Letter to prisoners.
Praying for the Dead
When things are hard. 

26/ July 8 2015 The Monk David of Thessalonika
From Fr Seraphim Holland PO 37 McKinney TX 75070

Dear ...: 

I am sorry you have been confused and frustrated. I hope that I will not continue your predicament. I am a simple and direct guy, so I have confidence things will turn out well for you. 

You say you are the beginner of the group. Keep thinking that. We are all beginners. 

Your story about ... is touching, and happy and sad. Pray for her every day. We pray for the dead, because nobody is dead in God's eyes (our Lord said: " God is the God of the living, and not of the dead
", ) and because of love. Love never forgets. Some people are hung up about prayer for the dead, but there is no need to be. We love and therefore we remember and pray. We pray with love and expectation. God knows all things and we do not know much. He has revealed very little to us about the state of our soul in the interim period between the death of the body and the reintegration of the soul with the body at the end of the age. the Orthodox way is to not over analyze, but to pray! 

Here is a good prayer to say for ... every day. 

Prayer for every departed person

Remember, O Lord our God, Thy servant, our brother/sister, N., who has reposed in the Faith and hope of life eternal, and in that Thou art good and the Lover of mankind, Who remittest sins and blottest out iniquities, do Thou loose, remit and pardon all his/her sins, voluntary and involuntary. 

Deliver him/her from eternal torment and the fire of Gehenna, and grant unto him/her the communion and delight of Thine eternal good things prepared for them that love Thee. 

For though he/she hath sinned, yet hath he/she not forsaken Thee, and he/she undoubtedly believed in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; and even until his/her last breath did he/she confess Thee in Orthodox fashion: God glorified in Trinity, Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. 

Wherefore, be Thou merciful unto him/her and reckon his/her faith in Thee, rather then his/her deeds, and in that Thou art compassionate, grant him/her rest with Thy saints; for there is no man that liveth and doth not sin. 

But Thou alone art wholly without sin, and Thy truth is forever; and Thou alone art the God of mercies, and compassion, and love for mankind, and unto Thee do we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

In the back of the "Boston" Psalter. http://www.synaxis.info/psalter/5_english/b_reading/kath_prayers.html

https://www.orthodox.net//trebnic/prayer-for-every-departed-person-in-the-psalter.doc
https://www.orthodox.net//trebnic/prayer-for-every-departed-person-in-the-psalter.pdf
https://www.orthodox.net//trebnic/prayer-for-every-departed-person-in-the-psalter.html
https://www.orthodox.net//trebnic/prayer-for-every-departed-person-in-the-psalter-card.doc
https://www.orthodox.net//trebnic/prayer-for-every-departed-person-in-the-psalter-card.pdf

....

I like the message you say you have heard Jesus tell you for 5 years: "Be still".  That is the key to our progress, for our passions to be still and to know God . This is a long road, but God will never abandon us. He tells us plainly that His yoke is easy and His burner is light. therefore, when things are hard, we are doing something wrong! 

By "things are hard", I do not mean the circumstances of our life: whether we are poor or rich, alone or in a family, free or in prison, sick or well. The circumstances of life are often hard, but the hardest things to endure is when our mind is not quiet, and filled with passions: anxiety, hate, lust, judging, remorse, impatience, pride and vanity, loneliness. When we feel these things, we are not experiencing the easy yoke of Christ. When this happens, we must struggle to have quiet and intense prayer. I sent you some things about the Jesus prayer. this is the best thing, and also the Psalter. If we read the Gospel with expectation, the Holy Spirit will help us to change the way we think, how we look at things, and our priorities. We will become more peaceful. 

You ask: "Why does God feel so far away"? I think what I have written above applies very much to answer this question. Sometimes we will find a reason why God seems far fro us, and as we repent and change, He seems nearer. Sometimes we have no idea why. This is when we must obey the Lord's admonition: "In your patience possess ye your souls." (Luke 21:19). Unfortunately there are no short cuts. 

I will catechize (teach) you and baptize you. All will be well. Your doubts and fears will slowly  go away and you will get stronger. All you need to do is pray, and struggle. God will cause you to grow. I am " confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6)

You answer to my question is a good one: The purpose of life is to acquire to the Holy Spirit". Now we need to answer: "How do we do this?" This is a long answer! Let us start answering it by prayer, and struggling to follow the commandments. 

I think in another letter you apologized for people being rude in our last meeting. I did not see it that way. I am happy to discuss anything with anyone. I was not offended by anything. You will learn that I have a pretty thick skin and am tolerant. We all need to give each other space. Not everybody is in the same place. 

God bless you. Please pray for me, as I pray for you.