God, because of the faith of the centurion, healed his servant (Matthew 8:13). Likewise, because of the faith of the Canaanite woman, He healed her sick daughter (Matthew 15:28), along with many other similar cases.
In other words, God can, for our sake, show mercy and save someone dear to us not only on earth but also in heaven. On this basis—God’s mercy and love for mankind—the prayers which our Church offers for our departed are founded. For this reason, the Church prays day and night for the dead. At the same time, there are two specific days in the year called Soul Saturdays (Memorial Saturdays) for commemorating the dead. These services include a specific “Sanctus,” Vespers, and Matins for all the deceased “from all parts of the world, from the beginning of time and to the end of days.”
Saturday Before Meatfare Sunday: “Because the Church emphasizes Judgment Day on the following day (Meatfare Sunday), specific prayers are offered to God on the preceding Saturday so that He may show favor toward the souls
Saturday Before Pentecost: A tradition recounts that a damned soul once cried out to his brother on earth in a vision: “We are desperate! We wait for Easter to get some respite!” According to the Church’s unwritten tradition, the damned souls are “released” from Hell from Easter Sunday until Pentecost.
This is also reflected in Orthodox practice. The doors leading from the narthex into the main church and the Holy Gate remain open from Easter Sunday until Pentecost, symbolizing that the gates of Paradise are open.
Furthermore, on Pentecost and during the Vespers of the Holy Spirit (Kneeling Vespers), prayers during the third genuflexion are dedicated to the souls of the departed. At this point, according to tradition, the condemned souls return to their place.
For this reason, the Church established the Soul Saturday before Pentecost.
First Saturday of Great Lent (Feast of the Aghioi Theodoroi)Te First Saturday of Great Lent, associated with the feast of the Aghioi Theodoroi, commemorates the miracle of kollyva (boiled wheat) by St. Theodore of Tyre, the celebrated great martyr of the Church.
In some local Orthodox Churches, it is considered a Soul Saturday, but formally it is not. However, the tradition of bringing kollyva to church on this day has prevailed.
This does not imply that it is wrong to bring kollyva to church or to commemorate the departed on this day. On the contrary, such dedication to the souls of the departed would be desirable on every Saturday—and indeed every day.
Purgatory
The Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory was formally defended at the Synod of Ferrara–Florence (1439). Cardinal Julian stated during the fifth session (June 4, 1439) that souls who, after baptism, have sinned but sincerely repented and confessed their sins—though unable to perform the penance (epitimia) imposed by their spiritual father—are purified by the fire of purgatory, according to their sins. After purification, they depart for eternal bliss. He further stated that prayers of priests, liturgies, and acts of charity contribute to this purification (Syr. v. 13, Synod. Flor. p. 30).
The Roman Catholic argument for purgatory is primarily based on St. Paul: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest… it shall be revealed by fire… If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:13–15).
The essential question is the meaning of the phrase “he will be saved” (σωθήσεται).
When Christ said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth” (meaning he had died), and “I go, that I may awake him out of sleep,” the disciples responded: “Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well” (John 11:11–12). The Evangelist John uses the term σωθήσεται (“he will be saved”), meaning he will awaken and continue to live. Likewise, the phrase σωθήσεται διὰ πυρός (“saved through fire”) can mean continued existence through fire.
St. John Chrysostom explains:
“The person will be saved in the way one is saved from fire… Do not think that the word ‘fire’ implies annihilation… as if the sinner will be continually punished.” (Homily 9 on 1 Corinthians, P.G. 61:78–80). Is it possible, on the one hand, for our works to be unfit for the Kingdom of God, worthy of fire, and on the other hand, for us to be candidates for the Kingdom of God?
A Roman Catholic once asked me:
– Isn’t the Catholic belief in purgatory the same as the Orthodox remission for the souls of the damned?
I replied:
– We do believe that through our prayers a soul may receive benefit after death, but this is not a certainty; we remain hopeful. Your view on this matter is different”.
However, only God knows, and the souls themselves know to what extent they are benefited. We, for our part, pray that all souls may be saved.
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