God wants to help the deceased because He cares for their salvation, but He
does not do so because He has nobility. He does not want to give the devil
the right to say: How do you save him, when he did not toil? When we pray for
the deceased, we give Him the right to intervene. Moreover, God is even more
moved when we pray for the deceased than for the living. That’s why our
Church has offerings like boiled wheat ‘kollyva’ and memorial services.
Memorial services are the best lawyer for the souls of the departed. They
have the ability to bring the soul out even from hell. And you, at every Divine
Liturgy, to read ‘kollyva’ for the deceased. The wheat makes sense: ‘You sow
it in corruption, it is raised in incorruption’ (1 Corinthians 15:42) (that is, it
symbolizes the death and resurrection of man), says the Scripture.
Saint Paisios the Hagiorite
Translated by Dr. Nick Stergiou
