We have said that the present world—the earthly world—is in union and relationship with the afterlife—the spiritual world, and we have shown the nature of this union and communion. Now we will point to actual instances of good angels, deceased perfect, imperfect, and evil spirits appearing to us from the spiritual world. These are instances that actually occurred, and which continue to occur today, but due to our inattention or ignorance, remain unnoticed. We have evidence of this from religions—revealed and natural (pagan)—of the appearance to people, albeit sinful, of inhabitants of the spiritual world. These appearances are described in both the Old and New Testaments; they occurred in pagan times and even continue to occur today.
Our Holy Church teaches that now the flock of angels and men is one, and the heavenly powers serve invisibly with us. Angels and humans have mingled and are in invisible, secret communion, and with more perfect Christians, they sometimes even enter into physical communion.
a) The Appearance of Good Angels on Earth
Anyone even slightly familiar with Holy Scripture knows that angels have appeared to people both in dreams and physically, at God’s special discretion, escorting them to the kingdom of heaven. These examples are found in both the Old and New Testaments.
The teaching of our Church and the examples of angelic appearances on earth testify to the close, inseparable union and relationship of angels to us, as elder brothers to younger ones, of one family, the Father of which is God.
Angels, fulfilling God’s will, as ministering spirits, and of their own free will, take an active part in the fate of humanity. They proclaim God’s will to people, watch over states, preserve human societies, regions, cities, monasteries, churches, and govern various parts of the earth. They influence people’s private affairs, approve, preserve, and lead the apostles out of prison. They are present at the departure of the soul from the body, accompany its procession through the aerial tollhouses, offer our prayers to God, and intercede for them. Angels come to serve people, teach truth and virtue, enlighten the mind, strengthen the will, and protect them from harm in life. Appearances of good angels can be found in the Holy Scriptures. Scripture (Gen. 18:2-22; 28:12; Josh. 5:13, 14; Luke 1:11, 26, 28; Matt. 2:13; Acts 5:19; 10:31; 12:7; Deut. 32:8; Rev. 7:1, 14:18).
b) The Appearance of Evil Spirits on Earth
Just as weeds grow among the wheat, so too among the members of the spiritual and moral kingdom, i.e., angels and humans, among the sons of God, evil spirits—fallen angels—roam like lions, plotting against man at every opportunity, only to divert him from the path of virtue. Our enemies are among us, as the Holy Church teaches; their dwelling is the air surrounding our earth.
Since man, with his spiritual side (mind, will), can naturally exist in union and communion with beings similar to himself, evil spirits, just like good spirits, act on our mind, will, and heart, and man either resists, fights against evil spirits, or enters into communion with them.
While invisibly acting on our souls with their temptations, evil spirits also appeared visibly, sensually. Anyone who does not believe this also doubts the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ after His baptism.
How many of Christ’s ascetics have not seen or spoken with them? Having suffered defeats at the hands of the ascetics in their wiles, they were forced to assume various forms just to ensnare Christ’s warrior. How much sorrow they inflicted on both soul and body; yet, by God’s grace, they remained vanquished.
They will ask: why then do they not now reveal themselves as true servants of God? And why do we sinners need their physical manifestation, when we are already zealous slaves of our passions, zealous executors of their plans and suggestions? Our evil deeds, words, and thoughts make us their accomplices, and we are in league with them. Their hatred of God and our sinful activity, hateful to God, make us their allies. Then the evil spirit acts arbitrarily upon its allies and accomplices. It is clear that such union and communion are harmful and destructive to the world. Isn’t all anti-Christianity on earth the work of the devil alone? Are not his allies the ones who promote ideas of disorder and destruction on earth, ideas that degrade man from his moral greatness?
c) The Appearance of Saints on Earth
The Lives of the Saints (Cheti-Minei) testify to the various appearances of God’s saints on earth. Of course, their visitations to people occurred by God’s will. Leaving their heavenly homeland, they appeared to those in need of their powerful assistance, both in dreams and through the senses. Are there many saints who, out of their loving hearts, did not visit this sinful earth after their death? Their visitations to people were always accompanied by supernatural deeds, miracles that glorified the name of God. Who can say with certainty that saints no longer appear today? Has God’s love for humanity ended?
By visiting the earth and its inhabitants, they thereby give us evidence of God’s existence and eternal life after death.
d) The Revelation of Souls from Hell
Is it possible or impossible? Possible! Why?
The soul remains the same as it was on earth in the new world beyond the grave. Everything obeys the all-good will of the One in whose hands are the keys of hell (Rev. 1:18) and who is able to bring out of hell and to cast down into it (1 Samuel 2:6).
In the Old Testament, hell and death reigned supreme over humanity.
All the dying—both the righteous, except Elijah and Enoch, and sinners—descended into hell, and hell held its prisoners tightly. The Lord Himself, while still on earth, demonstrated to people the possibility of such a manifestation by resurrecting the dead. God’s chosen ones did the same in the Old Testament: Elijah the prophet, who resurrected the son of the widow of Sarepta, Elisha, the son of the Shunammite woman, and others, through prayer, brought back the dead souls from another world—from hell (1 Kings 17:22; 2 Kings 4:33–37).
When the triumph of hell and death was shattered, our own redemption by the God-man was accomplished, and hell could no longer hold its dead. The dead, of course, by God’s will, began to rise and appear to the living, as proof that now both hell and death are no longer a threat to those who believe in the Redeemer who has already come. Hell could not hold back Moses, who was destined to be with Christ on Mount Tabor. The dead—Jairus’s daughter, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus, who had been four days old—freely emerge from hell and are resurrected. Hell could not hold them against the will of the One who holds the keys of hell. The prince of darkness seemed to have a premonition of his own destruction and defeat, and at the very moment when our redemption was accomplished, many dead saints were resurrected and appeared alive in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52 and 53).
The disciples of Christ and many of God’s saints raised the dead. If resurrection was possible, then why consider it impossible for the dead to appear by the will of the Lord for a certain beneficial purpose? Not only the departed saints appeared, but also sinners still in an unresolved state (hell). Both appeared to the living not only in dreams but also through the senses. Holy angels and holy saints appeared to people to proclaim the will of God. The appearance of the departed was intended to edify the living, to assure them of the reality of the invisible world, inaccessible to our bodily senses in our fallen state.
Every Christian even slightly familiar with sacred history knows that celestial beings—angels and saints—came to earth from the afterlife, the spiritual world, from paradise. And there were also cases of sinners who had not yet been completely cleansed, and therefore in need of the prayers of the Church, their remaining relatives, and friends. Both angels and saints and deceased sinners appeared to people on earth, either in dreams or through the senses.
Visible, sensory communication with the afterlife is now impossible for man. The entire world lies in evil, and our departed, having already escaped evil, would hardly agree to visit us. One can imagine the moral evil that could result from sensory communication between the two worlds. Our fall, and the malice of the devil, who assumes all forms, would certainly provide a sure way to destroy the living through sensory communication with those who have passed into the afterlife. Evil spirits would constantly visit the living in the form of our dear departed. The devil would pour out all his poison on humanity. I don’t know how many would resist the terrible evil of sensory communication with the dead.
The afterlife, the fate of the righteous and sinners, our assistance in improving the lot of sinners, asking God for forgiveness of their sins, and the means by which we help the departed—all this is attested to on earth by the appearances of the dead to the living. According to historical evidence, we know that apparitions of souls from the afterlife to those living on earth, having already departed, occurred in the Old Testament world, in paganism, in the New Testament, in the early centuries of Christianity, and even in today’s semi-Christian or even anti-Christian world. And what about modern spiritualism? Spiritualists swear by their salvation the truth of their assurances that they are visited by souls from the afterlife; and among them are hearts and minds illuminated by the light of Christianity and even highly educated?
