My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
SATURDAY OF SOULS (Part II)
What the Church does on behalf of souls benefits them, is clear from many sources, but especially from an incident in the life of Saint Makarios, who was in the habit of praying for the departed and had besought God to reveal to him whether any benefit was conferred on them thereby. Finding the desiccated skull of an impious pagan on the road that he was traversing, he asked whether the souls in Hades experience any consolation. The skull replied: "We receive great respite, Father, when you pray to God for the departed." Saint Gregory the Dialogist even saved the Emperor Trajan through prayer, though he was told by God never again to make entreaty for one who was impious. In addition to this, through the prayers of the Saints and holy Confessors, the Empress Theodora snatched the God-hating Theophilos from torments and saved him, as we know from ecclesiastical (Church) History. Saint Gregory the Theologian, in his funeral oration for his brother Caesarios, states that supplications for the departed are beneficial for them. In one of his homilies on the Epistle (Letter) to the Philippians, the great Saint John Chrysostom says: "Let us think of some way to benefit the departed; let us give them whatever assistance we can, by which I mean almsgiving (charity) and offerings to the Church on their behalf; for this affords them great profit, gain, and benefit. Indeed, not in vain or haphazardly have these practices been prescribed; it has been handed down to the Church of God by His all-wise Disciples, that the Priest should commemorate the faithful departed at the dread Mysteries." Elsewhere, he says: "In your will, inscribe the Master as fellow-heir along with your children and kinsfolk; let your papyrus contain the name of the Judge, and let it not fail to mention the poor, and I will stand surety for you." Saint Athanasios the Great says: "Even if one who has died in the True faith has vanished into thin air, call upon Christ God, and do not avoid lighting oil lamps, and candles at his grave; for these things are acceptable to God and bring great recompense." Observe these things, therefore, whether the deceased was a sinner, so that you might obtain for him/her forgiveness of his/her sins, or a righteous man, so that you might gain additional rewards. If perhaps he is a stranger and without means, and thus has no one to take care of him in this situation, yet God, in His Righteousness and Love for mankind, will provide for him on account of his penury in proportion to the mercy that He sees on our part. Besides, he who makes an offering on behalf of such individuals partakes of the reward, since he has shown concern for the salvation of his neighbor, just as someone who anoints another person with perfume makes himself fragrant first. In fact, those who do not fulfill what is commanded and enjoined in such situations will assuredly bring judgment upon themselves.
Until the Second Coming of Christ, whatever is done on behalf of the departed brings benefit to them, as the Divine Fathers affirm, and, in particular, to those who did even some small account of good when they were numbered among the living. Although Holy Scripture says certain things--and rightly so--for the chastening of the many, yet God's Love for mankind prevails for the most part. We should know that in the next world all will recognize each other, both those whom they know and those whom they have never seen, as the Saint John Chrysostom says, proving this from the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. They will not, however, be recognized in bodily form, for everyone will be the same age, and their physical characteristics will be absent, but only the clairvoyant eye of the soul, as Saint Gregory the Theologian says in his funeral oration for Caesarios: "Then shall I see Caesarios...brilliant, glorious...such as in my dreams I have often beheld you, dearest of brothers." Saint Athanasius the Great, in his oration on the departed, says: "Even before the General Resurrection, it is given to the Saints to know each other and to make glad with one another, whereas sinners are deprived of this; and to the Holy Martyrs it is given to see what we do and to visit us in our needs. At the General Resurrection, all will recognize each other and the secrets of all will be made manifest."
(To be continued)
Please note: All the above confirms what I have taught you all these years about the significance of remembering your loved ones in the Divine Liturgy and Memorial Services conducted throughout the year. Everything is explained in the Monthly Bulletin of the church. Don't be remiss or negligent when it comes to your duty to express your love for your departed relatives and friends by turning to the Almighty God to show them His loving-mercy and forgiveness. "For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:19).
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George