[An unwatchful man] cannot free himself from evil thoughts, words and actions, and because of these thoughts and actions he will not be able freely to pass the lords of hell when he dies (#4, p. 163).
From “On Spiritual Knowledge” by St. Diadochos of Photike:
If we do not confess our involuntary sins as we should, we shall discover an ill-defined fear in ourselves at the hour of our death. We who love the Lord should pray that we may be without fear at that time; for if we are afraid then, we will not be able freely to pass by the rulers of the nether world. They will have as their advocate to plead against us the fear which our soul experiences because of its own wickedness. But the soul which rejoices in the love of God, at the hour of its departure, is lifted with the angels of peace above all the hosts of darkness (#100, p. 295).
From “Texts for the Monks in India” by St. John of Karpathos, from the same Volume I of the new translation of the Philokalia:
When the soul leaves the body, the enemy advances to attack it, fiercely reviling it and accusing it of its sins in a harsh and terrifying manner. But if a soul enjoys the love of God and has faith in Him, even though in the past it has often been wounded by sin, it is not frightened by the enemy’s attacks and threats. Strengthened by the Lord, winged by joy, filled with courage by the holy angels that guide it, encircled and protected by the light of faith, it answers the malicious devil with great boldness.... When the soul says all this fearlessly, the devil turns his back, howling aloud and unable to withstand the name of Christ (pp. 303-4).
From the Sunday Octoechos, translated by Mother Mary of Bussy-en-Othe, in a troparion addressed to the Mother of God:
... In the dread hour of death pluck me out from the midst of the accusing demons and from every punishment (Sunday Midnight Office, Tone 1, Canticle 7).
Some of these references, it will be noted are partial and do not give the whole Orthodox teaching on this subject. This is obviously because they are references to a teaching with which the ascetical and hymnological writers themselves and their readers are already familiar and which they accept, and there is no need to “define” it or justify this teaching whenever it is mentioned. The attempt of the critic, who has noted the existence of some of these references, to distinguish between such experiences which occur “before” and those which occur “after” death, and to deny the very possibility of those that occur “after” (6:12, p. 24), is quite artificial, being only a “logical deduction” from his own false teaching on the “sleep” of the soul, and has no support in the ascetic and Divine service texts themselves. The reality of demonic “testing” is one and the same, and the toll-houses are only the final phase of it, sometimes beginning at the end of this life, and sometimes only after death.
Innumerable other references to the toll-houses occur throughout Orthodox ascetic literature, Lives of Saints, and Divine services; most of these have not yet appeared in English. The critic, when he does take notice of such references, is forced to interpret them, not in accordance with the context in which they occur, but rather in accordance with his own “logical deductions” about life after death.
For example, in quoting the Prayer of St. Eustratius (Saturday Midnight Office), “May my soul not see the dark gaze of the evil demons, but may it be received by Thy bright and most radiant angels” (6:12, p. 23), the critic regards this as a proof that the soul does not (and cannot) see demons after death (this being a necessity for his theory that the soul is “sleeping” then). But it is surely clear to any unprejudiced reader that it means just the opposite: that the Saint prays not to see demons precisely because that is the normal lot of the soul after death! This is even clearer from the whole context of the Prayer of St. Eustratius, where the words which immediately precede this sentence are: “My soul is troubled and pained at its departure from my wretched and vile body. May the evil design of the adversary not overtake it and cause it to stumble in the darkness for the unknown and known sins which I have performed during this life.” It is clear that the teaching of the testing by demons after death (whether or not it is given the name of “toll-houses”) was familiar to St. Eustratius and forms the background and context of his prayer; and this is why Bishop Ignatius uses this prayer as an indication that this teaching was well known to the Church even at this early day (the beginning of the 4th century) (Bishop Ignatius, vol. III, pp. 140-41).
Again, the critic quotes the reply of St. Barsanuphius of Gaza to a monk who had asked him to escort him “through the air and along that way which I do not know” as though this reply is a refutation of the idea of the toll-houses. But once more, it is clear that the context both of the question and the answer is one wherein the aerial toll-houses encountered after death are accepted as a matter of course, and St. Barsanuphius, in wishing that Christ “make the ascent of your soul unhindered and vouchsafe you to worship the Holy Trinity with boldness, that is, as one delivered” — is only expressing part of the standard teaching on the toll-houses, which was present in the ascetic tradition of Gaza as much as in the rest of the East. (St. Barsanuphius and John, Questions and Answers, no. 145). This incident is also used by Bishop Ignatius as another of his numerous citations from Holy Fathers in defense of the teaching of the toll-houses (p. 145).
Other citations by Bishop Ignatius of ascetic Fathers who clearly teach of the toll-houses include:
St. Abba Dorotheus of Gaza: “When the soul is insensitive it is profitable to read frequently the Divine Scripture and the sermons of the God-bearing Fathers that inspire contrition, and to remember the fearful Judgment of God, the departure of the soul from the body, and the fearful powers that are to meet it, with whose participation it performed evil in this short and miserable life” (p. 146).
St. Theognostes, another Father of the Philokalia: “Unutterable and unspeakable is the sweetness of the soul that departs from the body and is informed of its salvation — Accompanied by the angel (sent for it), it goes without hindrance through the aerial spaces, not in the least disturbed by the evil spirits; joyfully and boldly it ascends to exclamations of thanksgiving to God, and comes finally to worship its Creator” (p. 147).
Evagrius of Scetis: “Come to your senses and think how you will bear your sudden departure from the body, when the threatening angels will come for you and seize you in an hour when you are not expecting it and at a time you know not! What deeds will you send before you into the air, when your enemies who are in the air begin to test you?” (pp. 148-49; Prologue, Oct. 27).
St. John the Almsgiver: “When the soul departs the body and begins to ascend to heaven, it is met by ranks of demons, and they subject it to many hindrances and tests. They test it in lying, slander” (etc. — a long list of sins similar to the twenty given in the life of St. Basil the New). “During the journey of the soul from earth to heaven, the holy angels themselves cannot help it; it is helped only by its own repentance, its good deeds, and most of all by almsgiving. If we do not repent of every sin here due to forgetfulness, then by almsgiving we can be delivered from the violence of the demonic toll-houses” (p. 143; Prologue, Dec. 19).