Library Ignatius Brianchaninov
Ignatius Brianchaninov
A Word on Death
Written work
A Word on Death
Слово о смерти

A treatise written at Babayevo on death as the separation of soul and body, the soul's fate after death, the aerial 'toll-houses' and the location of hell and paradise. To explain how the soul can be seen and held by spirits, Ignatius maintains, relying on some Fathers, that souls and angels are created and therefore limited spirits, endowed with a subtle or 'ethereal' body, and that only God is absolutely incorporeal spirit. This thesis provoked Theophan the Recluse's reply and a controversy still studied today.
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Editions and translations
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English
Ignatius Brianchaninov
The Threshold: Trials at the Crossroads of Eternity (Complete Works, vol. III)
The Conscious LibraryThe Threshold: Trials at the Crossroads of Eternity (Complete Works, vol. III)
Holy Trinity Publications, 2023
Translation: Nicholas Kotar
ISBN 9780884654933
Incluye también la «Palabra sobre la visión sensible y espiritual de los espíritus».
Русский
Ignatius Brianchaninov
Слово о смерти
The Conscious LibraryСлово о смерти
San Petersburgo, 1862
Ignatius Brianchaninov
Сочинения, т. 3: Слово о смерти
The Conscious LibraryСочинения, т. 3: Слово о смерти
San Petersburgo, 1905
Facsímil en Wikimedia Commons.
Other works by Ignatius Brianchaninov
- Ascetic Experiences, vol. I · 1865
- Ascetic Experiences, vol. II · 1865
- On the Prayer of Jesus (a conversation between an elder and his disciple) · 1867
- On Spiritual Delusion (prelest) · 1865
- An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism (The Arena) · 1867
- Supplement to the Word on Death · 1864
- A Word on the Sensory and Spiritual Vision of Spirits · 1863
- A Word on Man · 1862
- A Word on Angels
- Letter to a Clergyman on Why He Called the Human Soul 'Ethereal'
- A Word on Salvation and Christian Perfection · 1863
- On the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil
- Exposition of the Teaching of the Orthodox Church on the Mother of God
- Ascetic Sermons · 1867
- The Paterikon (Selected Sayings of the Holy Monks) · 1870
- The Lament of a Monk for His Brother Who Has Fallen into Sinful Temptation · 1831
- My Lament
- The Cup of Christ · 1862
- The Garden in Winter
- The Tree in Winter before the Cell Window
- A Rule of Attention to Oneself for Those Living in the World
- The Judgements of God · 1867
- On Monasticism (a dialogue between a layman and a monk) · 1869
- On Miracles and Signs · 1870
- On the End of the World (three teachings) · 1870
- Rules of Outward Conduct for Novice Monks
- On Bearing Sorrows, according to the Holy Fathers
- Preparation for the Sacraments of Confession and Communion · 1883
- In Aid of Penitents
- On Prayer (anthology)
- The Valaam Monastery · 1847
- A Recollection of the Borodino Monastery · 1847
- Lutheranism · 1844
- The Concept of Heresy and Schism
- On the Need for a Council in the Present State of the Russian Church
- Life of the Schemamonk Theodore · 1828
- Reflections on Church Painting · 1847
- Poetic Essays and Literary Writings
- Reports on the State of the St Petersburg Deanery
- Articles on Church and Social Questions
- Address at His Nomination as Bishop of the Caucasus (1857) · 1857
- Letters to Various Persons
- Letters to Antony (Bochkov), Hegumen of Cheremenets · 1875
- Letters to Nikolai Muravyov-Karsky
- Letters to the Elders Leonid and Macarius of Optina
- Letter to the Painter Karl Bryullov
- Letters to Chief Procurator A. P. Tolstoy, Count D. N. Sheremetev and A. S. Norov
- Letters to Monks, Bishops and Abbots
- Correspondence with Friends and Acquaintances; Business Correspondence
- Works of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov (5 vols) · 1865
- Complete Works and Letters (modern editions) · 2001
Sources
- «Игнатий (Брянчанинов)», Wikipedia en ruso (biografía, teología —prelest, angelología, apologética—, Briulov, Leskov, bibliografía). Consultada el 25-10-2026.
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