Life story. Grandfather is dying, old-old. Lived to almost 92 years old. However, he never became an Orthodox person. In the sense that he was not baptized.
Grandmother - the widow is very upset, because grandfather was not buried, and it is impossible to put a cross on the grave. But she does not think about how to help her late husband. He grieves for the fact that they did not bury, but does not mourn for the further fate of the deceased.
Meanwhile how to help the dead unbaptized? Are there special prayers for the unbaptized dead? Let's talk about it in the article.
What is baptism?
Now there is a fashion for baptism. As scary as it may sound, it's true. Why fashion? Because children are baptized, and that's it. The fact that one has to go to church and bring the child to communion is forgotten. And it’s good if the cross is not removed from the newly made servant of God as soon as they leave the church.
The question arises: what is the point of baptism then? Baptize a child according to the principle "to be"?Why baptize if the parents are far from the faith and the godparents, most often, too? What does this baptism give?
For some reason, parents do not ask such a question. All you need is here. Who needs it, why it is necessary and for what - it is completely incomprehensible. And it's completely wild, Lord have mercy. Do not think about the purpose of the action, but be sure to do it.
However, we digress. What is baptism? It is one of the seven sacraments of the Church. Why a sacrament? Because at baptism, the grace of God descends on a person in an invisible way for us. Baptism is a spiritual birth for eternal life.
What about the unbaptized?
If a person dies unbaptized, will he not enter the Kingdom of God? This is a very difficult question that only a spiritually experienced priest can answer. Relatives of the deceased should consider how to help him.
According to the rules of the church, it is forbidden to commemorate the unbaptized at the liturgy. For them, you can not submit notes, order requiems and magpies. This is explained by the fact that a person was not born for eternal life, did not become a Christian. The hardest thing to realize is the relatives of those who voluntarily did not want to be baptized, although they knew about God, but rejected him.
Is there a prayer for the unbaptized dead, or is it impossible to pray for them at all? We will find out about this a little later. And now let's talk about babies who died without baptism.
If the child died unbaptized
Another life story. The young couple did not have children for a long time. Finally the wife became pregnant. Joy knew no bounds.
The time to give birth came up, and the expectant mother hadbad feeling. She was sure that she would not return from the hospital. The husband consoled, they say, all these are fears of childbirth.
The birth was difficult, the baby was stuck in the birth canal. The doctors decided to have a caesarean section. Not in time, the newborn girl suffocated. Never seeing this world.
What is her still young and believing mother going through? About the fact that she could not christen her daughter. Buried buried, but unbaptized.
Is there a prayer for the dead unbaptized babies? Can they be commemorated in church? They are not to blame for the fact that the parents did not have time to baptize. Alas, it is impossible to pray for unbaptized children in the church. You can remember them in your home prayer, but no more. As well as the cross is not put on such graves due to the fact that the child was not born spiritually for eternal life.
Deceased parents
At the beginning of the article, an example was given of an unbaptized grandfather. How many of these grandparents die every day?
If we remember the Soviet Union with its religious prohibitions, then we can say that more than one generation left the world unbaptized. What about their children? It is impossible to bury parents in absentia, there are no prayers for unbaptized deceased parents, they cannot be commemorated in the church. What to do? Remember them in home prayer, ask God to forgive the sins of dead parents and ease their fate in eternal life.
Someone will be surprised at the word "burial". How to bury something if they died a long time ago? There is a practice of absentee funeral service. After the USSR collapsed, people rushed to temples - to bury their deadloved ones. This practice has been around for a long time, but few people know about it.
How to alleviate the fate of the unbaptized?
Meaning the afterlife. How to help them if there is no prayer for the unbaptized dead before God as such?
Remember in home prayer. When we read the morning rule, there are two prayers at the end: for the living and for the dead. We list the names of relatives. For the living we ask for help here, for the dead - the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life. For unbaptized deceased loved ones, one should ask for relief from the afterlife.
Optinsky elders about unbaptized and suicides
The Optina Elder Leo (Leonid) had a disciple Pavel. Paul's father committed suicide, and his believing son was very worried. The elder consoled him and taught him how to pray for his father.
Text of the prayer of the Optina elders for the unbaptized dead:
Seek, Lord, the lost soul of Your servant (name): if it is possible to eat, have mercy. Your destinies are unsearchable. Do not make me sin this prayer of mine, but may Thy holy will be done.
So we see that praying for them at home is not a sin. The Lord is merciful, and by his grace is able to alleviate the fate of the deceased unbaptized.
How are the unbaptized buried?
So, is there a prayer for the unbaptized dead, we found out. The text is above. How are they buried? Is it outside the cemetery gates?
Before they were buried in the same way as suicides - behind the cemetery fence. Now times have changed, the unbaptized are buried incemetery. But with some caveats:
- They are not buried.
- They don't get crosses.
- A priest is not invited to the grave of the unbaptized to perform a memorial service or lithium.
That is, a person came to the grave of an unbaptized relative - it is quite acceptable to pray on your own and commemorate him. But you can’t enter the church, submit notes and light candles for this soul.
In Russia, the tradition of leaving a glass of vodka and a piece of black bread on the grave has taken root. This tradition is, to put it mildly, strange. Baptized people are not commemorated like that, and unbaptized people are not needed either. This is disrespect for the dead, no matter what the Russian tradition says.
Service to Saint Ouar
There is a prayer to St. Huaru for the unbaptized dead? Yes, there is one. But what is strange, in some temples, services used to be served to him, asking for those dead who were not baptized. But this is not true, especially if the service is non-canonical, that is, remade.
This was done by dishonest priests. They assured spiritually illiterate parishioners that it was possible to submit notes for the unbaptized, to order a memorial service, and to serve the Huaru service. This is fundamentally wrong.
The Church prays only for its faithful, for the servants of God. Even in the home prayer for the dead, one can see the line that says: "… and all Orthodox Christians." The key phrase is "Orthodox Christians". Can an unbaptized person be an Orthodox Christian if the sacrament of baptism was not performed on him?
This in no way means that if a person is not baptized, he is bad. Probably,that he lived a life a thousand times better than a baptized person and did such deeds of mercy that the Orthodox could not even dream of. But the law is the law. The Church puts the unbaptized on a par with the Gentiles. Therefore, prayer for the unbaptized dead in the temple is not performed. And Saint Ouar has absolutely nothing to do with it. By the way, this "service" has been out of print for a couple of decades.
Is it possible to commemorate the unbaptized in the church mentally?
The fact that prayer for the unbaptized dead in the church is not carried out is understandable. As well as the fact that notes cannot be submitted for them, memorial services can also be ordered. But why not mentally pray for the departed loved ones while in the temple? Isn't that forbidden?
Alas, but it is forbidden. In the church they pray only for Orthodox Christians, for those who were baptized in her bosom. If a person for some reason did not accept the sacrament of baptism, he cannot be commemorated during the liturgy, even mentally. We emphasize: during the liturgy, when there is a special service.
However, there is one big but. These are the priests. And it's better to ask them for help. Someone will refuse prayer, because the person was unbaptized. And someone will pray.
Summarizing
The main purpose of the article is to tell the reader about prayer for the unbaptized dead. Highlights:
- The unbaptized cannot be buried and crosses placed on their graves.
- They are not prayed for in church.
- It is forbidden to submit notes for those who died without having received the sacrament of baptism.
- Sorokoust and memorial service for them are not served.
- The Church equatesunbaptized to the Gentiles.
- They are remembered only in home prayer.
Lord, have mercy, how can you help them then? Is one morning prayer enough to alleviate the fate of the deceased unbaptized?
You should talk to the priest about this. With his permission, read additional prayers, or akathists. But in such a case, you cannot pray on your own. This is too serious, and no one has yet canceled the temptation.
Conclusion
We examined the main questions that were raised in the abstract of the article. They gave an answer. And now it became clear why the church does not commemorate the unbaptized dead and how you can help them here.
Should we even pray for them if it is fraught with temptations? Thoughtfully, after consulting with the priest, if we are talking about additional prayers. Remembering at home is not only possible, but necessary. Reading the Ps alter and praying to alleviate the fate of the deceased is our direct duty.
