All Souls Day

published on 11/2/12 12:52 PM

Photo: BGNES

When any of our beloved family members or friends passes away we say that a particle of us so gone from this world too. The living presence is no longer a fact, however, the feeling of affection for the dead remains, as if to fill in the emotional gap. In case we believe in the immortality of the soul, we find consolation in the thought that the souls of our beloved go to a better place in Heaven. And we pray to our Lord for their souls to find a place of bliss, of light and cool freshness where there is neither pain, nor grief, nor even a sigh of frustration.
In the context of Orthodox Christianity these prayers help the soul in finding the way to eternal blissful life. The church advises us to say such prayers every time we are absorbed by grief for our dear dead. It is assumed that the pain that we feel is actually the appeal of the soul of the dead person to pray for it. The prayers of those alive help in absolving the sins of the dead. In the New Testament Jesus Christ says that the souls of the righteous are in a place of joy where they live, feel and think, and the souls of sinners are in a place of grief where they suffer, become aware of their sorry state and regret in vain the time they have wasted on the Earth sinning. Still, there is some hope left for them too, had they repented their sins while living. We, who are still living, can ask for their salvation not only by way of prayer but also by alms-giving and by taking part in memorial services.
The Orthodox Church has determined a few special days during the year for commemoration of all dead. Mass commemoration services are held on three Saturdays of the year and are known as All Souls’ Days. The greatest of all souls’ days is the Archangel All Souls Day that this year we mark on 3 Nov, Saturday. In the Orthodox Christian tradition, the Great All Souls’ Day is always held on the Saturday preceding 8 November, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, also the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. The Archangel Michael is the greatest of all the Archangels and is honored for defeating Lucifer in the war in heaven. He is one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector against the dark of night, and the administrator of cosmic intelligence.
On Great All Souls’ Day we visit the graves of our dead family members and friends, clean them and prepare them for the winter. We pour red wine over them, the symbol of Christ’s blood, and light a candle as a token of respect and faith in the immortality of the soul. The flowers that we lay on the grave remind us of the virtues of our dead. We give out to friends and neighbors bread and boiled wheat, the symbol of eternal life, and some sweets to, to make easier the posthumous life of the dead man’s soul.

On Archangel All Souls’ Day we pay homage not only to our deceased family members but also to all Bulgarian warriors who died in combat for the sake of the Fatherland.

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova

По публикацията работи: Darina Grigorova

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