Saint Meletios the Confessor of Mount Galesion on the Aerial Toll Houses

The following is from The Departure of the Soul, the first comprehensive presentation of the teachings of over 120 Orthodox Saints and dozens of holy hierarchs, clergy, and theologians on the subject of the soul's exodus to the next life. With over 750 pages of source material featuring many rare images and dozens of texts translated into English for the first time, The Departure of the Soul is unique as both the sole reference edition on the subject and a fascinating and spiritually profitable book for anyone seeking insight into one of the greatest mysteries of all. The book also reveals over 100 falsifications, misrepresentations, and errors contained in the publications of authors who oppose the teaching of the Church, thus definitively ending the 40-year controversy in the Church. The book features: ~ Full endorsements by eight Orthodox hierarchs ~ Foreword by His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki (Church of Greece) ~ Spans the 2,000-year history of the Orthodox Church with chapters on Holy Scripture, The Liturgical Services, The Writings of the Fathers of the Church, The Lives of the Saints, Iconography, Commemoration and Prayer for the Departed and Contemporary Opponents of the Church's Teaching. Many rare images and dozens of texts translated for the first time from the original languages. Think of it as a massively expanded and more detailed version of The Soul After Death.

Called by God at a young age, Saint Meletios abandoned his homeland and his beloved family and set out as a pilgrim for the Holy Land. Becoming a monk on Mount Sinai, he spent weeks without food and nights without sleep, continuing in fasting, vigils, and ceaseless prayer to the astonishment of all his fellow monks. Having wandered through the desert, like a diligent bee gathering the nectar of the virtues from the holy ascetics he met, St. Meletios settled on Mount Galesion at the Monastery of St. Lazarus, becoming perfect in obedience and the ascetical life.

Christ the Lord appeared to him in glory, commanding him to go to Constantinople to defend the Orthodox Faith, which was in danger from compromises with the Latins that Emperor Michael VIII had made for political reasons. Presenting himself at the imperial court, St. Meletios boldly reproached the emperor for betraying the Faith. Thrown into prison, he was then exiled to the island of Skyros where he authored a long poem, excerpted here, in which he desired to set forth all the essentials of the Orthodox Faith in a single Gathering. Sent to the pope in Rome for trial, St. Meletios continued to boldly confess the Orthodox Faith, confronting the Latin scholastic theologians and rebuking their errors. Imprisoned for seven more years, he was then sent back to Skyros and shut up in a dark dungeon. The peoples’ proclamation of the saint as a confessor of the Orthodox Faith stirred the Emperor to summon him back to the imperial court. Steadfast as ever in proclaiming Orthodoxy, the saint was condemned to torture. He was hung on a dry tree which burst into leaf upon receiving him. His tongue which had so bravely spoken the truth was cut out, but miraculously he was able to continue proclaiming the true Faith. Finally released from imprisonment on the death of Michael VIII, St. Meletios played an important role in re-establishing Orthodoxy. When he departed from this world to God, his face shone like the sun. His body remained incorrupt, becoming a wellspring of
countless miracles.

The texts excerpted below provide a significant early witness to the saints of the Orthodox Church embracing not only the teaching of the toll-houses but also the Life of St. Basil the New, the most complete and vivid description of the toll-houses:

“The soul that yearns for God and does good things, gladly departs to Him when it is called. It soars above the evil demons and with peace proceeds to the assembly of the angels, having certainly passed through safely. The things that are said about the toll-houses are from experience which the divine Theodora has stated wonderfully. You certainly know these things, how fearsome, how terrible, how frightful, how full of shock the time of death is.… The venerable Basil says that they examine that [dissolute] life as well….”

T. Simopoulos, ed., Μελέτιος ὁ Γαλησιώτης (Meletios Galesiotes) (Athens, 1978), no. 180, “On the Remembrance of Death,” p. 492, lines 49–57, 71. (In Greek.)

“The Savior at the time of the Passion said that the ruler of this world will find nothing in Me (John 14:30). But in someone else he will find many or few things. However many passions someone says he has, he has the same number of demons. Each one is marked by the corresponding toll-house. According to the words of the venerable and divine Theodora, each demon incites us towards sin.”

Ibid., no. 181, “On the Separation of the Soul and the Resurrection of the Body,” p. 493, line 15–20. (In Greek.)

Besides these above linked amazing books, you can find more information about the ancient Orthodox Christian teaching of the Aerial Toll-Houses/Toll-Booths at the following links:

• The Soul After Death: How Does It get from the Body to Hades or Paradise?
• Life After Death: A Description of the First 40 Days After Death by St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco
• Our War is not Against Flesh and Bones: On the Question of Toll-Houses by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky
• State of the Soul After Death: According to the Teachings of St. John of Damascus
• The Aerial Toll-Houses After Death by St. Boniface, the Apostle to the Germans
• On the Toll-Houses by Saint Columba (Columbcille/Columbia/Columbanos) of Iona in Soctland
• A Conversation About the Toll-Houses in the Holy Bible by St. Luke the Apostle & Evangelist and St. Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles