Saturday, June 3 (May 21), 2023
Saturday of Commemoration of the Dead
Acts 28:1-31; Jn. 21:15-25   

No one would fail to commemorate his parents, but that’s not enough: we should commemorate all Orthodox Christians, and not only this Saturday, but any day, in every prayer. We will also be there ourselves, and we will need this prayer of commemoration like a poor man needs a piece of bread and a cup of water.

Remember: this prayer for the dead is so powerful by its common origin: it flows forth from the entire Church.  It is the breathing of the entire Church.   In the world of nature, breathing of a pregnant mother supplies nourishment to the child in her womb.  So also in the Church, operated by Grace rather than by the natural order of things, the power of the common prayer is passed on to those who have fallen asleep in the Lord and still remain in the bosom of the Church ─ since the Church is made up of both the living and the dead, that is, of those who are still struggling and those who are already triumphant.

Never fail to commemorate in every prayer all of our departed father and brothers, mothers and sisters.  It is your alms for their benefit.

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