On Prayer and Alms for the Departed
As we get our bulletin every month and look over the upcoming services, we usually notice that there are several memorial services for the departed, including Saturdays when “additional” Liturgies are being offered by this or that family especially for the sake of their beloved dead . This “ordinary” part of church life is something we get used to, take for granted; we seldom stop to ponder on its significance. When we do take the time to learn the Church’s teaching, however, it makes us sit up and take notice; we begin to think more deeply about our own death and the urgent necessity for the prayers of the Church, especially the Sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood at the Divine Liturgy.
What happens to your soul when you die? How can the Liturgy, memorial services, and alms given in your name help you after you die? Let us try to understand this and act on it.
St. Nektarios of Aegina summarizes the Church’s teaching on the state of the departed before the Last Judgment thus: “The Partial Judgment, to which all men are subjected after death, is by no means compleste and final, wherefore it naturally follows that they await another, complete, and final judgment. During the Partial Judgment, only the soul of man receives its retribution, not the body as well, even though the latter shared with the soul its deeds, good or evil. After the Partial Judgment, the righteous in Heaven and the sinners in Hades have only a foretaste of the blessedness or punishments which they deserve. Finally, after this Partial Judgment some of the sinners will be relieved of the burden of the punishment and will be completely delivered from the sufferings of Hades, not through their own action, but through the prayers of the Church.” (from The Oecumenical Synods of the Church of Christ, by Met. Nektarios [Kephalas], p. 222).
The prayers of the Church, then, do not cease helping us when we die. We are still members of the Church after death, and the benefit of the perfect and all-forgiving Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which we derive from every Divine Liturgy, still can help us. The difference is that after death, we cannot help ourselves; we are completely dependent on others to help us!
The importance of alms given for the sake of the departed is revealed in the life of our monastic Father Luke: “...the blessed monk Luke had a brother who became a monk but took little care of his own soul. Death came upon him in a state of carelessness. Blessed Luke was distressed that his brother had not prepared properly for death. He therefore prayed God to reveal to him his brother’s destiny. Thereupon the old man saw his brother’s soul in the power of evil spirits. Immediately after this vision he sent some men to inspect his brother’s cell. They found there money and some other things. Luke then understood that his brother’s soul was suffering for breaking the vow of poverty, as well as for other sins. He took everything that had been found and gave it away to beggars for the sake of his brother’s salvation. ...later, when he was at prayer, he had another revelation. He saw a judgment seat at which the angels of light were disputing over the possession of the dead man’s soul with the evil spirits. Luke heard the evil spirits cry out: ‘This soul is ours, for it used to do deeds inspired by us!’ But the angels said to them that the soul was saved from their power because of the alms that had been given for its sake.”
Think, carefully, dear brothers and sisters, about our own sinful lives. Will we die in true repentance, cleansed of all our sins? Are we so sure that we deserve Paradise? Is it not true that, after death, we may very well need someone to pray for us? Let us, then frequently offer sacred Liturgies and Memorials, as well as give donations to the Church and alms to the needy for the sake of the dead, so that, when we die, someone will do this for us:
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!
From the Lives of Our Holy Fathers
1. St. Grigorios Dialogos (St. Gregory the Great) also tells how, in the time of Osios Venediktos (St. Benedict), there were two women who excelled in fasting, but, although they had a reputation for the holiness of their lives, they had an unfortunate passion for talk and used to say much that was untrue and harmful. The saint begged them to restrain their tongues, and, when they disobeyed, he even threatened to excommunicate them. But their passion for lies had taken so deep a root that even threats did not stop them. A few days later they died.
These fasters were buried in a church. When, during the Liturgy, the deacon would say, “Catechumens, depart!” they, since they had been excommunicated, would get out of their tombs and go out. Some pious Christians saw them doing this. When the man of God had been told of this, he sent a prosphoron (altar bread) to the church where the women had been buried and ordered that a part of the bread be taken out for their souls. After this, no one saw them again leaving the church, and the faithful understood that their prayers for the dead women were pleasing to the merciful God, Who then forgave them. (account found in Dialogue II)
2. The Higoumena Athanasia told the sisters of her monastery that after her death they should for her sake feed beggars for forty days. But when she died, the sisters invited beggars for ten days only, and after that were too lazy to obey their Gerondissa! Athanasia appeared to the sisters and said: “ Let everyone know that alms given for the departed during the forty days after death are pleasing to God. If the departed souls are sinful, they thus are pardoned by God; if they are righteous, the good deeds thus performed serve to save the souls of the survivors who perform them.”