The Saturday of the Souls
 
“To those who have sailed across the ever-troubled sea of this earthly life steered by the Orthodox faith, grant a safe anchorage, O Christ, in the harbour of immortal life with Thee.” (Canticle Three from the Matins of the Saturday of the Souls)

“Thou hast formed Adam with Thine hand, O Saviour, and set him on the border between incorruption and mortality; Thou hast made him share in life through grace, freeing him from corruption and translating him to the life that he enjoyed at first. Give rest, O Master, to Thy servants Thou hast taken from us; may they dwell with the righteous in the choir of Thine elect; write their names in the book of life; raise them with the sound of the Archangel’s trumpet, and count them worthy of Thy heavenly Kingdom.” (Lauds/Ainoi, Tone Eight from the Matins of the Saturday of the Souls)
 
In Orthodox Christian Tradition, every Saturday is dedicated to those who have reposed in the Lord. In fact, the beautiful Orthodox Funeral Service comes from our Friday night and Saturday services. Furthermore, to emphasize that our God is God of the living and the dead, and to remember all those who have gone before us, the Church sets aside two periods dedicated to the Saturdays of the Souls: (1.) The Saturday of the Souls before Pentecost; and (2.) the three Saturday of the Souls preceding the first Sunday of Great and Holy Lent—namely, the Saturday of Meat-fare Week, the Saturday of Cheese-fare Week, and the Saturday before the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

The First Saturday of the Souls (the Saturday of Meat-fare Week) is a clarion call to all the faithful to gather together in Church and bring the names of their loved ones on the day before Judgement Sunday. This is done in anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ (the Parousia) and the Dread Day of Judgement. It is, therefore, a wake-up call for all of us. It reminds us that now is the time for repentance; indeed, repentance is the gate through which we must enter Great Lent. We must make that conscious and concerted effort to change our way of thinking, way of acting, way of living—indeed, way of being.

Now is the time for us radically to reorient, refocus, recharge, and recommit ourselves as we begin our Lenten Journey. This reorientation must encompass mind, body, and soul—and nothing less. Through prayer, discipline, focus and God’s grace, we can embark on a journey that is a new beginning—a journey outside of ourselves with one another and a journey within as well. But as we close in upon Lent, we must be shaken up and realize that the time is now, not later. Now is the time to work on our relationship with God and rebuild and strengthen our relationships with one another as well; but we will need stamina and inspiration for this long, arduous journey, and that is why we steadily and patiently prepare.
 
The Second Saturday of the Souls (the Saturday of Cheese Fare) is held in remembrance of the Ascetics and Monastics who inspire us and fortify us for the spiritual struggle that lies ahead. We call to mind their sacrifices and spiritual warfare as athletes of God and take courage, hope, and inspiration from their bright shining examples as stars in the vast Constellation of Orthodoxy.
 
Lastly, the Third Saturday of the Souls takes place before the Triumph of Orthodoxy (The First Sunday of Great Lent). Having been called to take action, and given courage, now we are given a triumphal boost, imbued with enthusiasm, and granted momentum so we can hit the Lenten path in full stride, for a good start to any endeavour is always important and most helpful.

Such is the inexhaustible, deep well of wisdom of our Church. By first weaning us off meat and then dairy products, the Church prepares us steadily and patiently as a coach prepares an athlete for the day he must enter the arena and contest for the crown. Our Mother Church knows that we must first crawl before we can walk and first walk before we can run. The Church shakes us and wakes us up. She gets us to recognize that action must be taken, tells us what needs to be done, gives us hope, courage, and inspiration, and then guides and helps us along the way to ensure that we compete according to the rules, finish the race, and wear the crown that the victors before us have worn.

As we prepare for Great Lent, we remember all those who have gone before us and made the sacrifices for us—some even becoming sacrifices themselves—so that we can worship freely and build upon their hard-won accomplishments. We remember and honor them as members of the Church Triumphant who now cheer us on in the arena of life, as we, part of the Church Militant, struggle now to win the prize that they have won.

Our God is the God of the living and the dead, and therefore, our departed loved ones are, in Christ, members of the Body of faithful who now assemble on these Saturdays of the Souls to honor their memory and their life in Christ our Resurrected and Triumphant Lord.
 
The Ancient Tradition of the Kollyva
 
Offered in loving memory for the benefit of our departed loved ones, Kollyva are closely connected with memorial services in the Orthodox Church. Their origin goes back to the reign of the Roman Emperor Julian “the Apostate” (361-63 A.D.). Although once a student with Saint Basil the Great, Julian apostasized and reverted to paganism. Wanting to reverse the tides of misfortune that then plagued the Empire (which he blamed on Christianity and the neglect of the Roman Pantheon of gods) and bring back the glory of Rome, he sought ways to undermine and destroy Christianity.

Knowing the Christians were averse to buying foods sacrificed to idols and defiled by ritual sprinkling of blood, in 362, he withdrew the food prescribed for the first day of the Great Lent (Clean Monday) from the markets in Constantinople and ordered that they be substituted with food that was ceremonially sacrificed to idols.

As Constantinople was a great cosmopolitan city, people had to go to the markets for their food and were therefore presented with the stark option of eating foods sacrificed to idols or starving. As pastor and spiritual shepherd of the flock of Christ entrusted to him by God, Patriarch Eudoxios was deeply troubled. However, God spoke to him in a dream through Saint Theodore the Recruit, the Great Soldier Martyr.

Saint Theodore came to him and told him to boil plenty of wheat for the fast and that the wheat would be preserved and provide the sustenance necessary for the people to endure and eventually prevail. The loving Patriarch did as God had commanded him through his messenger from beyond, Saint Theodore. The Christians did not need to come to market, and the merchants in the markets lost huge amounts of business and were themselves beginning to suffer from the decree of the Emperor.

Moreover, the flow of tax revenue derived from the sales and necessary to maintain the Emperor’s court and pay his armies and supporters was reduced to a frustrating and enervating trickle. Over time, the Emperor was forced to concede that he had become an unwitting victim of his own decree and hatred for the True Faith. In one of those strange ironies of history, the origin of a beautiful Christian Tradition stemmed from the actions of an inveterate enemy of Christianity.

To this day, the Church honors Saint Theodore the Recruit on the First Saturday of the Souls, and the people bring their Kollyva and the names of their departed loved ones to Church to be remembered in the collective consciousness of the faithful.

The Kollyva are symbolic of the resurrection of the dead on the day of the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour. We know this from Sacred Scripture from two Saints who had personally experienced Christ—namely, Saint Paul the Apostle to the Nations, and Saint John the Beloved Evangelist and Theologian.
Saint Paul states, “what you sow is not made alive unless it dies,” (I Corinthians 15:36), while Saint John says, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).
Thus, as the grain of wheat is buried in the ground and disintegrates without really dying but is rather regenerated into a new plant that flourishes in splendour, brings shelter, life and comfort, and bears much more fruit, so likewise the Christian’s body will return to the ground from which it was taken only to be raised again as something transfigured, more glorious, and more resplendent, clothed in beauty, dignity, incorruption and immortality.

Saint Paul gives us hope and reassurance with his unwavering words, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For then the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (I Corinthians 15:51-53).

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, we encourage all of you to come to Church on these Saturdays of the Souls and bring the Kollyva and the names of your departed loved ones so that they can be commemorated at our Divine Liturgies and at the General Commemoration following the Divine Liturgy.
Come together and share in the Body and Blood of Christ and be mysteriously united with Christ, and through Him, all the faithful by His All-Sufficient Grace. For the Divine Liturgy is indeed a mystery, just as life and death, and we are mysteriously united in Christ with one another, and one day, we will mysteriously pass over from death to life in Him.

Prepare yourselves for the Great and Holy Lent and bring or send your names to your priest. For your convenience, we have enclosed a form. Please write legibly the baptized Christian names of your deceased loved ones on the form and bring them their names to your priests.

To make it easier for you, you need only submit the names once. We will keep the names of your beloved and read them at all three Saturdays of the Souls. We look forward to worshipping and commemorating our loved ones together with you.

May God bless you and your families, as we begin our Lenten Journey together.

I remain yours in Christ the Resurrection, the Light and the Life,
 
Rev. James T. Paris