By the ineffable providence of God, throughout the Church year there are appointed certain days whereon the faithful, with reverence, lift up prayers for the departed. One of these days is the Trinity Parental Saturday, which goes before the great feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.

On this day we offer unto God a sacrifice of love — the prayer for them that have passed into eternity — believing that the Lord, Who is plenteous in mercy and loveth mankind, will hearken unto our supplications and grant forgiveness and rest unto the souls of the departed, by the prayers of His Holy Church.

Death is not an end, but the beginning of eternity. For a Christian it is the door into another, unchanging existence. Whilst a man lives, his soul may repent, be cleansed and be changed; yet, after its departure, it abides in that state which it has acquired in life. Therefore, it is meet to pray — both for ourselves and for our neighbours.

The holy fathers, Saint John Chrysostom among them, teach that the prayer of the living for the dead is a great work, well-pleasing unto God. It is an act of love, a manifestation of spiritual kinship, a witness to the unity of the Church on earth and in heaven.

If indeed we love them that are departed, we are bound to pray for them — not only with tears and sorrow, but with the Church’s prayer united to participation in the Divine Liturgy; for it is said: “Above all gifts for the departed is the Liturgy.”

How many souls await our prayer… how many forgotten, un-commemorated — yet known unto God. Praying for the departed, we accomplish a work pleasing to God and thereby further our own salvation; for prayer for others cleanses the heart from hardness, fosteres humility, and teaches the fear of God and the remembrance of death. It looses the soul from attachment to things earthly, strengthenes faith in life everlasting, and stirres thought of the dread judgment. The Lord receives such prayer as the fruit of love and repentance, and therefore it profites not only the departed but the living also.

Prayer for the departed is not only an act of love, but likewise the offspring of the fear of God: it remindes us of our own sinfulness and mortality. Praying for others, we make ready our own departure. Who shall commemorate us, if we ourselves learn not to pray for others?

Dreadful it is to forget the dead; dreadful to live as though death were far away — for such is but a deceit. The whole life of a Christian ought to be a continual preparation for eternity, and one of the chief means of such preparation is prayer for the departed: not formal, nor mechanical, but living, heartfelt, and tearful.

Therefore, in the days when the Church makes fervent intercession for them that are gone, let us join our prayers thereto. May this remembrance be unto our salvation, soften our hearts, incline us to repentance and humility, and preserve us from vanity and forgetfulness of God.

Remember, O Lord, in Thy kingdom all Thy servants that from ages past have fallen asleep: our kindred, teachers, benefactors, and all who in faith and hope of the resurrection have departed unto life eternal. Grant them remission of sins, make their abode in the dwellings of the righteous, and vouchsafe unto them eternal memory. Amen.