(1) These things having been defined, I think it necessary also to describe the things religiously performed by us over those who have fallen asleep. For neither is this also the same between the holy and the unholy; but, as the form of life of each is different, so also, when approaching death, those who have led a religious life, by looking steadfastly to the unfailing promises of the Godhead (inasmuch as they have observed their proof, in the resurrection proclaimed by it), come to the goal of death, with firm and unfailing hope, in godly rejoicing, knowing that at the end of holy contests their condition will be altogether in a perfect and endless life and safety, through their future entire resurrection. For the holy souls, which may possibly fall during this present life to a change for the worse, in the regeneration, will have the most Godlike transition to an unchangeable condition. Now, the pure bodies which are enrolled together as yoke-fellows and companions of the holy souls, and have fought together within their Divine struggles in the unchanged steadfastness of their souls throughout the divine life, will jointly receive their own resurrection; for, having been united with the holy souls to which they were united in this present life, by having become members of Christ, they will receive in return the Godlike and imperishable immortality, and blessed repose. In this respect then the sleep of the holy is in comfort and unshaken hopes, as it attains the goal of the Divine contests.

(3) "Return henceforth, O Shem, and rejoice greatly over your race and faith, for without body and necessity it is protected from every body of darkness, bearing witness to the holy things of the greatness that were revealed to them in their thought by my will. And they shall rest in the unconceived spirit without grief. But you, Shem, because of this, you remained in the body outside the cloud of light, that you might remain with faith. And faith will come to you. Her thought will be taken and given to you with a consciousness of light. I told you these things for the benefit of your race from the cloud of light. And likewise, what I shall say to you concerning everything, I shall reveal to you completely, that you may reveal it to those who will be upon the earth the second time.

(3) Now, whilst none of these attain the repose of the holy men, he himself, when coming to the end of his own struggles, is filled with a holy consolation, and with much satisfaction enters the path of the holy regeneration. The familiar friends, however, of him who has fallen asleep, as befits their divine familiarity and fellowship, pronounce him blessed, whoever he is, as having reached the desired end crowned with victory, and they send up odes of thanksgiving to the Author of victory, praying also that they may reach the same inheritance. Then they take him and bring him to the Hierarch, as to a bequest of holy crowns; and he right gladly receives him, and performs the things fixed by reverend men, to be performed over those who have piously fallen asleep. II. Mysterion over those who have religiously fallen asleep. The Divine Hierarch collects the reverend Choir, and if the person who has fallen asleep were of the sacerdotal rank, he lays him down before the Divine Altar, and begins with the prayer and thanksgiving to God; but if he belonged to the rank of the chaste Monks, or the holy people, he lays him down near the hallowed sanctuary, before the sacerdotal entrance. Then the Hierarch finishes the prayer of thanksgiving to God; and next, the Leitourgoi, after reading the unfailing promises concerning our holy resurrection, contained in the Divine Oracles, reverently chant the odes of the same teaching and power, from the Oracles of the Psalter. Then the first Leitourgos dismisses the catechumens, and calls aloud the names of the holy people, who have already fallen asleep; amongst whom he deems the man, who has just terminated his life, worthy of mention in the same rank, and urges all to seek the blessed consummation in Christ; then the Divine Hierarch advances, and offers a most holy prayer over him, and after the prayer both the Hierarch himself salutes the defunct, and after him, all who are present. When all have saluted, the Hierarch pours the oil upon the fallen asleep, and when he has offered the holy prayer for all, he places the body in a worthy chamber, with other holy bodies of the same rank. III. Contemplation.

(9) And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are wrought on the earth.

(48) Thou will ask, What is the New Regeneration? Or how is that done in Man? Hear and see, stop not thy Mind, let not thy mind be filled by the Spirit of this World, with its Might and Pomp. Take thy Mind, and break through [the Spirit of this World] entirely, incline thy Mind into the kind Love of God; make thy Purpose earnest and strong, to break through the Pleasure of this World with thy Mind, and not to regard it; consider that thou art not at Home in this World, but that thou art a strange Guest, captivated in a close Prison, cry and call to him, who has the Key of the Prison; yield thyself up to him, in Obedience, Righteousness, Modesty, Chastity, and Truth. And seek not so eagerly after the Kingdom of this World, it will stick close enough to thee without that; and then the chaste Virgin will meet thee in thy Mind highly and deeply, and will lead thee to thy Bridegroom, who has the Key to the Gate of the Deep; thou must stand before him, who will give thee to eat of the heavenly Manna, which will refresh thee, and thou will be strong, and struggle with the Gate of the Deep, and thou wilt break through as the i Day -break; and though thou liest captive here in the Night, yet the Rays of the Break of Day will appear to thee in the Paradise, in which Place thy chaste Virgin stands, waiting for thee with the Joy of the Angels, who will very kindly receive thee in thy new-born Mind and Spirit.

(2) "'1. Lord, give ear unto my supplication and let my voice reach unto thee. "'2. Turn not away thy face from me; incline thine ear unto me in the day when I am oppressed; quickly give ear to me on the day when I shall cry unto thee. "'3. For my days are vanished as smoke and my bones are parched as stone. "'4. I am scorched as the grass, and my heart is dried up; for I have forgotten to eat my bread. "'5. From the voice of my groaning my bones cleaved to my flesh. "'6. I am become as a pelican in the desert; I am become as a screech-owl in the house. "'7. I have passed the night watching; I am become as a sparrow alone on the roof. "'8. My enemies have reviled me all the day long, and they who honour me, have injured me. "'9. For I have eaten ashes instead of my bread and mixed my drink with tears, "'10. Because of thy wrath and thy rage; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down. "'11. My days have declined as a shadow, and I am dried up as the grass, "'12. But thou, O Lord, thou endurest for ever, and thy remembrance unto the generation of generation[s]. "'13. Arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time is come to have mercy upon her; the proper time is come. "'14. Thy servants have longed for her stones, and will take pity on her land. "'15. And the nations will have fear of the name of the Lord, and the kings of the earth have fear of thy sovereignty. "'16. For the Lord will build up Zion and reveal himself in his sovereignty. "17. He hath regarded the prayer of the humble and hath not despised their supplication. "'18. This shall be recorded for another generation, and the people who shall be created will praise the Lord. "'19. Because he hath looked down on his holy height; the Lord hath looked down from the heaven on the earth, "'20. To hear the sighing of those in chains, to loose the sons of those who are slain, "'21. To proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem.' "This, my Lord, is the solution of the mystery of the repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered."

(47) In those days the holy ones who dwell above in the heavens Shall unite with one voice And supplicate and pray [and praise, And give thanks and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits] On behalf of the blood of the righteous which has been shed, And that the prayer of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord of Spirits, That judgement may be done unto them, And that they may not have to suffer for ever.

(24) And now when it seeth and heareth the divine tone, tune and sound rise up, which is externally without it, then is its spirit affected and kindled with joy, and elevateth itself in its princely seat, and singeth and ringeth forth very joyful words concerning God's holiness, and concerning the fruit and vegetation of the eternal life.

(25) Then the souls will appear, who are holy through the light of the Power, who is exalted, above all powers, the immeasurable, the universal one, I and all those who will know me. And they will be in the aeon of beauty of the aeon of judgment, since they are ready in wisdom, having given glory to him who is in the incomprehensible unity; and they see him because of his will, which is in them. And they all have become as reflections in his light. They all have shone, and they have found rest in his rest.

(23) When we shall come together over this narrow bridge of the fleshly birth or geniture, to be in yonder green meadow, to which the wrath of God does not reach or come, then we shall greatly rejoice at all our damages and hurts which we have sustained; though indeed at present the world does account us for fools, and we must suffer the devil in the power of God's wrath to domineer, and to rush and roar over us: It should not trouble us, for it will be a more excellent reputation to us in the other life, than if in this life we had worn a royal crown; and there is so very short a time to get thither, that it is not worth the being called a time. Now observe:

(45) Seeing then that the Shriek of the Joy in the Virtue of God (which breaks the Doors of the deep Darkness) thus springs up in the Heart, and flies with its Glimpse [or Sparkling] into the Head, then the Virtue of the Joy sets itself above, as being the strongest, and the Flash [or Glance] beneath, as being the weakest; and so when the Flash [or Glance] comes into the Head into its Seat, then it makes itself two open Gates. For it has broken the Doors of the deep Darkness, and therefore it continues no more in the Darkness, but it must be free as a victorious Prince [or Conqueror,] and will not be held captive. And this signifies to us the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, who is now free, and will not be held [therein,] which in its due Place shall be very deeply described. And those Gates which the Glance holds open, they are the Eyes, and the Spirit of Joy is their Root, which [Spirit] springs up at first in the Kindling of the Life.

(5) There are generations in the world, there are country people, whose faces we do not see, who have no homes, they only wander through the small and large woodlands, like crazy people. So it is said scornfully of the people of the wood. So they said there, where they saw the rising of the sun. The speech of all was the same. They did not invoke wood nor stone, and they remembered the word of the Creator and the Maker, the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth. in this manner they spoke, while they thought about the coming of the dawn. And they raised their prayers, those worshipers of the word [of God], loving, obedient. and fearful, raising their faces to the sky when they asked for daughters and sons:

(62) And the righteous and elect shall have risen from the earth, And ceased to be of downcast countenance. And they shall have been clothed with garments of glory,

(3) About this time [the deceased] can see that the share of food is being set aside, that the body is being stripped of its garments, that the place of the sleeping-rug is being swept; can hear all the weeping and wailing of his friends and relatives, and, although he can see them and can hear them calling upon him, they cannot hear him calling upon them, so he goeth away displeased.

(4) Saved by Thy Power divine, let us rejoice that Thou hast shown Thyself to us in all Thy Fullness. Let us rejoice that Thou hast deigned to consecrate us, [still] entombed in bodies, to Eternity. For this is the sole festival of praise worthy of man,—to know Thy Majesty. We have known Thee; yea, by the Single Sense of our intelligence, we have perceived Thy Light supreme,—O Thou true Life of life, O Fecund Womb that giveth birth to every nature!

(7) For as this World breaks and passes away, so also all Flesh (which is generated out of the Spirit of this World) must break and pass away. Therefore now when the poor Soul must depart out of this Body, wherein yet it is generated, if then it has not the new Garment of the Regeneration of the Holy Ghost in it, and is not clothed with the Mantle of Christ, with his Incarnation, Suffering, Death, and Resurrection, in him, then there begins great Sorrow and Unquietness, [viz.] in those only which at the Breaking of their Bodies are but in the Gate, and so swim between Heaven and Hell; and there then dis Need of Wrestling and Struggling, as is to be seen by very many when they are dying.

(1) "Glory be to the Father, to the Son, And Holy Ghost!" all Paradise began, So that the melody inebriate made me. What I beheld seemed unto me a smile Of the universe; for my inebriation Found entrance through the hearing and the sight. O joy! O gladness inexpressible! O perfect life of love and peacefulness! O riches without hankering secure! Before mine eyes were standing the four torches Enkindled, and the one that first had come Began to make itself more luminous; And even such in semblance it became As Jupiter would become, if he and Mars Were birds, and they should interchange their feathers. That Providence, which here distributeth Season and service, in the blessed choir Had silence upon every side imposed. When I heard say: "If I my colour change, Marvel not at it; for while I am speaking Thou shalt behold all these their colour change. He who usurps upon the earth my place, My place, my place, which vacant has become Before the presence of the Son of God,

(29) And now if the deceased (or separated) Soul was here in this World a Candlestick, and a Declarer [of the Name] of God, and that it has turned many unto Righteousness, then it appears also to the living Saints, which incline their Faith so strongly to them; and it is not a Jot harder now than in former Times, when (in the Times of the Saints) great Wonders were done; for the Faith of the Living, and the Love of the separated [Souls] towards the believing Saints, has wrought them in the strong Might of God; and God has permitted it for the Conversion of People, that they might see the great Might of those [that were] deceased in God, and that they are, and live in another Kingdom, that so they might be assured of the Resurrection of the Dead, by the great Miracles of the deceased Souls: All which, in general, were put to Death for the Witness of Jesus; that the Heathen and all People might thereby see, what Manner of Reward the holy [People] had, when they laid down their Life for the Testimony of Christ; by whose Example many People also were converted.

(1) Awake! thy sufferings are allayed, N. Thou art awaked when thy head is above the horizon. Stand up, thou art triumphant by means of what has been done to thee

(8) And some say, "On the last day we will certainly arise in the resurrection." But they do not know what they are saying, for the last day is when those belonging to Christ [...] the earth, which is [...]. When the time was fulfilled, he destroyed their archon of darkness [...] soul(s) ... ... (10 lines unrecoverable) ... he stood [...] they asked what they have been bound with, and how they might properly release themselves. And they came to know themselves, who they are, or rather, where they are now, and what is the place in which they will rest from their senselessness, arriving at knowledge. These Christ will transfer to the heights, since they have renounced foolishness (and have) advanced to knowledge. And those who have knowledge ... ... (11 lines unrecoverable) ... the great [...] resurrection [...], he has to come to know the Son of Man, that is, he has come to know himself. This is the perfect life, that man know himself by means of the All.