out, shot through them.

if we fear God we won't fear them, and they won't be a problem.
 
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ArmyMatt

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Yet still St Abba Sisoes met death by pleading with angels to give him more time for repentance, afraid because he believed he had not even begun to repent

great saints see themselves like that in the presence of God. the toll houses weren't even on his mind
 
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Goodhuman

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If you believe everything the saints and orthodox church says, then you should believe this also:

St. Mark of Ephesus:

"But if souls have departed this life in faith and love, while nevertheless carrying away with themselves certain faults, whether small ones over which they have not repented at all, or great ones for which – even thought they have repented over them – they did not undertake to show fruits of repentance: such souls, we believe, must be cleansed from this kind of sin, but not by means of some purgatorial fire or a definite punishment in some place (for this, as we have said, has not been handed down to us). But some must be cleansed in they very departure from the body, thanks only to fear, as St. Gregory the Dialogist literally shows; while others must be cleansed after the departure from the body, either while remaining in the same earthly place, before they come to worship God and are honored with the lot of the blessed, or – if their sins were more serious and bind them, for a longer duration – they are kept in hell [i.e., Hades], but not in order to remain forever in fire and torment, but as it were in prison and confinement under guard" (First Homily: Refutation of the Latin Chapters concerning Purgatorial Fire, by St. Mark of Ephesus. Qtd. In "The Soul After Death, p 208f).

Which means hell is not eternal or they possess earthly house as ghosts according to the above person.
 
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ArmyMatt

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If you believe everything the saints and orthodox church says, then you should believe this also:

St. Mark of Ephesus:

"But if souls have departed this life in faith and love, while nevertheless carrying away with themselves certain faults, whether small ones over which they have not repented at all, or great ones for which – even thought they have repented over them – they did not undertake to show fruits of repentance: such souls, we believe, must be cleansed from this kind of sin, but not by means of some purgatorial fire or a definite punishment in some place (for this, as we have said, has not been handed down to us). But some must be cleansed in they very departure from the body, thanks only to fear, as St. Gregory the Dialogist literally shows; while others must be cleansed after the departure from the body, either while remaining in the same earthly place, before they come to worship God and are honored with the lot of the blessed, or – if their sins were more serious and bind them, for a longer duration – they are kept in hell [i.e., Hades], but not in order to remain forever in fire and torment, but as it were in prison and confinement under guard" (First Homily: Refutation of the Latin Chapters concerning Purgatorial Fire, by St. Mark of Ephesus. Qtd. In "The Soul After Death, p 208f).

Which means hell is not eternal or they possess earthly house as ghosts according to the above person.

hell's eternity is what is experienced after the Resurrection. the quote refers to after death but prior to the Resurrection. so, no, this doesn't refer to universalism or ghosts.
 
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Light of the East

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hell's eternity is what is experienced after the Resurrection. the quote refers to after death but prior to the Resurrection. so, no, this doesn't refer to universalism or ghosts.

I am curious, Father, where you find the logistics of this, i.e. that first Hades and then, after the Resurrection, hell? Is it in the Scriptures or the writings of the saints or where?
 
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