The Church of the Saints - Are we offering prayers to the departed??

The Church of the Saints (7)

Are we offering prayers to the departed??

 

Thomas: Let's continue our conversation.

 

Mark: Alright, mate, go on.

 

Thomas:  The last thing we said is that the departed are also intercessors. This means that the believers on Earth pray for each other, and the believers in paradise also pray for those on Earth.

 

Mark: True. And here's another surprise. The believers on Earth also pray for the believers in paradise!

 

Thomas: What's that? What do you mean?

 

Mark: For example, our Father prays in the congregation of the saints during the liturgy, saying, "Remember, O Lord, all the saints who have pleased You from the beginning..." And when you stand in the liturgy, you pray after the congregation of saints and say, "Their holy blessings be with us. Amen." Then you say, "Lord have mercy on them." Isn't that a prayer for them?

 

Thomas: True.

 

Mark:  And our Father, in the prayers for the departed, always prays for those who have fallen asleep saying, "Grant them rest in the land of the living, in the heavenly Jerusalem." 

 

Thomas:  Oh, I see. So, why do we pray for them? Haven't they already rested from the toils of this world?

 

Mark: Very well said. You're asking why the Church prays for the departed, whether in the funeral prayers, the prayers for the departed, or the prayers during the liturgy. Am I right?

 

Thomas:  Absolutely.

 

Mark:  Listen, my friend. The first reason why the Church prays for the departed is simply because the Church is a "Mother." She received each person who passed away when they were born through the mysteries of baptism and chrismation. She prayed for them throughout their lives on Earth. And when the departed were with us in the flesh, they were in living communion with the Church, participating in the prayers of the liturgy and the Eucharist. When they were tired, the Church prayed for them. The Church believes that the souls of the departed are alive in heaven after being freed from the limitations of the body. So, the Mother Church continues to remember her children. It's a natural extension of the unity of the one body.

 

Thomas:  That's a beautiful and comforting explanation. But why don't we see a similar story in the New Testament where one of the saints prays for a departed person?

 

Mark: We do have a story in the New Testament where there's a prayer for a departed person.

 

Thomas: Where is that?

 

Mark:  In the second letter of St. Paul to Timothy, Paul prays for Onesiphorus, who had passed away. He says, "May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day." (2 Tim 1:18) The day Paul refers to is the day of the Second Coming.

 

Thomas: I've never heard about this story before.

 

Mark: Maybe because it's briefly mentioned in the midst of the greetings and prayers that Paul usually includes in his letters. But more importantly than the explicit mention, it confirms the concept of the one body.

 

Thomas: So, you mean that we derive our beliefs and faith from the Bible, which is the foundation of our liturgical prayers and spiritual life. Therefore, not every prayer or request we raise has to be directly written in the Bible as a condition to be prayed. But the crucial thing is the biblical reference and scriptural support for the underlying faith behind that prayer.

 

Mark: Spot on! In our case, the Bible, although it doesn't extensively speak about the afterlife and the nature of life in the waiting places (paradise and hell), we can infer from its teachings about our loved ones in paradise. For example, we learned from the story of the rich man and Lazarus that the departed have a kind of knowledge and awareness of our earthly conditions (as allowed by God's will). Our father Abraham witnessed as an eyewitness to the rich man and said to him, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things." (Luke 16:25). This means that Abraham was monitoring the condition of the rich man and Lazarus on Earth. Also, we saw that despite the rich man's torment in Hades, he was thinking and caring about his family on Earth. And Abraham told him, "They have Moses and the prophets..." Notice that Moses came after Abraham by generations.

 

Thomas: True. So, the point is that the departed in heaven are aware of their situations and may be concerned about us. The Bible says that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

 

Mark: Exactly. And this leads us to another aspect of our prayers when we say, "Grant them rest in the land of the living." We pray for the benefits of the departed, people who might be concerned about their own state or pray for them. Again, this is all an authentic extension of the concept of the one body.

 

Thomas:  So when I pray, I'm asking the Lord to comfort those who have passed away in paradise, considering the feelings of their loved ones and those who care for them.

 

Mark: There's a third reason for our prayers that we learned from the Book of Revelation.

 

Thomas:  What is it?

 

Mark: We saw the souls of the martyrs in the Book of Revelation crying out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" This is a longing for the manifestation of God's glory on Earth. This is also the final part of our prayers when we ask the Lord to grant rest to the souls of the departed in paradise.

 

Thomas: I think the next time I attend the liturgy, my focus on the prayers for the departed and the congregation of saints will be different from any other liturgy I've attended.

 

Mark: Amen. Let's talk next time about the benefits I gain from the prayers of the believers for me (whether the living on Earth or the departed).

 

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