http:\/\/orthodoxinfo.com\/death\/theodora.aspx<\/a><\/p>\nThe Separation of Soul and Body<\/p>\n
Theodora describes the moment of death as excruciating, comparing it to the agony of being burned alive [4]. Evil spirits, appearing as menacing creatures, surround the dying person, attempting to instill fear and claim the soul [4]. Theodora notes that the pain of separation is intense for both sinners and the righteous, although she cannot speak to the experience of the righteous [4].<\/p>\n
The Role of Angels and Demons<\/p>\n
Upon death, two angels arrive to receive the soul [5]. These angels act as guides and advocates for the soul during its journey through the customs houses [5]. They present the good deeds performed during life as a counterbalance to any accusations leveled by the demons [5-7]. Conversely, demons, who have recorded the person’s sins throughout their life, confront the soul at each customs house [8]. They present evidence of wrongdoing and attempt to seize the soul and drag it into Hades [6, 7, 9].<\/p>\n
The Customs Houses<\/p>\n
Each customs house focuses on a particular sin [1, 2]. If the soul is guilty of the sin being judged, it is detained and sent to Hades to await the Final Judgment and potential condemnation to Hell [2]. Theodora’s experience details her passage through several customs houses, including slander [6], arrogance [10], envy [10], lying [7], anger and rage [7], pride [11], blasphemy [11], idle chatter and foolishness [12], usury and deceit [12], laziness and sleep [13], greed [13], drunkenness [14], resentment [8], magic and divination [15], gluttony [16], idolatry [16], homosexuality [17], vanity [18], adultery [19], murder [19], theft [9], fornication [9], and mercilessness [20].<\/p>\n
Theodora’s experience highlights that even seemingly insignificant transgressions from one’s youth are subject to scrutiny [12]. However, confession and sincere repentance during life, along with the performance of good deeds, can mitigate the consequences of sin and facilitate passage through the customs houses [5, 15].<\/p>\n
The Gate of Heaven<\/p>\n
After navigating the customs houses, the soul approaches the gate of heaven, described as a radiant and awe-inspiring sight [20]. A gatekeeper welcomes those who have successfully passed through the trials, ushering them into a realm of radiant beings, unspeakable joy, and the presence of God [21].<\/p>\n
To read the whole article: http:\/\/orthodoxinfo.com\/death\/theodora.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i.pinimg.com\/originals\/42\/a2\/d3\/42a2d34c36e52e32ddec2ab6724c4026.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/L5R83_Th6To\/hqdefault.jpg\")
Excerpt from: “St. Theodora’s Journey Through the Aerial Toll-Houses”: http:\/\/orthodoxinfo.com\/death\/theodora.aspx The Separation of Soul and Body Theodora describes the moment of death as excruciating, comparing it to the agony of being burned alive [4]. Evil spirits, appearing as menacing creatures, surround the dying person, attempting to instill fear and claim the soul [4]. Theodora notes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112825"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112829,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112825\/revisions\/112829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}