“For me, especially now, this feast of the Ascension of the Lord is full of hope. Why did he ascend? I am going, He said, to prepare a place for you. Therefore, for me, a sinner, You, O Lord, will prepare a place, even though it is the last place in Your Kingdom. Therefore, death is not annihilation, it is not the beginning of a new painful existence, it is the beginning of a new, better life … “
Sokolov Vasily Alexandrovich, archpriest, holy martyr