With death comes the separation of the soul from the body. The body returns to the earth from which it was taken. It decomposes but it is not lost. The time will come when it will be resurrected, spiritualized and made incorruptible, at the time of the just judgment. And then it will be reunited with the soul to be judged along with the soul. In the meantime, the soul which was separated through death, from the body, lives in a middle state. It undergoes the Particular Judgment. "It is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). This means that immediately after death the soul is judged individually. It remains after this particular judgment until the Final Judgment, at the Second Coming of Christ, having a foretaste of paradise or of hell.

In Egypt, there is a city named Thebes, situated alongside the Nile River. It was here that the blessed Patapius was born, the son of Christians who reared him in piety and the fear of the Lord. Reaching manhood, he came to despise the vanity of this world, so he forsook his home, parents, and friends to become a monk.

Question: Is your conversion to Orthodoxy a total conversion or partial? Is it conditional? Is it selective? What kind of conversion is it? These are important and serious questions that should be answered by the one who is considering converting to Orthodox Christianity.

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face. so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (St. Matthew 6:16-18).

The great wonder-worker, swift helper of those in need, and fervent intercessor before God. Christ's holy hierarch (bishop) Nicholas, was born in Patara, a city in the Province of Lycia.  His parents were honorable, well-born, wealthy people and were Orthodox. Nicholas' father was named Theophanes and his mother Nonna who were adorned with every virtue. When their son was born, they gave him the name Nicholas, which means "victor of the nations," and truly, with God's help, he proved victorious over evil and became a benefactor of the whole world.

This famous follower of Christ was betrothed to Him from her early years. Her father, Dioscorus, was a pagan in the city of Heliopolis in Egypt and was famed for his wealth and standing. Dioscorus shut up his only daughter, who was both intelligent and beautiful, in a high tower, surrounded her with all possible comforts, gave her a host of attendants, set up idols for worship and built her a bathroom with two windows.