A VISION CONCERNING THE FATE OF SOULS AT THE TIME OF DEATH

If a dying man is good, three angels whose rank corresponds to the dying man's conduct, come to fetch him. If he is of a high rank by his practice of virtue, angels who are outstanding are sent to conduct him to God. If he is a little one in virtue, angels of lower rank are sent to come for him.

The three angels are in ascending rank and the lower always obeys the higher rank. At the moment when the man is about to breathe his last, one of the angels stands by his head, another by his feet, the third spreads out a large spiritual cloth on which to receive the soul with honor.

After the soul emerges from the body unto the spiritual cloth, an angel seizes the two upper corners of the cloth, the other the two lower corners, after the manner of men on earth lifting a body. The third angel sings in front of the soul in a language no one knows. Thus, they proceed to the air toward the east, gliding like flowing water. 

While traveling, they let the soul know the place in which he will rest by the Lord's order. There he will also see the torments he had escaped.

The soul is first met by the ones who helped him in the fear of the Lord, like a superior or Abbot, who in turn presents the soul to God. Then the soul is led to a place to rest according to his merits. Here he is met by saints who come forward by God's command.

St. Pachomius: Koinonia

(10-10-03)