Wounded by God’s Love (Part One)
A JOURNEY OF SOUL AFTER DEATH AND
THE PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED
Fr. Dr. J. Buciora
1 Part One
2 Part Two
Humankind has been dealing with the question of death and the afterlife from the very beginning of its existence. The curiosity about life and the inability of mankind to answer the fundamental existential question of the afterlife force every generation to rethink and reevaluate the basic foundations of life. The quest to find a satisfactory answer to death and the afterlife also applies to our generation, which looks at all possibilities and hypotheses. Questions regarding the Funeral Rite, the meaning of prayers for the deceased, and the Orthodox perspective on life after death need to be answered adequately. These questions are stimulating as they deal with a subject that concerns every walk of life. As these questions present a very difficult theme, the subject has to be discussed in a broader context. A simplified answer would cause unnecessary problems and misinterpretations.
The question of death and the afterlife is especially important when it deals with the loss of our loved ones. The longing to be near the deceased can be experienced in so many perspectives and in so many different personal ways. As a point of interest, on average, more than 150,000 people die every day on this planet, which is two people per second and over a million per week. In view of such an overwhelming reality of death in the world, it is not surprising that two in three adults in North America believe in some sort of life after death. [1] Because of the magnitude of death on earth and the variety of personal experiences, we have to be quite careful not to generalize these personal experiences or to answer them using contemporary metaphors (light of the tunnel, feelings of happiness, etc.). We have to be sensitive to the experiences of all people in all aspects of their understanding. As the reality of death has “many faces” of our understanding and explanation, we are being cautioned to approach the subject with empathy and meditation.
Before entering into the subject of life after death, there are two critical observations to be made. The first observation emphasizes the fact that when talking about death and the afterlife, we have to be quite careful with our statements and conclusions. There is humility that comes from the fact that no one has ever come back from the other side of death to share their experience. Although the Bible provides us with examples of resurrections of the dead: the son of the widow in Zarephath of Sidon by the prophet Elijah, three resurrections performed by Jesus Christ…, there are no written descriptions of the experience of the raised ones. [2] In our deliberations and discussions, we can’t go too far and acquire knowledge that we do not have. [3] This is especially important for all those who work in the fields of science and academia. The subject of our discussion avoids any conclusive, definitive statements or hypotheses. This type of reality requires “new tools” and a new approach that can’t be categorized or defined by any scientific or academic standards.
From another perspective, although we are cautioned in our exploration of the subject, we can’t be insensitive to the questions of our faithful who are looking for answers. Church members who are bombarded by secular, philosophical, and atheistic ideologies on life and death are turning towards the Church to find comfort and answers. Based on the number of publications on this subject from both secular and fundamentalist perspectives, the Orthodox Church takes a defensive approach regarding this question. Credibility and trust in the Church are questioned as there is no response to these questions. The following words of St. John of the Ladder are the most thought-provoking:
“It is dangerous to be inquisitive about the depth of the divine judgement, because the inquisitive sails in the ship of conceit. Yet because of the weakness of many, something should be said”. [4]
Although we are cautioned not to cross the boundaries of the unknown, the Orthodox Church, based on theology and mystical literature, is able to give a positive response about death and the afterlife. The experiences of the monastics, based on the solid anthropological foundations of the Church, including the Holy Scripture and the life of the Saints, could become the spiritual assurance and guidance people are looking for. [5]
The second observation is a positive one that emphasizes Jesus Christ’s Resurrection and our participation in God’s life through Baptism. [6] Based on these fundamental truths, we can, to a certain degree, penetrate the mystery of death. As such, this discussion is strictly an ecclesial issue where we find an ecclesial foundation for the discussion. Our task will be to lead our discussion between these two critical observations.
Here is a short and condensed overview of the theme based on theological and monastic literature. The following thoughts are meant to be understood only as a step towards prayer and contemplation on this question. As the analysis requires certain humility and prayer, we humbly ask for forgiveness for any misinterpretation or omissions in our discussion.
From the perspective of the Orthodox Church, it is extremely important to have our commemorative prayers for the beloved deceased ones. Traditionally, this is done on the third [7] day, the ninth day, and the fortieth day after death.[8] There are also commemorative prayers on the half-year and yearly anniversary, during the Holy and Great Fast: Meat-fare Week, the second, third, and fourth Saturday of the Great Fast, on Saturday before Pentecost, and on Saturday before the Feast of St. Demetrius. The importance of the commemorative prayers is so fundamental for the consciousness of the faithful of the Orthodox Church that every Eucharistic celebration contains the intercessory prayers for the deceased. After the epiclesis, the second prayer in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom says:
“...Remember all those who have fallen asleep in the hope of resurrection and eternal life (the priest commemorates the names of the departed); and grant them rest, where the light of Your countenance shines...”.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem doesn’t hesitate to state that the petitions made for the deceased person during the Divine Liturgy bring him very great benefits.[9] The main purpose of the intercessory prayer, especially in the context of the Divine Liturgy, is the possibility for the deceased to achieve perfect blessedness.[10] In the Akaphyst to the Holy Spirit, the Church pleads to God the Holy Spirit to restore in us the purity of the conscious in order to partake in the uncreated light. [11] One characteristic of this prayer is the notion of hope in resurrection, which will be elaborated further in our discussion. The deceased are also commemorated at the midnight service troparia and prayers for the dead. They are also commemorated in prayers of the worshipping community at Matins and Vespers at the Augmented Litany. [12] For our purpose, we will concentrate on the prayers on the fortieth day after the death, as this time is of special importance.
The number forty, in the writing of the Old and New Testaments, has a symbolic interpretation. Without entering the field of numerology, here are some of the most characteristic events related to the number forty. At the time of Noah, it rained for forty days and nights, causing a great flood. We can recall the fact that the nation of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ entered the desert in order to fast for forty days. The Feast of Ascension falls on the fortieth day after the Resurrection. In general, the number forty represents a long period of time. In these examples, though, there is one common link that unites all of them. It is an element of transition from one stage to another; from one reality into another. Based on these examples, the number forty represents a certain degree of transition in order to enter into another dimension of life.
References
1. Laura Strong, Life After Death in America: An Historically Strong Belief, in: http://www.mythicarts.com.2. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, Levadia, 1995, p. 112. It is remarkable to observe that, according to the poll in 1982, the belief in life after death in American Society is also characterized by eight million Americans’ experiences of NDE (near-death experience), look in: David Ritchie, The “Near-Death Experience”, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.3. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, in: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, No. 55, Washington, D.C., Trustees of Harvard University, 2002, p. 93.4. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 26:30, in: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, An Excerpt from Archbishop Lazar Puhalo’s Lecture on The Nature of Heaven and Hell, the “Judgement” and the Eschatology of the Orthodox Church, in: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com.5. This kind of approach is taken by Fr. Seraphim in his work, look in: Fr. Seraphim, The Soul After Death,6. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, The Christian Concept of Death, in: http://www.schmemann.org.7. St. Macarius of Alexandria explains the prayers for the deceased ones on the third day in the following way: “When an offering is made in church on the third day, the soul of the departed receives from its guardian angel relief from the sorrow it feels as a result of the separation from the body. This it receives because glorification and offering is made in the Church of God which gives rise in it to be blessed with hope, for in the course of the two days the soul is permitted to roam the earth, wherever it wills, in the company of the angels that are with it”, in: The Church’s Prayer for the Dead, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.8. A very interesting interpretation of the dates is given by Nicholas Constas: “However, this was by no means a universally accepted tradition, and others understood these memorials as marking the gradual dissolution of the body in a process that reversed its initial formation in the womb. The human face, for example, was believed to take form on the third day after conception, and therefore said to decompose on the third day after death, At the same time, the gradual decay of the body on the third (and the fortieth) day after death coincided with stages in the soul’s formation in the womb of the afterlife. These were critical days for the travail of the soul, during which time the body of the church assembled for corporate prayer”, in: Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit., pp. 103-104.9. Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit., p. 428. 10. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit., p. 188. The words are taken from Homily 2 of St. Mark Eugenicus.11. Akathist to the Holy Spirit, Ikos 4.12.The Church’s Prayer for the Dead, op. cit.
