Not recommended by the Publishing Council
On December 17, 2019, a traditional meeting with representatives of publishing houses took place in the assembly hall of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In the speech of the assistant to the chairman of the Publishing Council, Hieromonk Makariy (Komogorov), examples of publications were given that are deliberately published for distribution in the church network without applying for a stamp. This, in particular, applies to akathists, including such as “akathist about the one who died” and “akathist to wives who lost their children in the womb.” These publications were denied a stamp, so their distribution on the church network is unacceptable.
Source: Patriarchia.ru
Not recommended by the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church
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This is not the first year that the “Akathist for the One Who Died” has been circulating among Orthodox Christians. It can be found in church shops - both as a separate publication and in collections of funeral prayers. It is important to note that this akathist is being distributed without the stamp of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which since 2011 has been mandatory for all printed publications intended for the church bookselling network. Moreover, the Publishing Council refused to give this particular akathist the title, and they also stated that it was inadmissible to distribute it among believers.
And this is not surprising, since the text of “Akathist for the One Who Died” contains statements that contradict Orthodox dogma, and also contains obvious borrowings from ancient Egyptian religious mythology.
But before we begin analyzing the content of “Akathist for the One Who Died,” it is worth noting that in general, an akathist as a genre of Orthodox church hymnography is a song of praise and thanksgiving dedicated to God, the Mother of God, an angel or saints, and this format cannot in any way be combined with a prayer for the deceased. The very name “Akathist for the One Who Died” evokes some surprise and caution.
It is unknown who the author of this akathist is, but we can say with confidence that he not only has an incorrect understanding of some aspects of Orthodox dogma, but is also, to one degree or another, familiar with ancient Egyptian religious mythology, the knowledge of which he did not fail to use. So, as a result, in the akathist we find, in addition to texts that contradict the teachings of the Church, images and speech patterns from ancient Egyptian myths, and even neo-pagan Slavic conspiracies.
Now let's talk about everything in order.
And let's start with borrowings from ancient Egyptian mythology.
The Akathist contains very strange lines, more like incantations: “Let there be no bitter memories of him on earth” (Ikos 1), “Let the memory of sins perish forever” (Ikos 3), “Let the tares of your sins perish in the grave” (Kondak 7). Similar figures of speech can be found in ancient Egyptian pagan conspiracies from the Book of the Dead, compiled by pagan priests with the aim of helping the deceased find peace and well-being in another world. Here are some quotes from it: “Let no one drive me away from the Tatau leaders,” “Let no one cause you (the heart) to fall out of me in the presence of the Keeper of the Scales,” “Let no mortal wounds be inflicted on me, and may I not be ripped open by the horns.”
The style of spells like “let him perish” is unacceptable in Orthodox hymnography and in prayers. The word “perish” is characteristic of occult conspiracies, and not of Orthodox prayers. A similar approach is also used by modern neo-pagans, composing conspiracies like: “Cleansing with fire, opening the power of souls, save the child of God, may the sickness perish.” We must clearly understand that Orthodox Christians ask God and the Saints, and do not conjure.
The author of the akathist, forming in the text the image of a deceased person sleeping in a grave, places the following calls addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ: “Sanctify his grave rest” (Ikos 5), “He sleeps in the eternal sleep of the grave” (Kondakion 6). And further in Ikos 11: “Awaken him when the thorns of the earth are clothed with the color of eternity.” One gets the impression that these lines speak not just about the mortal body of the deceased as a bodily shell left by the soul, but in general about himself, and therefore about his soul. As a result, according to the akathist, it turns out that both the body of the deceased and his soul fall asleep in the “eternal sleep of the grave” until the time of awakening on the day of general resurrection. But there is no such thing in Orthodox teaching. The Church teaches that the soul continues to live, feel and think, and it will unite with the body at the appointed time. And although the author of the akathist in Kontakion 3 writes about the soul leaving the body, the above quotes are still capable of creating in the reader of the akathist an incorrect idea about the posthumous existence of a person. The akathist's call to awaken the deceased is also incorrect and again resembles Egyptian religious myths, in which the awakening of the dead was allowed.
The Akathist contains another very strange line related to the afterlife: “Let nothing earthly darken his last sleep” (Ikos 11). Nowhere in Orthodox teaching does it say that what happens on earth can darken the existence of those who are in the other world. And the ancient Egyptians believed that certain earthly events could darken the existence of the dead. Therefore, apparently, the author of the akathist used this “spell” in his work.
Then in the akathist we find the prayer addressed to the deceased, which cannot be found in any other Orthodox funeral prayer. And again, in this regard, direct associations arise with ancient Egyptian religious traditions, namely with the “ritual funeral lament”, where such appeals are present.
It is likely that some, having read the above arguments, will doubt the direct connection of these quotes from the akathist with ancient Egyptian religious spells. But the author of the akathist, perhaps without specifically meaning to do so, himself makes it clear to us that the connection of his reasoning with ancient Egyptian mythology is the most direct. In Ikos 11, it is written about the deceased: “He fell asleep with hope, like the Nile River before the cold winter.” Why on earth did the Orthodox compiler need to use the image of the Nile River, more characteristic of the ancient Egyptian religion? Why Nile? Is this not the result of mixing the images and concepts of the ancient Egyptian religion with Orthodoxy, allowed by the author of the akathist?
But of course, the most important thing that we should pay attention to is that in the akathist there are expressions that contradict Orthodox dogma.
Here, for example, is a quote from the “akathist”: “...Jesus, through the intercession of all the saints, grant him the grace of prayer for the living. Jesus, in the days of our trials, accept his intercession for us” (Ikos 7). According to church tradition, after their earthly death, only holy people can pray for the living and intercede for them before God. After death, a person cannot change his internal state. If he is holy, then he will pray for us living. If his soul is damaged and exhausted by sins, then just the opposite, he himself needs our prayers for him.
Also in the akathist there is the following call: “Jesus, accept his repentance in our tears” (Ikos 4). St. John of Damascus writes: “The fall for angels is the same as death for people. For after the fall, repentance is impossible for them, just as it is for people after death.” A person himself in another world can no longer bring proper repentance; only those living here on earth can pray for him to change his fate.
The reviews of people who read “Akathist for the One Who Died” are noteworthy. They complain that it provokes daydreaming during prayer - feelings that are dangerous and alien to the Orthodox and more common to Catholics and occultists. An example of provoking such feelings may well be the following call from the akathist: “Jesus, let us feel the gracious power of funeral prayer” (Ikos 9).
To summarize, it should be said that this akathist, due to the deviations it contains from the teachings of the Orthodox Church, is capable of forming in its readers an incorrect idea of the Orthodox faith, from which throughout history the Church of Christ has sought to protect its faithful children. Orthodox Christians acquire this akathist and begin to read prayers for their deceased baptized relatives that contradict Orthodox teaching and are clearly borrowed from paganism. Which is under no circumstances acceptable!
Therefore, everyone who wants to remember deceased loved ones or acquaintances should turn to the indisputable prayer rule - the Canon for the same deceased.
Yarasov A.V., Deputy Head of the Missionary Department of the Tula Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church