Day of prayer for the departed – Memorial Saturday
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The first Saturday before the commemoration of St. Demetrius, popularly known as Mitrovden, was selected by the Holy Orthodox Church as a day to commemorate the deceased and is called Saint Demetrius Memorial Saturday.
The Orthodox Christian teaching on commemoration of the deceased is based on the belief in the given immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body. According to the words of Christ, the deceased do not die in the true sense of the word, but with death they pass from the earthly temporary to the heavenly eternal life.
We do not die through the act of death, we do not cease to exist, but we pass from one form of existence to another, i.e. life. The boundless love of our heavenly Father determined that our earthly life should be only a preparation for eternal life. But all the members of the Church do not die with repentance and the necessary preparation for eternal life, and, are reposed with many sins, because it is said that there is no man who lived without sinning. However, the Christian love that allows us to pray for the living calls us to pray for the dead as well. Love never stops, it follows us even after death, which means that we who are alive, who are close relatives and friends to the dead here on earth can pray for the forgiveness of the sins of the dead even with greater care. The immeasurable mercy of God does not want the death of the sinner, but rather, for him to realise his sinful way, then to return and be alive, and therefore provides us with the means for such care. This indicates that by praying to God for those who are deceased, and doing good deeds on their behalf, we increase the number of those who will be resurrected to eternal life.
We ask: How should the deceased be commemorated?
Christians are obliged, on that occasion, to prepare boiled wheat, whose grain symbolically indicates that the dead will be resurrected “what you sow will not come to life unless it dies” (Cor. 15,36). Wine and bread are also needed, which represent Christ Who offered Himself for the salvation of people and the destruction of death.
These are the basic elements that are needed to commemorate the deceased. For these commemorations, the Holy Church also arranged prayers that are read during the commemoration itself. All proceedings, including commemorations, are performed with burning candles that point to the light of eternal blissful life.
During the commemoration, food is distributed in memory of the dead, and the act itself is related to the apostolic decree which says: “Give from their possessions to the poor for their memory”.
Here I would like to say that for the commemoration of the dead there are also special days when the dead should be commemorated. The deceased are commemorated on the third, ninth and fortieth day, then on the sixth month, first anniversary of their death, sometimes on the second anniversary, and on the third anniversary. The names themselves tell us on which day the commemoration should take place.
The commemorations themselves are recommended to be performed on Saturday, because that day is also selected for commemorating all the dead as a weekly commemoration, and not in any case on Sunday because that day is the day of the Resurrection.
May the Lord God have mercy on the souls of all departed Orthodox Christians from ages to ages, Amen.
Father Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
2/11/2012@11:32 pm
