The Third, Ninth, and Fortieth Day… #
“Brethren, I would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”
— Epistle of the holy Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians
Holy Tradition designates specific days that are to be especially devoted to the remembrance of the departed. Chief among these are the third, ninth, and fortieth days after death. Like many Christian customs, these days of commemoration have their origin in pious traditions from the Old Testament.
The third day is commemorated in honor of the departed’s faith in the Holy Trinity and their passage into eternal life with the Tri-hypostatic Divinity, as well as in memory of the third-day Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The ninth day (as explained in the Book on the Faith) is observed so that, through the intercession and prayers of the nine ranks of angelic hosts, the soul of the departed might be granted a place among the souls of all the saints.
The custom of the fortieth day traces its roots to ancient Israel, where the patriarch Jacob was mourned for forty days, and later, the prophet Moses as well. In the New Testament, we connect this tradition to the Ascension of our Lord into heaven on the fortieth day after His Resurrection—just as He was lifted up, so too shall we, Christians, be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
There are other explanations of these memorial days. Their meaning is also revealed in the vision given by an Angel of God to St. Macarius the Great.
During the first three days, the soul passes through the so-called aerial toll-houses and is tested concerning the sins it committed during its earthly life. The most hardened and ungodly souls are seized along the way by demons and are carried down into the abyss, according to the prophet: “Let the wicked be taken away, that he may not behold the glory of the Lord” (cf. Isaiah 26:10). Other souls, guarded by holy angels, pass through these trials and are brought before the throne of God for veneration. Then, by God’s command, the angels return the soul to the world, where they show it its good and evil deeds, recalling the specific days, hours, and people involved.
On the ninth day, the soul again comes to venerate God. After this, the angels show the soul the dwellings of the afterlife: first, the blessed abodes of the righteous; then, the torments and sufferings of the wicked. And when the soul has been made aware of all that may await it, on the fortieth day after death, the particular judgment is held. The soul hears from God the decision regarding its eternal lot. A soul adorned with virtues is placed in a resting place until the general resurrection of the dead. The soul of the sinner is cast into the prisons of Hades, where with sighing and lamentation it awaits the Day of Resurrection and the Dread Judgment, when it shall be consigned to eternal torment together with its body (cf. The Revelation of St. Macarius on the Hidden Mysteries of God).
Therefore, the third, ninth, and fortieth days are of great importance for fervent prayer on behalf of the departed. Nevertheless, the lives and writings of the saints at times depict the soul’s journey after death somewhat differently. For example, the soul of the righteous Theodora, after bowing before the throne of God, immediately heard the judgment concerning her fate. And when the angels afterward showed her the places of torment, she already knew that by God’s grace she had been delivered from them. The holiest and purest souls pass through the aerial toll-houses without hindrance. This was revealed, for instance, by St. Zosima of Solovki, who appeared in a vision to his disciple on the ninth day after his repose. There are various accounts even regarding the number of toll-houses; therefore, without delving into speculation about the unknowable, we may rest with the affirmation of St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Each passion of the soul, every sin, has its own particular toll-house and tormentor.” All spiritual writers agree on the main point—that the forty days following death are the time during which the fate of the soul is decided, and that on the fortieth day its lot is determined.
Yet even after this period, the mercy of God does not abandon the soul without hope—even if, by its deeds, it has been condemned to torment. This hope remains until the very Day of Judgment, for the Lord does not desire the destruction of even a single soul that bore within itself the smallest leaven of true faith and virtue. He awaits the efforts of the soul’s loved ones to make up for its deficiencies and transgressions—however great—by performing deeds pleasing to God which the departed did not have time to accomplish during life. According to the teaching of St. John of Damascus, God “is well-pleased to fulfill the requests of His creatures when they pertain to salvation, and He is especially inclined not when one labors only for the salvation of his own soul, but also when he does so on behalf of his neighbor. For through this he (that is, the one praying for the departed) imitates God, asking for gifts for others as if for himself, fulfills the measure of perfect love, gains blessedness thereby, and together with the soul of his neighbor, works great good also for his own soul” (Great Euchologion).
Encouraged by such spiritual counsels, let us not grow weary in praying for our departed even after the forty days have passed. From this point onward, special days of remembrance shall be the anniversary of their death each year, as well as their Name Day—that is, the feast day of the saint whose name the departed bore.