Глава 8 О ходатайстве живых за умерших

1. The foundations of the church’s teaching on the intercession of the living for the dead in the Holy Scriptures. Just as the righteous, following the death of the body and a private judgment over them, ascend with their souls to heaven and are rewarded with bliss, in the same way sinners depart with their souls to hell - a place of sadness and sorrow, although just as the former do not yet feel complete bliss, so the latter do not endure complete torment until the general judgment. However, while teaching the doctrine that all sinners, after their death and private judgment over them, equally go to hell, the Orthodox Church at the same time confesses that for those of them who repented before separation from real life, but did not manage to bear fruits worthy of repentance (such as: prayer, contrition, consolation of the poor and expression in actions of love for God and neighbors), there remains the opportunity to receive relief from suffering and then be completely freed from the bonds of hell. Sinners can receive such relief and liberation not by their own merits or through repentance (for after death and private judgment there is no room for either repentance or merit), but only by the infinite goodness of God, through the prayers of the church and benevolence performed by the living for the dead, and especially by the power of the bloodless sacrifice, which, in particular, is made by the clergyman for every Christian for his relatives, and in general the Catholic and Apostolic Church makes for everyone every day 85. The comforting teaching of the Orthodox Church about the possibility for sinners who died with repentance to receive relief and further complete liberation from the torments of hell, through the prayers of the still living brethren and their beneficence (the purpose of these benefactions is also to arouse in others prayers for those who have passed away) or, what is the same, through the prayers of the church, through the power of a bloodless sacrifice - this teaching has a basis in the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Apostle James commands us to “pray for one another” (James 5:16); and St. the apostle Paul asks to make “prayers for all people” (1 Tim. 2:1; Eph. 6:18–19). Both apostles command to pray for each other and for everyone without restrictive designation of place, time and other circumstances. We must, therefore, pray for our neighbors both when they are with us, and when they are absent, and when they are still living on earth, and when they move through death to another world, because “whether we live or die, we are always the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8), and the dead, like the living, are still “alive” for God (Luke 20:38). Warning us against prayer for our neighbors, which is displeasing to God and fruitless for them, St. The Apostle John the Theologian gives us another commandment: “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that does not lead to death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, the one who sins a sin that does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death: I do not mean that he should pray” (1 John 5:16). But all who died with true repentance are free from mortal sin for the sole reason that they repented: “for there is sin leading to death (say the fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council), when some, having sinned, remain uncorrected and stiff-necked (stubbornly) rebel against piety and truth... In such there is no Lord God, unless they humble themselves and are crushed by their fall.” (rule 5). Consequently, all those who died with true repentance, even if they were previously in mortal sins, and even more so if they were not, are among those of our neighbors for whom we are commanded to pray without any doubt or hesitation. According to this apostolic commandment, only those who died in mortal sins, in unrepentance and outside communion with the church, are not worthy of her prayers. According to the apostolic teaching, our prayers for our neighbors can be generally beneficial for them further in moral terms, in particular “the fervent prayer of the righteous can do much” (James 5:16), and, in particular, our prayers for our brothers who are not in mortal sin can give them life (1 John 5:16). Consequently, although we do not understand how our prayers act on our neighbors while they are still in this life, nevertheless our prayers are effective and saving for them. In the same way; Without comprehending how our prayers can act on our brethren who have died with true repentance, we have no right to doubt the validity and saving power of these prayers for them. “If you ask anything in My name,” says Christ the Savior, “I will do it” (John 14:14). So, every prayer we have to God, and therefore prayer for our neighbors, both living and dead, can be strong and effective only when it is offered in the name of the Lord Jesus, who is “the only mediator between God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus Christ reconciled us to God and redeemed us from all sin when He brought Himself to Him as a propitiatory sacrifice on the cross - His own body and His own blood (Heb. 9:14–26, 10:10); and in the sacrament of the Eucharist the same propitiatory sacrifice is still offered to God, the same honorable body of our Redeemer is broken “for the life of the world” (John 6:51) and the same honorable blood is shed for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:19–20). Consequently, if when our prayer, both for the living and for our dead brethren, can be pleasing to God and beneficial for them, then, mainly, at the time when it is combined with the offering of a bloodless propitiatory sacrifice for them. The Lord Jesus Christ says: “If anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; But if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the next” (Matthew 12:32). From here the direct conclusion is that forgiveness of sins for sinners is possible even after their death. The Apocalypse says that the Lord Jesus Christ has “the keys of hell and death” (Rev. 1:18), therefore, he can open the gates of hell with them and free sinners from there. But since after death there will be no room left for the sinners themselves for either repentance or merit, there is no other way to explain the possibility of remission of sins to sinners and freeing them from the bonds of hell except that the Lord does this through the prayers of the church and by virtue of the bloodless propitiatory sacrifice made for the dead. The church does not pray for those who died with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, or - which is the same thing - in mortal sin and did not repent, and that is why, as the Savior said, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven to man either in this age or in the future. The second book of Maccabees tells the following about the valiant and pious Jewish leader Judas Maccabee: “Judas set out with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen. When they entered the battle, it happened that a few of the Jews fell... Since the seventh day was approaching, they purified themselves according to custom and celebrated the Sabbath. The next day those who were with Judas went, as duty required, reschedule! bodies of the fallen and put them along with their relatives in their fathers’ tombs. And they found from each of the dead, under their tunics, things dedicated to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbade the Jews: and it became clear to everyone for what reason they had fallen. So everyone glorified the righteous Judge, the Lord who reveals the hidden, and turned to prayer, asking that the sin committed would be completely blotted out; and the valiant Judas exhorted the people to guard themselves from sins, seeing with their own eyes what happened due to the fault of the fallen. Having collected up to two thousand drachmas of silver according to the number of men, he sent to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice for sin, and acted very well and piously, thinking about the resurrection. For if he did not hope that those fallen in battle would rise again, then it would be unnecessary and in vain to pray for the dead. But he thought that an excellent reward was in store for those who died in piety - what a holy and pious thought! Therefore he offered a propitiatory sacrifice for the dead, that they might be freed from sin” (2 Mac. 12:33–34, 38–45). 2. Remembrance of the dead has existed in the Christian Church since the time of the apostles. The commemoration of the dead, as an apostolic tradition, has existed in the Christian Church from its very beginning. We find proof of this in ancient liturgies and in the testimonies of the holy fathers and teachers of the church. All ancient liturgies, like those that are used or were used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, known under the names: St. Apostle James, brother of the Lord 86, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, oh St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, - and the liturgy of the Western Church: Roman, Spanish or Mozarabic, Gallican, etc., and finally, the liturgy of various non-Orthodox sects that have existed since ancient times in the east: Jacobites, Copts, Armenians, Ethiopians, Syrians, Nestorians and others, no matter how numerous and diverse they are, contain prayers for the dead. And this indisputably testifies to us that from the days of the apostles themselves, who handed over the rite of the Divine Liturgy to the church, there has not been a time when Christians did not pray for their departed brethren and, moreover, during the performance of the most important of their divine services. St. Gregory of Nyssa writes: “Nothing without reasoning, nothing useless has been handed down from Christ’s preachers and disciples and has not been accepted by the universal Church of God, but this is a very godly and useful thing - to commemorate those who have fallen asleep in the right faith at the Divine and Glorious Sacrament” 87 . St. John Chrysostom, speaking about the benefits of prayers for the dead, writes: “It was not in vain that the apostles legitimized the remembrance of the dead before terrible mysteries: they knew that this would bring great benefit to the dead, a great deed.”88 “Offerings for the dead are not in vain, prayers are not in vain, alms are not in vain: the Holy Spirit established all this, wanting us to benefit through each other” 89 St. John of Damascus: “The Mysteries and Secularists of the Word, who conquered the circle of the earth, the disciples and divine apostles of the Savior, not without reason, not in vain and not without benefit, established during the terrible, most pure and life-giving Mysteries to commemorate the faithful departed, which from end to end of the earth the ruling apostolic and free Church of Christ and God has maintained firmly and unquestioningly from that time onwards will support you until now and until the end of the world. For the Christian faith, alien to error, did not accept anything useless and would not inviolably maintain forever, but everything that is useful, pleasing to God and very saving” 90. Cyprian: “The bishops, our predecessors, reasoning piously and caring for salvation, determined that not a single dying brother should entrust the guardianship and protection of a clergyman after him, and if someone did this, they would not make an offering for him, and the sacrifice for his dormition would not be made: for he who wanted to distract the priests from him does not deserve to be named in the prayer of the priests before the altar of God and the servants of the altar" 91 . Eusebius: “The whole people, together with the clergy, not without tears and deep sighs, offered up prayers to God for the soul of the Tsar and thereby fulfilled the desire of the God-loving One” 92. St. Cyril of Jerusalem: “We also remember those who have died before, firstly, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, so that through their prayers and intercession God may accept our prayer; then we pray for the reposed holy fathers and bishops and, in general, for all of us who have previously died, believing that there will be great benefit to the souls for whom prayer is offered at the time when the holy and terrible sacrifice is offered” 93 . St. Ephraim the Syrian: “If the priests under the law, with service offerings, cleansed the sins of those killed in battle, as defiled by iniquities, which are mentioned in scripture (2 Mac. 12:43), then how much more can the priests of the New Testament of Christ really cleanse the debts of sinners who have departed from the earth with holy offerings and the prayers of their lips” 94. And in another place: “Let us continually beg God to blot out the guilt of His flock - the children of His chosen and holy church, and to cleanse the sins of the dead who have rested in hope in Him” 95. 3. Patristic explanations of why and how our prayers can be beneficial for the dead. In the writings of the ancient fathers and teachers of the church we find explanations consistent with the word of God of why and how our prayers can be beneficial and saving for those who have died in faith and repentance. St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the 5th occult teaching says: “I want to assure you by example, for, I know, many say: what is the benefit of a soul that departs from this world with or without sins, if it is remembered in prayer? But what if some king sent those who had annoyed him into exile, and their neighbors then, weaving a crown, brought it to him for those suffering punishment, then wouldn’t he make their punishment easier? Thus, we, too, for the departed, even if they are sinners, when we offer prayers to God, we do not weave a crown, but we offer Christ, who was slain for our sins, propitiating the philanthropic God for them and for us.” St. John Chrysostom, in Discourse III on the Epistle to the Philippians, writes: “When all the people and the sacred council stand with their hands stretched out to heaven and when a terrible sacrifice is presented, how can we not appease God by praying for them (the dead)? But this is only about those who died in faith.” And in another place (in Discourse XXI on the Acts of the Apostles): “There is still, truly there is an opportunity, if we want, to ease the punishment of a deceased sinner. If we make frequent prayers for him and give alms, then even if he was unworthy in himself. God will hear us. If for the sake of the Apostle Paul he saved others and for the sake of some he spared others, then how can he not do the same for us?” Blessed Augustine teaches (Words CLXXII): “There should be no doubt that the prayers of St. Churches, the saving sacrifice and alms performed for the souls of the dead will help them so that the Lord will be more merciful to them than what they deserve for their sins. For the whole church observes this, as handed down by the fathers, to pray for those who have died in the communion of the body and blood of Christ, when they are remembered in due course at the sacrifice itself, and to express that the sacrifice is offered for them as well. Who can also doubt that acts of mercy performed to propitiate them benefit those for whom prayers are not sent to God in vain? In all the above fatherly sayings, the idea is revealed that if God has repeatedly deigned to show his mercy to some through faith and the intercession of others (Matthew 8:13, 9:2, 15:28), then there is no reason to doubt that he will not reject our prayers for our dead brothers who are in need of God’s mercy. Other fathers pointed out that our prayers help the dead in the same way as they help our brothers who are still living on earth, but separated from us in body, who are on a journey, in captivity, in captivity, in prison, and how the prayers of parents help their weak children. Our prayers can act directly on the souls of the deceased, if only they died in the right faith and with true repentance, that is, in communion with the church and with the Lord Jesus, since in this case, despite the apparent distance from us, they continue to belong with us to the same body of Christ, in which, in the same way, sympathy and mutual influence between members cannot but be preserved, just as it naturally exists between all members of our body and as it is found in the external nature between creatures of the same kind, living, although separately, but one life. “For the dead,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian, - commemorations performed by saints during their lives are beneficial. Look, here is an example of this in some of God’s creations, such as: grapes - their ripening bunches in the field and squeezed wine in vessels: when the berries on the vine ripen, then the wine, standing motionless in the house, begins to foam and worry, as if wanting to escape. The same thing, it seems, happens with the plant - the onion: for as soon as the onion planted in the field begins to ripen, at the same time the onion that is in the house gives birth to offspring. So, if plants have such a feeling with each other, then aren’t prayer offerings more noticeable for the dead? When you prudently agree that this happens in accordance with the nature of creatures, then imagine that you are the firstfruits of God’s creatures.” Likewise, another St. the father remarks: “As it happens with wine enclosed in a vessel, which, when the grapes bloom in the field, hears the smell and blooms with it - think so, teaches St. Athanasius the Great, and about the souls of sinners: they receive some benefit from the bloodless sacrifice and charity offered for them, as the only Lord of the living and the dead knows and commands. Our God." Finally, our prayers can be beneficial for those who have died in the right faith and with true repentance because, having passed on to another world in communion with the church, they, moreover, in themselves transferred there the beginning of good or the seed of a new life, which they themselves did not manage to reveal here and which, under the influence of our warm prayers, with the blessing of God, can little by little develop and bear fruit, just as a good seed develops in the earth under the life-giving influence of the sun, with the dissolution of the air, while for those who died in wickedness and unrepentance and who have completely extinguished the spirit of Christ within themselves, no prayers of the still living brethren will help, just as nothing can be done to revive rotten seeds that have lost the beginning of plant life, neither the influence of the sun, nor the beneficial air, nor nutritious moisture. We find this kind of reasoning in the blessed. Augustine and St. John of Damascus. St. Augustine says: “There should be no doubt at all that (the prayers of the Holy Church, saving sacrifice and alms) bring benefit to the dead, but only to those who lived before death in such a way that after death all this could be useful to them. For those who have departed without faith, promoted by love, and without communion in the sacraments, the deeds of that piety are performed by their neighbors in vain, the guarantee of which they did not have in themselves when they were here, not accepting or accepting in vain the grace of God, and hoarding for themselves not mercy, but wrath. So, it is not new merits that are acquired for the dead when those they know do something good for them, but only consequences are drawn from the principles they previously laid down.” St. John of Damascus writes: “Every person who had a small leaven of virtues in himself, but did not manage to turn it into bread - because, despite his desire, he could not do this either due to laziness, or carelessness, or because he had been putting it off since day one, and beyond his hopes, is comprehended and reaped by death - will not be forgotten by the righteous Judge and Master, but the Lord, after his death, will awaken his relatives, neighbors and friends, will direct their thoughts, attract their hearts and incline their souls to provide him with assistance and assistance. And when God moves them, and the Master touches their hearts, they will hasten to compensate for the omission of the deceased. And the one who led a vicious life, which was all strewn with thorns and full of filth and impurity, who never listened to conscience, but with carelessness and blindness plunged into the abomination of lusts, satisfying all the desires of the flesh and not caring at all about the soul; whose whole thoughts were occupied with carnal knowledge and who in such a state will suffer death - no one will stretch out his hand to this, but this will be done to him that neither his spouse, nor his children, nor his brothers, nor his relatives, nor his friends will give him help: since God will not look upon him.” 4. Private commemoration of the dead. The Holy Church constantly prays for all our departed fathers and brothers; but she also performs a special prayerful commemoration of each of our deceased fathers and brothers, according to our pious desire and call. Private commemoration of the dead includes: thirds, nineties, sorochinas and anniversaries 96. a) Third day. The commemoration of the dead on the third day after death is an apostolic tradition. It is accomplished, firstly, because the deceased was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, and kept intact the faith received in the Holy Spirit. baptism, and since throughout his life he prayed for the remission of sins to the one God in the Trinity, then after his repose, St. the church commemorates him on the third day; secondly, because he preserved the three theological virtues that serve as the basis of our salvation, namely: faith, hope and love; thirdly, because his being had a threefold composition - spirit, soul and body, which sin together and therefore, upon a person’s transition to the afterlife, require cleansing from sins. In addition to this theological significance of commemorating the dead on the third day, it also has a mysterious meaning concerning the afterlife state of the soul. When St. Macarius of Alexandria asked the angel who accompanied him in the desert to explain to him the meaning of the church commemoration on the third day, the angel answered him: “When on the third day there is an offering in the church, then the soul of the deceased receives from the angel guarding it relief in the grief that it feels from separation from the body - it receives because the glorification and offering in the church of God were made for it, from which good hope is born in it, for for two days the soul is allowed, together with the angels who are with her, to walk on earth wherever he wants. Therefore, the soul that loves the body sometimes wanders around the house in which the body is placed, and thus spends two days, like a bird, looking for its nest. A virtuous soul walks through those places in which it used to do the truth. On the third day, He who Himself rose from the dead on the third day commands, in imitation of His resurrection, that the Christian soul ascend to heaven to worship the God of all.” b) Ninth day. On the ninth day of St. The church performs prayers and a bloodless sacrifice for the deceased, also according to apostolic tradition. She prays to the Lord that the soul of the deceased may be counted among the saints through the prayers and intercession of the nine angelic orders. St. Macarius of Alexandria, according to an angelic revelation, says that, after worshiping God on the third day, the soul is commanded to show the various pleasant abodes of saints and the beauty of paradise. The soul examines all this for six days, marveling and glorifying the Creator of all things. God. Contemplating all this, she changes and forgets the sorrow she felt while in the body. But if she is guilty of sins, then, at the sight of the pleasures of the saints, she begins to grieve and reproach herself, saying: “Woe is me! How much I fussed in that world! Carried away by the satisfaction of lusts, I spent most of my life in carelessness and did not serve God as I should, so that I too would be worthy of this grace and glory. Alas for me, poor one!” After considering all the joy of the righteous for six days, it is again lifted up by the angels to worship God. c) Fortieth day. The days of mourning for the dead in ancient times lasted forty days. So, the Israelites mourned Moses for forty days. In general, the number forty is a significant number, often found in the Holy Scriptures. The Jews ate manna in the desert for forty years; Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights, receiving the law from God; Elijah spent forty days and forty nights traveling to Mount Horeb; The Lord Jesus Christ, after his baptism, spent forty days and forty nights in the desert, and after his resurrection, he also taught the apostles the mysteries of the kingdom of God for forty days. Based on the tradition of the apostles, who legitimized in the Church of Christ the ancient custom of the Jews - to mourn the dead for forty days, St. The Church, rightly and piously, from ancient times, made it a rule to commemorate the dead for forty days (Sorokoust) and especially on the fortieth day (Sorochiny). Just as Christ defeated the devil after spending forty days in fasting and prayer, so did St. The church, offering prayers, alms and bloodless sacrifices for the deceased for forty days, asks the Lord for the grace to defeat the enemy, the airy prince of darkness, and receive the Kingdom of Heaven as an inheritance. Saint Macarius of Alexandria, discussing the state of the human soul after the death of the body, continues: “After the secondary worship, the Lord of all commands to take the soul to hell and show it the places of torment located there, the various departments of hell and various unholy torments, in which the souls of sinners constantly weep and gnashing their teeth. The soul rushes through these different places of torment for thirty days, trembling, so that it itself does not be imprisoned in them. On the fortieth day, she again ascends to worship the Lord God, and now the Judge determines the place of imprisonment appropriate for her affairs.” Simeon of Thessalonica writes (chapter 372): “The Sorokousts are performed in remembrance of the Ascension of the Lord, which happened on the fortieth day after the resurrection, and with the purpose that the deceased, rising from the grave, ascended to meet the Lord, being caught up in the clouds, and so was always with the Lord” 97. d) Years and anniversaries. The day of a Christian's death is his birthday for a new, better life. That is why we celebrate the memory of our brothers a year after their death. Celebrating their second birth for heaven, we beg the mercy of God, may the Lord be merciful to their souls: may he give them the desired fatherland as an eternal inheritance and make them again the inhabitants of paradise. Since love, according to the word of the apostle, never ceases (1 Cor. 13:8), then death does not dissolve our union of love with our departed brothers: they live in spirit with us who are on earth, and we preserve in our hearts a living memory of them. Their memory is renewed in us with particular vividness on the days of their death - the anniversary, and we resort on these days to the prayer of faith and love as a real means, on the one hand, to satisfy the demands of our heart burning with love, and on the other, to bring joy and relief to the souls of those who have migrated from us to the heavenly world. “Anniversaries, or the commemoration of the deceased on the day of his death, a year after it, and anniversaries that repeat the commemoration with the return of this day and in subsequent years, must certainly be performed under the control of that thought of living faith that for the sake of the completed submission of the Lord himself, after his incarnation, to the human conditions of time, for us annual and multi-year returns or, as it were, repetitions of the day of departure of the deceased into another life, have a living meaning and correlation to his soul and fate. Our faith and love for mankind must use this to promote the reassurance of the departed” 98. 5. Stories about the saving power of prayers for the dead. Blessed Kir-Luka tells about himself that when his own brother died in extreme neglect, he asked God to reveal to him the fate of the deceased. Standing one day in prayer, the elder saw the soul of his brother in the hands of demons. Then he sent some of the brethren to inspect the cell of the deceased. Those sent found gold and expensive things, which the elder ordered to take to the nearest city and distribute to the poor and needy. Having done this, the elder began to pray again and saw the judgment seat of God and the angels of light arguing with demons for the soul of his brother. The demons cried out: “You are righteous, so judge: our soul, for it did our deeds.” The angels said that she was delivered by the alms given for her. The demons resisted and exclaimed: “Did he really give out alms? Isn’t this the old man?” The frightened ascetic answered: “Yes, I did alms, but not for myself, but for this soul.” Then the demons disappeared and the vision ended (Prologue, August 24 days). The Monk Macarius, asking a question to the dry skull, learned important truths regarding the state of the dead. He, among other things, asked: “Don’t you ever feel any consolation?” (The monk usually performed prayers for the dead and wanted to know whether they were beneficial). The Lord, who is merciful about souls, wanted to reveal this to his saint and, in order to assure his servant, breathed into the withered skull the words of truth: “When,” answered the skull, “you offer prayers for the dead, then we feel some kind of consolation” (The Word about those who have fallen asleep in the faith). St. Abbess Athanasia bequeathed to the sisters of her monastery, shortly before her death, to serve a meal to the poor for forty days after her death, in her memory. But the sisters fulfilled this will only for ten days, and such oblivion of her will summoned the saint from another world. Appearing, accompanied by two angels, to some of the sisters, she said: “Why did you break my commandment? Let it be known to you that alms done for a soul up to forty days, feeding the hungry and the prayers of priests appease God: if the souls of the departed are sinful, then through this they receive remission of sins from the Lord, and if they are sinless, then charity for them serves to save the benefactors” (“Red. – Min.” and Prologue April 12). The holy martyr Perpetua, during general prayer in prison, accidentally pronounced the name of her deceased brother Dinocrates. Enlightened by this accident, she began to pray to God for him and the next night she was rewarded with a vision. She saw her brother emerging from a dark place, in a strong flame, tormented by fierce thirst, unclean in appearance and with a wound on his face with which he died. Between him and St. The martyr had a deep abyss, so they could not get closer to each other, and near the place where Dinocrates stood there was a full reservoir (well), the edge of which was much taller than his height, so that her brother could not get a drink from it. From this St. The martyr realized that her brother was in torment, and with strong crying and tears she began to pray daily for his salvation. Soon she was awarded a second vision: the dark place in which her brother was became bright, and her brother, clean-faced and in beautiful clothes, enjoyed the coolness: only a trace of it remained from the wound, the edge of the reservoir was now up to his waist, and on the edge of the reservoir stood a full golden cup from which he drank, and then began to have fun. This ended the vision, from which St. Perpetua realized that he was freed from torment (“The Acts of the Martyrs of Ruicard.” Ed. 1802, III. Chapters 7 and 8: the sufferings of Saint Perpetua). St. John of Damascus relates that “one of the holy men had a disciple who lived carelessly. What then? Death overtook him in such carelessness. The merciful Heavenly Father, moved by the tears and cries of the elder, revealed to him that young man burning in flames even to his neck, like the merciless rich man mentioned in the parable of Lazarus. When the saint subjected himself to strict fasting and prayers, passionately beseeching God, he saw him engulfed in flames to the waist, and finally, when St. The husband added illnesses to illnesses (that is, he intensified his prayer even more), then God in a vision showed him (the young man) to the elder taken from the flame and completely free” (in the Word about those who have fallen asleep in the faith). In one village, an old sexton died suddenly. He had a son - an official. The unexpected death of his father struck his son. The afterlife fate of the deceased haunted the good son for almost a year. Knowing that in the liturgy the most important time for commemorating the dead is the time of singing: “We sing to you. We bless you."... the sad son, being in church at that very time (it was on Spiritual Day), with special zeal began to pray to God for the repose of his father. So what? On Tuesday night he sees in a dream his father, who bowed to him three times to the ground and at the last bow said: “Thank you, my son” (“The Wanderer” 1864, December). A. Resolution of some questions and perplexities regarding prayers for the dead 99 It is impossible to leave without resolving some questions and perplexities that either spontaneously arise in the mind when considering church teaching on prayers for the dead, or are proposed and expressed by wrong-minded people. 1) “Shouldn’t we pray for all those who die without repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ?” No, St. The Church strictly distinguishes between those who die in unrepentance and without communion with the Mysteries of Christ through their own fault and stubbornness, and those who just do not have time to receive the sacrament of repentance and the Eucharist before their death because they are subjected, for reasons beyond their control, to sudden or violent death. As a result of this - whereas, for example, the church does not pray for free suicides or unrepentant heretics - for all her children who died in vain, she, with the contrition of a true mother, begs the Lord to have mercy on them. 2) “Why pray for those dead who repented before death and, therefore, have already received from the Lord, through the sacrament of repentance, forgiveness and resolution of their sins?” But, firstly, do all those who repent before death bring proper repentance, sincere, deep, living, completely sufficient to receive perfect absolution from sins from the righteous Judge? Is everyone else capable of such repentance in difficult and terrible moments of death? For all these repentants, obviously, the intercession of the church is necessary, which could make up for what they lacked. Secondly, those who approach the sacrament of repentance are required to not only confess their sins before God, but then actually turn from them and bear fruits worthy of repentance (Ezek. 18:21-22; Matt. 3:8; Acts 3:19; Rev. 2:5). And all those who die soon after their repentance do not have time to justify and finish what in repentance they only begin. This is what is missing in all who die soon after repentance, and little by little the church makes up for it with its prayers (Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs on the Orthodox Faith, member 18). Thirdly, in order to be rewarded with heavenly bliss after death, it is not enough just to receive forgiveness of sins from God, but it is necessary to actually be cleansed of sins and healed, for a sinner, forgiven, but remaining with his sins, would feel out of place among the righteous inhabitants of heaven in the face of the Most Holy of Holies and would be further incapable, due to his spiritual disorder, of tasting heavenly bliss; But the prayers of the church, the benevolence performed by the living for the dead, and especially the offering of a bloodless sacrifice, can help everyone who has died with the seed of new life, so that this good seed will little by little be revealed in them, grow into a tree, bear fruit, and so that in this way they will be completely renewed and put off the old man. 3) “How can we reconcile the intercession of the church and the prayers of the living for the dead with the teaching of the word of God that Christ is “the only Mediator between God and men and has brought perfect satisfaction for all sinners”? In the same way: how the intercession of the church and the prayer of the living for the living agree, which the very word of God commands (James 5:17). The Church stands before God for the dead, as well as for the living, not in its own name, but in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 14:13–14) and by the power of His bloodless sacrifice, which He never ceases to offer for the salvation of all the living and the dead. The Church, with its prayers and intercession, only cares for its children to assimilate the endless merits of the one “Mediator between God and men,” who gave himself up for the redemption of all (1 Tim. 2:5–6). 4) “How can we reconcile the teaching about the beneficial influence of church prayers for the dead with the teaching of the word of God that “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27), and that at the judgment God will “reward to everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6)? After death, indeed, there is for everyone the judgment of God and retribution is not yet decisive. And this again reveals the infinite goodness and mercy of the Lord towards us, that further after death, after a private judgment, He does not finally punish sinners, but only predeterminedly, and leaves another long period of time, during which the seed of good, with which repentant sinners pass into eternity, could develop in them and cleanse them from all filth, under the beneficial influence of the prayers of the church. After this period, when the infinite goodness of the Lord has time, so to speak, to accomplish everything that can be done for the good of those redeemed by His honest blood, His infinite truth will carry out a general and final judgment, at which it will finally reward everyone according to their deserts 100 . 5) “If even after death some Christians’ sins are forgiven as a result of the prayers of the church, then how will the word of the apostle be fulfilled that on the day of the last judgment everyone “will receive according to what he did while living in the body” (2 Cor. 5:10)?” The word of the Apostle is immutable, and it will be fulfilled both on all people and also on Christians, who, after death, through the power of church prayers, will be worthy to receive remission of sins. For these Christians themselves, while still in the body, laid the foundation for this with their own repentance for sins before their death, and thus, while still in the body, they became worthy of church prayers and able to use them beyond the grave. 6) “If sinners who died with repentance are in hell, then how will the prayers of the church help liberate them, when there is no deliverance from hell and they do not go to heaven from there” (Luke 16:26)? True, in one place of the Holy Scripture it is said that there is no deliverance from hell and no transition to Abraham’s bosom; but in another place we read that Christ the Savior, after death, descended with His soul into hell, like God, in order to preach deliverance there, and, as the church believes, brought from there all the Old Testament righteous, or all those who believed in him (1 Peter 3:19, “Orthodox Confession,” part I, answer to question 49). What follows from this? The fact is that if for some, like the rich man of the Gospel, there is no deliverance from hell, then for others, namely those who believe in the Lord Jesus, it became possible after He had already destroyed hell and brought many from there. Just as in heaven, according to the moral state of the righteous, there are many abodes and various rewards (John 14:2), so, without a doubt, in hell, according to the unequal moral state of sinners, there are different abodes, gates and repositories of souls (3 Ezra 4:31-35); and while in one of these terrible abodes, like the rich man of the Gospel, those who died in unrepentance and unbelievers suffer in the flames (Luke 16:23), in others they could live - of course, without such suffering - then the Old Testament righteous until the coming of Christ to them, and sinners who died with true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus can live. So from the first abodes from the gates of hell there is no deliverance for prisoners due to their very moral state, just as from the abodes of the last kind such deliverance already existed for the righteous of the Old Testament and perhaps for sinners who died in faith and repentance. And in ordinary prisons there are criminals for whom, according to the laws, liberation is impossible and the death penalty has already been determined, and less guilty criminals who, with the help of their neighbors, can and often receive freedom: the same should be said about the prison of spirits - hell (1 Pet. 3:19). Therefore, the Orthodox Church prays to the Lord for deliverance from hell, and not from any other place, of the 101 souls who departed from the world in repentance, as is especially evident from her prayer at Vespers on St. Pentecost. 7) “Are our prayers for the dead not vain, when we do not know with certainty what fate befalls them, and, perhaps, many for whom we pray are already in the Kingdom of Heaven, while others, according to the private judgment of God, belong to the number of the rejected”? Despite all this, our prayers for the dead are not vain. The Church teaches us to pray for everyone who died in the Orthodox faith and with repentance, excluding the obvious wicked and unrepentant; but for whom to accept, for whom to reject our prayers - this already belongs to the Lord. Our prayers for those who, perhaps, are already in heaven or among the outcasts, if not useful to them, are not harmful. But our prayers for all those who died piously, but did not have time to bear fruits worthy of repentance, and therefore have not yet been worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, are without any doubt useful to them. And besides, prayers for the dead are in any case useful to those praying themselves, according to the words of the psalmist: “my prayer will return to my bosom” (Ps. 34:13) and the Savior: “your peace will return to you” (Matthew 10:13). 8) “If the church prays for everyone who has died with repentance and her prayers are strong before God and beneficial for them, then everyone for whom she prays will be saved and no one will be deprived of bliss.” To this we will say together with St. John of Damascus: “So be it, if only this were fulfilled!” For this is what he thirsts for, and wants, and desires, about this the good Lord rejoices and rejoices, so that no one will be deprived of His divine gifts. For has He really prepared rewards and crowns for the angels? Did He really come to earth to save spirits, took incorruptible incarnation from the Virgin, became human, tasted suffering and death? Will He really say to the angels, come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you? You cannot say this: enemy; but He prepared everything for the man for whom He suffered. For who, having prepared a feast and invited friends, would not want them all to come and be filled with its blessings? Otherwise, why should he prepare a feast, if not to treat his friends? And if we only care about this, then what should we say about the great-gifted, one by nature, most good and loving God, who, giving and giving, rejoices and is more joyful than the one who accepts and acquires the greatest salvation for himself” 102. We must also not forget that the abodes of the Heavenly Father are many and the degrees of eternal bliss will be very different, according to the very dignity of those who are worthy of this bliss. 9) The ancient heretics Arians raised the following objection against the benefits of prayers for the dead: “If prayers offered for the dead are useful for them, then let no one live piously and do good, but win friends for himself in any way - whether by generously distributing money, or by asking before the end of his life to pray to God for him, so that he does not suffer in another life, so that he does not suffer execution for great sins.” When a grain is thrown into the ground, having lost the beginning of plant life even in the granary and internally damaged to the point that it is unable to emerge from the ground, then, no matter how much this rotten grain is irrigated, no matter how much they try to expose it to the influence of the life-giving sun and the goodness of the air, it will not develop and will not become a beautiful plant. Likewise, the prayers of friends and relatives cannot help the soul of the deceased who, during his earthly life, extinguished the spirit of Christ in himself through vices and wickedness, who, while calling himself a Christian, was a pagan in his soul, but in life and deeds a Pharisee; Their prayers cannot help his soul to emerge from eternal darkness into the kingdom of saints, where the light of God is present, for the outcast has no part with the saints.” B. Will people recognize each other in the afterlife? The doctrine that people mutually recognize each other in the afterlife was the subject of almost universal belief. All the peoples of the earth adhered to this teaching. Both the ancient world believed in this truth, and so does the modern world - Jew and pagan, Christian and barbarian, Greek and Roman, philosopher and poet, the most educated peoples and the most savage tribes equally adhered to this teaching. This belief in a mutual meeting beyond the grave with people close to us is especially dear to the children of God in the moments of their most difficult trials. It is indescribably dear to the human soul precisely when its dearest earthly hopes are destroyed, and the bonds of its heartfelt affections are painfully severed. Then the belief in question is truly healing for the sore spirit and becomes a great consolation for the tormented and broken heart; because it teaches “not to grieve like others who have no hope.” It assures that the destruction of the body gives rise only to temporary separation, that dear beings are not taken away forever, but only for that short time while his earthly life continues. But is this belief grounded? Yes, we can be firmly convinced that the Creator, who created our being, would not have put such a deep faith in our soul, such a deep desire for this holy mutual meeting, if it were not true, and the Holy Spirit would not have allowed such a thought to grow and strengthen in the hearts of believers, in the hour of their most severe suffering and sorrow, if the said thought were a delusion. Turning to the consideration of the evidence of Holy Scripture that affirms the truth that people will recognize each other again in the afterlife, we will first of all point out those passages in the Pentateuch of Moses that say that the Old Testament patriarchs “were gathered to their people.” Thus, in the book of Genesis (Gen. 25:8), it is said that “Abraham died... and was gathered to his people.” But this image of expression, of course, cannot refer to the burial of the patriarch, because in this case the said expression would be incorrect, since Abraham was not buried where the graves of his people were, his ancestors lived and died in Ur of the Chaldeans; Terah, his father, died in Haran, and was buried there; and Abraham was buried in a new place - namely, “in a cave of the field in Machpelah, opposite Mamre, which is now Hebron, in the land of Canaan” (see Gen. 23:19, 25:9-10), - a cave that Abraham acquired from the sons of Heth and which was located far from the tombs of his fathers. However, not being buried with “his people,” he nevertheless venerated them, that is, although his body did not rest with their bodies, but what constituted his very being, namely the immortal spirit, “kid the people” - entered into close, fraternal unity and was returned to their friendship. We also read about Isaac (Gen. 35:29): “And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered to his people, and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.” Notice that it says that Isaac “was gathered to his people” immediately after his death, but before his burial. By this, obviously, the teaching is taught that, as soon as the spirit of the aged righteous man left the body, and before this body was buried, freed from the bonds of the flesh, he entered into fellowship with his pious ancestors, who had gone before him to Sheol. The same expression is used regarding Jacob in the book of Genesis. 49:33, where the words: “he was venerated to his people,” could not, of course, mean that he was buried with them, since the burial of Jacob took place only forty days after he died and was venerated to his people.” In chapter XXXII of Ezekiel’s prophecy, we are also convinced of the terrible truth that the souls of sinners who perish forever will recognize each other. Here, in a menacingly majestic narrative, the king of Egypt is depicted as having descended into hell, being there among the princes and the uncircumcised, and in v. 21. In the aforementioned chapter we are told about the pharaoh: “Among the underworld the first of the heroes will speak about him and his allies; they fell and lie there among the uncircumcised, slain with the sword” (Ezek. 32:21). This passage of Holy Scripture depicts before us the dwelling of hell and indicates that the souls of the frantic tormentors who have departed to the afterlife, their allies and their hordes are together, and we see them talking to Pharaoh in hell, when he also descended there to them. And that the king of Egypt recognized them is certain, since after the enumeration of the kings and nations about whom it is said that they descended into the pit, and about whom it is stated (Ezek. 32:27) that “their iniquity remained in their bones, because they, being mighty, were a terror in the land of the living,” in v. 31 we read: “Pharaoh will see them and will be comforted over all his multitude, slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, says the Lord God” (Ezek. 32:31). From the indicated passage in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, we learn that the king of Egypt will not only see those kings and peoples whom he knew on earth, but that the sight of these unfortunates, given over to eternal torment, will give him a kind of devilish pleasure, once he learns that those who were accomplices of his crimes will become partners in his suffering. Having completed our examination of the evidence presented by the Old Testament, we now proceed to examine the evidence given of the spoken truth in the gospel accounts of our Lord's earthly ministry. In Evangel. (Luke 16:19-21) we read about the rich, hard-hearted and poor Lazarus the following: “A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered with scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom. And, crying out, he said: “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” But Abraham said: “Child! Remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil, but now he is comforted here, and you suffer. And on top of all this, a great gulf has been established between you and us, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.” It is obvious that in this narrative Christ says a lot about immortality. He lifts, so to speak, the curtain that hides the spiritual world from us, and gives us a moment's look at the state of souls in the afterlife. Perhaps in no other place in Holy Scripture are the various states of those who have departed and their mutual relations to each other so vividly depicted. It is given to us to see heaven and hell at the same time, and what happens there is told to us by Him who is not only the “Chief of life,” but also “Having the keys of hell and death.” Let us consider what Christ told us regarding the truth that people will recognize each other and that communication between them will resume in the spiritual world that He reveals to us in the above narrative. This parable teaches us that the saints who are in the kingdom of glory not only mutually recognize each other, but that between them there is the most sincere friendship and communication, since we hear that Lazarus not only recognized Abraham, but that he was allowed to recline in his bosom, that is, the bliss of the most sincere communication with “the father of believers and the friend of God” was given. Further, we learn from the above-mentioned narrative that the saved and the lost can recognize each other, although the communication of friendship cannot exist between them; so the rich man who was in hell could recognize both Abraham and Lazarus, who were in heaven, and they also saw him. But although they could thus see each other from afar, there was still no possibility of mutual communication between them, since a “great abyss” was established between them, forever blocking any communication between them. And the fact that unrepentant sinners will see the glory of the saints will intensify their torment throughout all eternity and increase the horror and darkness of their place of condemnation. B. About the difference between sexes in the future life The inherent desire of man to open the veil separating the present from the future and, as far as possible, to penetrate the secrets of the afterlife, this inherent desire of humanity poses the following question: is there a difference between the sexes in the future life? The appearances of male and female saints on earth leave no doubt about the existence of two sexes beyond the grave. The afterlife is no longer earthly, but angelic, where there is no need and, for example, marriage is no longer possible; he was needed on earth to support the human race. The spiritual relationships of people, which began on earth, are preserved, and it cannot be otherwise, in the afterlife, for which these relationships were intended. A brother will remain a brother there in relation to his sister, if she was only on earth, and if she is also a participant in heavenly life; the wife will remain a wife in relation to her husband, her rights to this are with her; her spiritual relationship to her husband is determined by God himself. If the existence of the soul does not end with bodily death, if it has to give an account of its actions, for example, in fulfilling or not fulfilling the duties of a wife, - while giving an account, the soul must preserve its gender. It does not agree with common sense that an indifferent being - the soul - would give an account of actions that do not belong to it or are unusual for it. The Word of God teaches us that in the resurrection bodies will be united with their souls, therefore, every soul will again be forever united with its body. The body is an organ of the soul, an instrument of its visible manifestation. One should not think that the difference between the sexes lies only in the visible body. The character, the property of both sexes belongs not to the body, but to the soul. With these natural properties that distinguish one soul from another, the soul passes from earth to the afterlife. Even without a body, the unfortunate rich man in hell also recognized the disembodied Abraham and Lazarus. So, why didn’t he mix them up, for example, with Sarah, Rebekah and other wives who are in paradise? It is true on earth that they say: so and so has a feminine character, and so and so has a masculine character; however, neither he is a woman, nor is she a man; here we are only talking about some similarity of characters, just as it happens that men have a female face, and women have a masculine one, while retaining, however, their gender - the natural character of the soul. About the existence of the sexes in the afterlife, Blessed Augustine writes this way: “Then only what is insufficient will be expelled from the flesh, and its very nature will be preserved.” But the sex of a woman is not at all a defect (as the dogmatists of the Middle Ages taught about the imperfection of the female sex): but nature, which, of course, will then neither conceive nor give birth, therefore there will be no marriage, but will continue to exist in its female members, not for the previous use, but for a new decoration, and it will never arouse the lusts of the one who contemplates this..., on the contrary, it will serve as a new reason to glorify the wisdom and goodness of God, who once created what did not exist, and delivered from decay what he had created. Whoever, therefore, created both sexes, “He preserved them” (see op.: “Our friends in heaven.” Killen). Orthodox Confession, Part 1. Rep. to questions 64, 65. Eastern Epistle. patriarchs about rights, faith, member 18. Orthodox-Dogmatic Theology of Macarnia, vol. II. 258. In the liturgy of St. The Apostle James contains the following prayer for the dead. “Lord, God of spirits and all flesh! Remember the Orthodox, whom we remembered and whom we did not remember, from Abel the righteous to this day. May you rest them in the village of the living, in Your kingdom, in the sweets of paradise, in the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, St. our father, from where sickness, sorrow and sighing escaped, where the light of Your face comes and always illuminates.” Quoted from St. John of Damascus in the word about those who have fallen asleep in the faith. Discourse III on the Epistle to the Philippians. Discourse XXI on the Acts of the Apostles. A word about those who have fallen asleep in the faith. Christ. reading 1827, XXVI. 309. Epistle LXVI to the clergy and people. About the life of the blessed Tsar Constantine, Prince. IV, ch. 71, p. 272. in Russian. translation Testament to Christ. reading 1827, XXVI, 294. About repentance XXXVIII in Creation. Holy Father XVI, 343. The custom of commemorating the dead mainly on the third, ninth and fortieth days after their death has existed in the church since ancient times. It is clearly spoken about in the book of the Apostolic Constitutions: then more or less clearly - in St. Ephraim the Syrian (in his will), Macarius of Alexandria (in the word about the exodus of the soul), St. Ambrose of Milan (in the word on the death of Theodosius), Palladius (in Lavsanka, ch. 26), Isidore Pelusiot (Epistle, book I, message 114) - teachers of the fourth or early fifth century; further, with all clarity, in the short stories of Emperor Justinian (novel 133), in Eustratius. Presbyter of Constantinople (560), at St. John of Damascus (in the word about those who have fallen asleep in the faith) and others. The explanation of this custom among both the cited and later writers, although different, is generally consistent with the spirit of piety. New Tablet, Part IV, 2. A. Bukharev, “On repose. Deceased,” page 40. Borrowed from Macarnia's "Orthodox Dogmatic Theology". T. II 258. The sayings: for you are rewarded to everyone according to his deeds, and: everyone will reap what he sows, and similar ones, without a doubt, refer to the coming of the Creator, to the terrible judgment that will then take place and the end of this world, for then there will be no place for any help, and any prayer will not be valid. For when the bargaining ends, then it is too late to engage in trade. For then where will the poor be? Where are the clergy? Where is the psalmody? Where is the alms? Where are the charities? So, before that hour comes, let us help each other, and to God who loves brotherhood, who loves mankind and is merciful for souls, offer sacrifices of brotherly love” (John Damascus. “A Sermon on Those Who Have Fallen in the Faith”). “Right. Confession”, part 1. rep. to the question 64–66. "Eastern Message" Patriarchs about rights, faith,” member. I8. Mark of Ephesus taught the same thing. Gabriel of Philadelphia and other Orthodox teachers of the East. Therefore, one cannot agree with those who say that souls, through the prayers of the church, are liberated not from hell, but from ordeals, which thus constitute, as it were, a special, middle or third place between heaven and hell (see “The Stone of Faith”, book II, p. 440 - O beneficent departed, part II, chapter 3); nor with those who, although they admit that souls are liberated from hell, recognize hell along with the ordeals, as a special, middle place between heaven and Gehenna. It is impossible, we say, to agree with either one or the other because the Orthodox Church does not allow an average state of souls after death, a third place between heaven and hell, or Gehenna (Orthodox Confession, part 1, answer to questions, 64,67, 68). A word about the deceased. In faith. “Christ. Read." 1827, p. 326. You might be interested in: