By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin
When the Mother of God revealed to her relatives and friends that she would soon die, and when they began to cry, she told them in order to comfort them: "Do not cry, but you should rejoice when I die, for after death I will be closer to the Throne of God and, conversing face to face with God, my Son, it is more convenient to pray to Him for you and to ask His mercy for you."
Christian listeners! Can we, when we die, also console our relatives and friends with the same, with what the Mother of God did? Can any of us say before death: "Do not cry, do not grieve, when I die, you will be well without me; I will pray for you there, it will be more convenient for me to pray for you there."
We say this to comfort you. If we are here, in the midst of the bustle of the world, among the troubles of our household, and we pray with zeal, from a pure heart for our relatives and friends, then why can't we do the same after death? Then it will be even more convenient for us to pray, then nothing will distract us from prayer. Yes, if we now wish from the bottom of our hearts the best for our relatives and friends, then after death nothing will prevent us from praying. Desires of the heart do not stop with death, but remain with us.
Only, after death, we will not be able to pray for relatives and friends if we are not praying for them here? What a person does not acquire a skill for here, he cannot do there even after death.
So, listeners, when we remember our deceased relatives and friends, let us not forget that they are praying for us there. We will only remind them that they should pray for us there, if we ourselves will pray for them here. If we forget them in our prayers here, then they may forget to pray for us there.
Queen of Heaven, Mother of God! Dying, you promised to pray not only for your relatives and friends, but also for the whole world, for all people. You pray for us. We live and are saved by your prayers. Don't stop praying for us, don't stop pouring God's mercy on us. We are only comforted in life knowing that you are praying for us. Amen.
Christian listeners! Can we, when we die, also console our relatives and friends with the same, with what the Mother of God did? Can any of us say before death: "Do not cry, do not grieve, when I die, you will be well without me; I will pray for you there, it will be more convenient for me to pray for you there."
We say this to comfort you. If we are here, in the midst of the bustle of the world, among the troubles of our household, and we pray with zeal, from a pure heart for our relatives and friends, then why can't we do the same after death? Then it will be even more convenient for us to pray, then nothing will distract us from prayer. Yes, if we now wish from the bottom of our hearts the best for our relatives and friends, then after death nothing will prevent us from praying. Desires of the heart do not stop with death, but remain with us.
Only, after death, we will not be able to pray for relatives and friends if we are not praying for them here? What a person does not acquire a skill for here, he cannot do there even after death.
So, listeners, when we remember our deceased relatives and friends, let us not forget that they are praying for us there. We will only remind them that they should pray for us there, if we ourselves will pray for them here. If we forget them in our prayers here, then they may forget to pray for us there.
Queen of Heaven, Mother of God! Dying, you promised to pray not only for your relatives and friends, but also for the whole world, for all people. You pray for us. We live and are saved by your prayers. Don't stop praying for us, don't stop pouring God's mercy on us. We are only comforted in life knowing that you are praying for us. Amen.
