Wherever there is a belief in the continued existence of man's personality through and after death, religion naturally concerns itself with the relations between the living and the dead. And where the idea of a future judgment or of Purgatory obtains, prayers are often offered on behalf of the dead to God.
JUDAISM AND THE DEAD
Yizkor
Prayer for the dead appears in 2 Maccabees where Judas Maccabeus offers a sacrifice as a propitiatory sin-offering and a memorial thank-offering. These prayers and sacrifices were intended to improve the standing of the dead during the resurrection. However, Jews do not regard 2 Maccabees as canonical, possibly because of that are seen as its theological innovations.
Yet in Judaism prayers form important elements in Jewish services. The prayers offered on behalf of the deceased consist of:
- Recitation of Psalms;
- Reciting a thrice daily communal prayer in Aramaic known as "Kaddish" which actually means "Sanctification" (or "[Prayer of] Making Holy") which is a prayer "In Praise of God";
- other special remembrances known as Yizkor; and also a
- Hazkara said either on the annual commemoration known as the Yahrzeit as well on Jewish holidays.
The form of Kaddish in use in England contains the following:
Have mercy upon him; pardon all his transgressions . . . Shelter his soul in the shadow of Thy wings. Make known to him the path of life.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
CHRISTIANITY AND THE DEAD
In the New Testament
A passage in the New Testament which may refer to a prayer for the dead is found in 2 Timothy 1:16-18, which reads as follows:
May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy on that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
As with the verses from 2 Maccabees, these verses refer to prayers that will help the deceased "on that day" (meaning Judgement Day).
It is not stated that Onesiphorus, for whom Saint Paul prayed, was dead, though some scholars infer this, based on the way Paul only refers to him in the past tense, and prays for present blessings on his household, but for him only "on that day".
And towards the end of the same letter, in 2 Timothy 4:19, Paul sends greetings to "Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus," distinguishing the situation of Onesiphorus from that of the still living Prisca and Aquila.
Historic Christian Tradition
Prayer for the dead is well-documented within early Christianity, both among prominent Church Fathers and the Christian community in general.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity prayers are raised for "such souls as have departed with faith, but without having had time to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance."
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
In Roman Catholic Christianity the assistance that the dead receive by prayer on their behalf is linked with the process of purification known as purgatory.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
While prayer for the dead continues in both these traditions and in those of Oriental Orthodoxy and of the Assyrian Church of the East, many Protestant groups reject the practice.
The tomb of the Christian Abercius of Hieropolis in Phrygia (latter part of the 2nd century) bears the inscription: Let every friend who observes this pray for me, i.e. Abercius, who throughout speaks in the first person.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
The inscriptions in the Roman catacombs bear similar witness to the practice, by the occurrence of such phrases as:
Mayst thou live among the saints (3rd century);
May God refresh the soul of . . . ;
Peace be with them.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Among Church writers Tertullian († 230) is the first to mention prayers for the dead, and not as a concession to natural sentiment, but as a duty: The widow who does not pray for her dead husband has as good as divorced him.
This passage occurs in one of his later Montanist writings, dating from the beginning of the 3rd century.
Subsequent writers similarly make incidental mention of the practice as prevalent, but not as unlawful or even disputed (until Arius challenged it towards the end of the 4th century).
The most famous instance is Saint Augustine's prayer for his mother, Monica, at the end of the 9th book of his Confessions, written around 398.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
An important element in the Christian liturgies both East and West consisted of the diptychs, or lists of names of living and dead commemorated at the Eucharist. To be inserted in these lists was a confirmation of one's orthodoxy, and out of the practice grew the official canonization of saints; on the other hand, removal of a name was a condemnation.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
In the middle of the 3rd century we find St. Cyprian enjoining that there should be no oblation or public prayer made for a deceased layman who had broken the Church's rule by appointing a cleric trustee under his will: "He ought not to be named in the priests prayer who has done his best to detain the clergy from the altar."
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Although it is not possible, as a rule, to name dates for the exact words used in the ancient liturgies, yet the universal occurrence of these diptychs and of definite prayers for the dead in all parts of the Christian Church, East and West, in the 4th and 5th centuries shows how primitive such prayers were. The language used in the prayers for the departed is very reserved, asking only for rest and freedom from pain and sorrow. We may cite the following from the so-called Liturgy of St James:
Remember, O Lord, the God of Spirits and of all Flesh, those whom we have remembered and those whom we have not remembered, men of the true faith, from righteous Abel unto to-day; do thou thyself give them rest there in the land of the living, in thy kingdom, in the delight of Paradise, in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our holy fathers, from whence pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away, where the light of thy countenance visiteth them and always shineth upon them.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Public prayers were only offered for those who were believed to have died as faithful members of the Church. But Saint Perpetua, who was martyred in 202, believed herself to have been encouraged in a vision to pray for her brother, who had died in his eighth year, almost certainly unbaptized; and a later vision assured her that her prayer was answered and he had been translated from punishment. St. Augustine thought it needful to point out that the narrative was not canonical Scripture, and contended that the child had perhaps been baptized.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Among the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, while there is no doctrine of purgatory, prayer for the dead is encouraged in the belief that it is helpful for them. Specifically how the prayers of the faithful help the departed is not elucidated; Eastern Orthodox simply believe that tradition teaches that prayers should be made for the dead.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Saint Basil the Great († 379), a saint of undivided Christianity, writes in his Third Kneeling Prayer at Pentecost O Christ our God...(who) on this all-perfect and saving Feast, art graciously pleased to accept propitiatory prayers for those who are imprisoned in hades, promising unto us who are held in bondage great hope of release from the vilenes that doth hinder us and did hinder them ... send down Thy consolation... and establish their souls in the mansions of the Just; and graciously vouchsafe unto them peace and pardon; for not the dead shall praise thee, O Lord, neither shall they who are in Hell make bold to offer unto thee confession. But we who are living will bless thee, and will pray, and offer unto thee propitiatory prayers and sacrifices for their souls.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Saint Gregory Dialogus († 604) in his famous Dialogues (written in 593) teaches that, "The Holy Sacrifice (Eucharist) of Christ, our saving Victim, brings great benefits to souls even after death, provided their sins (are such as) can be pardoned in the life to come."
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
However, St. Gregory goes on to say, the Church's practice of prayer for the dead must not be an excuse for not living a godly life on earth. "The safer course, naturally, is to do for ourselves during life what we hope others will do for us after death."
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Father Seraphim Rose († 1982) says, "the Church's prayer cannot save anyone who does not wish salvation, or who never offered any struggle (podvig) for it himself during his lifetime."
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
The various prayers for the departed have as their purpose to pray for the repose of the departed, to comfort the living, and to remind those who remain of their own mortality. For this reason, memorial services have an air of penitence about them.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Orthodox Christians offer particularly fervent prayers for the departed on the first 40 days after death. Traditionally, in addition to the service on the day of death, the memorial service is performed at the request of the relatives of an individual departed person on the following occasions:
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Roman Catholic Church
In the West there is ample evidence of the custom of praying for the dead in the inscriptions of the catacombs, with their constant prayers for the peace and refreshment of the souls of the departed and in the early liturgies, which commonly contain commemorations of the dead; and Tertullian, Cyprian and other early Western Fathers witness to the regular practice of praying for the dead.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
The West felt that it was inappropriate to pray "for" the martyrs, since they were believed to be in no need of such prayers. Theoretically, too, prayer for those in hell would be useless, but since there is no certainty that any particular person is in hell, prayers were and are offered for all the dead, except for those believed to be in heaven. These are prayed to, not for. With the development of the doctrine of purgatory, the dead prayed for were spoken of as being in purgatory, and in view of the certainty that by the process of purification and with the help of the prayers of the faithful they were destined for heaven, they were referred to as the "holy souls".
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Limits were placed on public offering of Mass for the unbaptised and notorious sinners, but prayers and even Mass in private could be said for them. The present Code of Canon Law states that, unless the person concerned gave some signs of repentance before death, no form of funeral Mass may be offered for notorious apostates, heretics and schismatics; those who for anti-Christian motives chose that their bodies be cremated; and other manifest sinners to whom a Church funeral could not be granted without public scandal to the faithful.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
During the slaughter of the First World War, Pope Benedict XV on 10 August 1915, allowed all priests everywhere to say three Masses on All Souls' Day. The two extra Masses were in no way to benefit the priest himself: one was to be offered for all the faithful departed, the other for the Pope's intentions, which at that time were presumed to be for all the victims of that war. The permission remains.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Anglicanism
The Church of England's 1549 Book of the Common Prayer still had prayer for the dead, as (in the Communion Service):
"We commend into thy mercy all other thy servants, which are departed hence from us with the sign of faith and now do rest in the sleep of peace: grant unto them, we beseech thee, thy mercy and everlasting peace."
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
But since 1552 the Book of Common Prayer has no express prayers for the dead, and the practice is denounced in the Homily "On Prayer" (part 3).
Nonjurors included prayers for the dead, a practice that spread within the Church of England in the mid-nineteenth century, and was authorized in 1900 for forces serving in South Africa and since then in other forms of service. Many jurisdictions and parishes of the Anglo-Catholic tradition continue to practice prayer for the dead, including offering the Sunday liturgy for the peace of named departed Christians and the keeping of All Soul's Day.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Non-Anglican Protestant churches
The sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation continued at first the traditional custom of praying for the dead, but before long came to denounce it, partly because they believed it to be without biblical foundation, partly through their rejection of the doctrine of purgatory and the practices associated with it.
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
Prayer for the dead is rigorously avoided by those of marked Evangelical belief in keeping with their denial that the mercy and love of God are universally available.
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"[A]nd they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." 12:43-45
Why pray for the dead if their condition cannot be affected thereby?
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