Do animals have a soul according to the Bible like a person and where does it go after death according to Orthodoxy?

When you look into the eyes of some dogs, it is impossible to deny them kindness, love and presence of soul. The dog, not for nothing, is a symbol of loyalty and devotion. The purpose of a dog is to serve man. And if a single dog has accomplished everything it could in the work of this ministry, then can it not be said that it has fulfilled everything it should have done before God? All her life she loved her master, endured, served and humbled herself before him to the end. Also showing people an example of fidelity, love, patience and humility.

Do animals have souls like humans according to the Bible?

Do animals have souls according to the Bible?

The Bible says that animals have a soul, and at the same time, it says: “The soul of animals is in their blood.” (Lev. 17, 11-14).

The Lord created animals and brought them to man:

“The Lord God formed from the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought [them] to man, to see what he would call them, and that whatever man called every living creature, that was its name (Gen. 2, 19).

First, of course, he created animals, then man, and then he said to Adam and Eve:

“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Life 1:28

Prayer for the blessing of the flock

Master, Lord our God, who has power over all creatures, we pray to You, and we ask You, as You blessed and multiplied the flock of the patriarch Jacob, bless the herd of these cattle of Your servant (name), and multiply, and strengthen, and make them into thousands, and deliver from the violence of the devil, and from foreigners, and from every slander of enemies, and the air of death, and destructive illness: protect with your holy angels, all weakness, all envy, and temptation, sorcery and sorcery, from the actions of the devil, driving away from him: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Do animals or plants have a soul, specifically dogs, cats or birds?

Let's look at the Bible to see whether animals or plants have a soul, specifically dogs, cats or birds. Their fate, as beloved pets, is of particular concern to people. Since we received the concept of “soul” from the Bible, the truth about the soul must be sought there. Reading the book of Genesis:

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is on all the earth, and every tree that has fruit yielding seed; - This will be food for you; And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every thing that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food.” Genesis 1:28-30

So, it is directly said here that animals, birds, and even lizards and crocodiles have a living soul. But plants don’t have it, it turns out. The Lord created them and gave them to animals for food. Still there, in paradise, before the Fall. It was after the Fall that animals began to devour each other. And, too, some people cannot eat a human.

Of course, there is life in plants. But there is no soul. Cells are simply plant cells. Can be divided and multiplied. Animal cells can also be multiplied in a Petri dish, but, as is known, this does not produce a living soul.

Nothing is said about insects, viruses and bacteria. And few people are interested in whether the same mosquitoes or flies have a soul. These creatures are too insignificant to ask this question.

Is it necessary to re-consecrate a temple if a dog enters it?

If a dog enters the temple, you can simply sprinkle the room with holy water, and that’s all. If a person enters a temple with a dog, then there is no need to shout at him, you should simply explain that the temple is a place of prayer. By the way, food is also not brought to the temple. According to the charter, you can bring it to the presbyter’s home, but not to the temple. So tables for memorial donations in churches are also a modern indulgence.

Do animals have souls? How do human souls differ from animal souls?

Of course, the soul of animals is not the same as that of humans. Of a lower primitive order. But it is there. This is what St. Luke Voino-Yasenetsky, who was a scientist and surgeon, says about this. He often had to open skulls. And, opening them, the saint often wondered about the life and soul of man. Here's what he writes about this:

The soul of animals and humans

What is the soul? In its simplest form, in animals, it is a complex of organic and sensory perceptions, thoughts and feelings, traces of memories, or only (in lower animals) a complex of organic sensations, united by self-consciousness (the mind in higher animals). The primitive spirit of animals is only the breath of life (among the lower ones). As creatures rise up the ladder, their spirituality grows, and the rudiments of mind, will and feeling are added to the breath of life.

In man, the soul is much higher in its essence, for the spirit participating in its activity is incomparable with the spirit of animals. He may possess the highest gifts of the Holy Spirit, which St. The prophet Isaiah (II, 1-3) calls it the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of strength and strength, the spirit of light, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of wisdom. By the Spirit of the Lord or the gift of piety and inspiration in the highest degree.

The spirit and soul of a person are inseparably united during life into a single essence; but you can also see different degrees of spirituality in people. There are spiritual people according to the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 2:14). There are, as we said, people - cattle, people - grass, there are people - angels. The former are not much different from cattle, for their spirituality is very low, and the latter are close to disembodied spirits who have neither body nor soul.

So, the soul can be understood as a set of organic and sensory perceptions, traces of memories, thoughts, feelings and acts of will, but without the obligatory participation in this complex of higher manifestations of the spirit, which are not characteristic of animals and some people. The Apostle Jude says about them: “These are natural people who have no spirit.” (Jude 1:19)

In self-consciousness during life, the life of the spirit is closely intertwined with those mental acts that are common to man and animals, i.e. with organic sensations and sensory perceptions: these latter, in turn, are inextricably linked with the life of the body, especially the brain, and disappear with the death of the body. Therefore, the primitive soul of animals is mortal, just as those elements of human self-consciousness that emanate from a deceased body (organic and sensory perceptions) are mortal.

But those elements of self-consciousness that are associated with the life of the spirit are immortal. The spirit is immortal, which, as we will show below, can exist without connection with the body and soul. Materialists deny the immortality of the soul precisely because they do not want to know anything about the spirit. But we are not talking about the immortality of self-consciousness, understood purely physiologically.

Let us now see whether Holy Scripture gives us the right to understand spirit and soul in the way we have just outlined. We think that our understanding of the soul and spirit is completely consistent with Revelation.

Spirit and Soul in Scripture

The word “soul” is used in Scripture in various senses. In common parlance, it simply means the whole person: “Not a single soul,” “no soul.” Not a single soul of you will perish, says St. Apostle Paul to his ship companions.

He preserved the family of Noah in eight souls (2 Pet. 2:5).

The soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:20).

That soul is synonymous with life.

His life will be his instead of spoil (Jer. 21:9).

Those who sought the soul of the Child died (Matt. 2:20).

Their bread is for their souls (Hos. 9:4).

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink (Matthew 6:25).

And here are a number of texts that clearly talk about what could be called the “animal soul.”

Their soul spit in them... He satisfied the thirsty soul and filled the hungry soul with good things... Their soul turned away from all food... Their soul is corrupted in disaster (Ps. 106:5-26).

He will graze... and his soul will be satisfied on Mount Ephraim (Jer. 50:19).

My soul will be satisfied with them (prey) (Ex. 15:9).

A hungry man dreams that he is eating... and his soul is thin... he dreams that he is drinking... and his soul is thirsty (Is. 29:8).

A charitable soul will be satisfied (Proverbs 11:25).

The soul of the lazy desires, but in vain; but the soul of the diligent will be satisfied (Proverbs 13:4).

A careless soul will suffer hunger (Proverbs 19:15).

A well-fed soul tramples on a honeycomb (Proverbs 27:7). Let your soul enjoy fatness (Isa. 55:2).

Their soul will be like a garden watered (Jer. 31:12).

It is not the soul that is immortal, but the spirit

Let those who are accustomed to the idea of ​​the immortality of the soul not be confused by our words about the immortality of the spirit. This is not an innovation, for in most places in Holy Scripture where death is discussed, it is the leaving of the body by the spirit, and not the soul, that is spoken of.

Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead (James 2:26).

Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of men ascends upward and the spirit of animals descends down to the earth? (Eccl. 3:21).

He preached to the spirits (not souls) in prison (1 Pet. 3:19).

To the spirits (not souls) of the righteous who have reached perfection (Kev. 12:23).

And her (Jairus’s daughter) spirit returned (Luke 8:55).

I commend my spirit into Your hand (Ps. 30:6; Luke 23:46).

Lord Jesus! receive my spirit (Acts 7:59).

The spirit will depart from her, and (he) will return to his land: on that day all his thoughts will perish (Ps. 145:4).

And the dust will return to the earth as it was; and the spirit will return to God, who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).

These last two texts are especially important for substantiating our opinion that those elements of mental activity that are associated with the life of the body are mortal: feelings and thought processes that are inextricably linked with the activity of the brain.

On that day all his thoughts will perish, i.e. the activity of consciousness, for which all perceptions of the living brain are necessary, will cease.

It is not the soul that will depart, but the spirit, and will return to its land, i.e. into eternity. The dust will return to the ground as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

And the animal spirit, of course, must be immortal, for it also has its beginning in the Spirit of God, the immortal Spirit.

The idea of ​​the immortality of the spirit of animals is clearly contained in the famous words of Pavlov about the hope of all creation (Rom. 8, 20-21); ...in the hope that creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

In a few places in Holy Scripture, death is defined as the departure of the soul (and not the spirit) from the body (Gen. 35:18; Acts 20:10; Ps. 15:10). This is easily explained by the fact that in the Bible in general, especially in the psalms, the word soul is often used in the generally accepted sense, i.e. as the totality of all mental and spiritual activities. But we say that during life, the spirit and soul of a person are united into a single essence, which can simply be called the soul.

How to understand self-awareness

Above we talked about self-awareness. How to understand it? A person’s consciousness of his personality is formed from organic sensations received from his body, from perceptions received by his senses, from the entire set of memories, from an understanding of his spirit, character, and moods.

Where is self-awareness formed from these elements, who is its subject? Not the mind, as is usually understood, but the spirit. For the mind is only a part of the spirit, and not the whole spirit. But a part cannot embrace the whole. This is an important conclusion that we will refer to later when we talk about immortality. And it is not arbitrary, but is based on the words of the Apostle Paul:

For which man knows what is in a man except the spirit of man that dwells in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 2:11-12)

About the highest spirit that man has, but animals do not have

We perceive the deepest essence of our being not with our minds, but with our spirit. Self-awareness is a function of the spirit, not the mind. We recognize the effect of God’s grace given to us from God not by the spirit of this world, but by our spirit, given to us by God.

The same thought is in the words of the wise Solomon: The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man, testing all the depths of the heart (Proverbs 20:27).

Much can be found in the Holy Scriptures about the spirit, as the highest force of our spiritual activity. Here are examples:

He who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Gal. 6:8).

But not the spiritual first, but the natural, then the spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46).

This means that spirituality is the highest achievement of the human soul.

The fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

Be fervent in the Spirit (Rom. 12:II). He speaks mysteries by the spirit (1 Cor. 14:2).

The spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding (Job 32:8).

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).

Both my word and my preaching are not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power (1 Cor. 2:4).

Cast away from yourself all your sins that you have committed, and create for yourself a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 18:31).

Here is the idea of ​​a close connection between the heart and spirit, confirming what we said about the primary role of the heart in consciousness.

And my spirit rejoiced in God my Savior (Luke 1:47).

He rejoices in God. God worships, the human spirit strives and approaches God. And this, of course, is the highest ability of our soul.

About the spirit of the devil and the spirit of the Antichrist

Everyone familiar with the Holy Scriptures knows how numerous are the texts in both the Old and New Testaments about the devil and unclean spirits and their evil influence on the human spirit. And St. The Apostle John the Theologian in his first epistle (4:2-8) directly speaks about the spirit of Antichrist. The influence of this spirit, hostile to the spirit of God, on human hearts is enormous. Defining above what acts of consciousness are caused, we spoke about perceptions from the higher spiritual world. By this we mean the influence on the human spirit of the Spirit of God and the spirit of Satan.

Pride is the antithesis of humility, anger and hatred are the antithesis of love, blasphemy is the antithesis of love for God, self-love and greed are the antithesis of love for people. The negative arises from the loss of the positive and develops steadily. Darkness occurs with the loss of light, cold with the loss of heat, immobility and stagnation with the loss of movement. The spirit of Satan was born from the loss of love for God.

The Spirit of God and the spirit of Satan operate everywhere and on all living things. The living is capable of perceiving what is akin to it. Animals take in oxygen from the air, and plants take in carbon dioxide. There are living beings that do not need light and avoid it. Some bacteria (so-called anaerobes) can live only in the absence of oxygen and die in air. People who are akin in spirit to Satan perceive his spirit and steadily develop in him. St. speaks figuratively about this. Apostle Paul: For some there is a smell of death leading to death, but for others there is a smell of life leading to life. And who is capable of this? (2 Cor. 2:16).

About the Holy Spirit

People who are akin in spirit to the God of Love perceive the Holy Spirit and steadily improve in goodness and love.

Jesus Christ Himself and the prophet Ezekiel testify to the certainty of the spiritual influence from the outside on the human spirit:

The Spirit breathes where it wants, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes (John 3:8).

The Spirit gives life; the flesh does not profit at all (John 6:63).

The words that I speak to you are spirit and life (John 6:63).

As He spoke to me, a spirit came into me and made me stand on my feet, and I heard Him who spoke to me (Ezek. 2:2).

In a person who had a soul, the spirit entered from the outside. The apostles say the same thing:

Paul was compelled by the spirit to witness to the Jews (Acts 18:5).

Now, at the urging of the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem (Acts 20:22).

Through the action of God it is even possible to transfer the spirit of one person to another.

The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha (4 Kings 2:15).

I will take from the Spirit that is on you and put it on them (Num. II, 7).

What can we say about the spirit of animals?

“They, like people, are by nature bearers of a certain spirit. Animals of the same breed can be brave and cowardly, angry and gloomy, affectionate and cheerful. They are not characterized by the highest qualities of spirituality: religiosity, moral feeling, philosophical and scientific thinking, subtle artistic and musical sensitivity. But love and the rudiments of altruism, as well as an aesthetic sense, are also characteristic of animals.

Not the highest form of love, not Divine love, but only family love; but in this love swans and doves are perhaps even superior to people. There are known facts of suicide of a swan that lost its girlfriend; he flies high, folds his wings and falls like a stone to the ground.

The lower the level of the zoological ladder of perfection of forms they stand at, the lower the degree of spirituality in animals. The exception to this rule is love among birds. In parallel with this, one can to some extent put the fact that the highest forms of love and religiosity are often discovered by simple, uneducated people.

Higher animals, bearers of at least limited spirituality, must have self-awareness in a primitive form.

Couldn't a dog say: I'm cold, I'm sick, my owner is treating me badly. The degree of self-awareness of animals is determined by the development of their minds and the degree of spirituality available to them.”

St. Luka Voino-Yasenetsky.

Do animals have souls according to Orthodoxy - what else do the holy fathers say?

To find out whether animals have a soul according to Orthodoxy, let’s first look at how the Holy Fathers interpret the famous passage from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:

Then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the ox will be together, and a little child will lead them. And the cow will feed with the she-bear, and their cubs will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the child will play over the asp's hole, and the child will stretch out his hand into the snake's nest. Is. 11:6-8

Interpretation of Saint Gregory of Elvira:

Where and when, if not in the Kingdom of God, where there is an abundance of bread, wine and oil, will this blessing come true? After all, the earth itself will give bread and everything bad will be eliminated, as Isaiah said: Then, he says, the wolf and the ox will eat straw, and the wolf and the lamb will graze together, and a little child will be able to put his hand into a snake’s den, and the snakes will not harm him. Indeed, when His kingdom comes, God will transform the world, making it what it was in its beginning, before the first-created man sinned. He acted contrary to the word of God, so the whole world was corrupted, defiled, and cursed when God said, Cursed is the earth because of you (Gen. 3:17). Therefore, the passing order of this world will become the kingdom of the saints and the liberation of creation.

So, the book of Genesis says that all creation will also be liberated? There is an opinion that these are all poetic images. St. Gregory the Great states that this passage speaks figuratively of people. That people who are predators by nature can repent, change and “stay within the fence of the church” along with the meek, soft and innocent. And in this case, there is absolutely no hope left for animals.

But the Apostle Paul argues that this is not so, that there is hope for every creature:

For the creation awaits with hope the revelation of the sons of God, because the creation submitted itself to vanity not voluntarily, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Rom.8:19-21

Saint Luke Voino-Yasenetsky speaks about the immortality of the spirit of animals:

And the spirit of animals, of course, must be immortal, for it also has its beginning in the Spirit of God, the immortal Spirit. The idea of ​​the immortality of the animal spirit is clearly contained in Paul’s famous words about the hope of all creation: “in the hope that creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Christianity and charity

The relationship of a person to an animal and a pet to its owner is interconnected. Some parents buy animals for their children to instill in their children a sense of care and mercy, but when the small toy gets boring, they simply throw it away or put it to sleep.

If you take a pet into your home, be prepared to keep it until death or provide it with a decent existence in another place. The Orthodox Church is against cruelty to animals; abandoned or stray cats and dogs should be treated with mercy.

Important! Christians should not only love creatures like themselves. Treating God's creations with mercy is the Creator's law of love.

To those who claim that our younger brothers have no value in the eyes of God, I would like to respond with the words of Solomon. The king said that loving everything that the Creator created, you will not treat him with disdain. (Wis.11:25). The Almighty loves His creation, because everything He created is a gift.

Do animals have souls like humans?

Let us cite the reasoning of St. Theophan the Recluse, whether animals have a soul like humans:

Animals have a soul, but an animal one. But a person has a human soul, higher, like the person himself. Animals have their own rank, and humans have their own.

Is it surprising that we have something similar to animals? There are similarities with plants, for the nutrition and growth of the body is a plant matter. But what can we conclude from this? Nothing is possible, except that to each there is a rank.

In a person it is necessary to distinguish between soul and spirit. The spirit contains a sense of Divinity - conscience and dissatisfaction with nothing. He is the power that was breathed into the face of man at creation. The soul is a lower force, or a part of the same force, assigned to conduct the affairs of earthly life. It is of the same order as the soul of animals, but exalted for the sake of combining the spirit with it. The spirit from God, combined with the soul of animals, raised it to the level of the human soul.

And the man became twofold. One thing drags him down, the other drags him down. When a person maintains his rank, he lives in spirit, i.e. He is guided by the fear of God and listens to conscience and seeks things above. And when he succumbs to the desires of the soul below, he leaves his rank, and what the spirit wants, he thinks to get among the creatures. He fails to do this, and he languishes and collapses. The spirit here, like a prisoner in chains, is in the service of the barbarians, the passions of the infantry. He himself is not satisfied and makes passions unsatisfactory, giving them a boundless overflow. Why do animals have animal needs in their own measure, but in a person, when he indulges in sensuality, the sensual needs have no limit and measure? This immensity is communicated to them by the spirit that has been captured by them, and the spirit with this immensity wants to quench its thirst for the Infinite, in whose image it was created and in whom alone it is good.

So you see that we also have animal functions, and in their very movement something completely unusual for animals is manifested. No matter what you think about, you will always come to the conclusion that man has a spirit, whose true life is life in God. There only he finds peace, there is his paradise and the promised land.

The Holy Fathers distinguish between spirit, soul and body - Anthony the Great, Isaac the Syrian, Ephraim the Syrian and others. They do not say what properties our souls are. But, comparing what Saint Anthony writes about the genera of living creatures, I find that, according to his mind, our soul is of the same nature as the soul of animals. Here is the summary: there are four types of living beings:

• Angels...
• People who have: mind, soul, breath.
• Animals that have soul and breath.
• Plants have breath and life.

Please bring it together.

Breathing, respiration, life... These are all in different classes of creatures: plants, animals and people, but there are one kind and properties of nature. Let's call it organic life.

The soul, the soul, is also of the same order, although it is located in different classes of beings - in animals and in people, but it also exists of the same nature. Then the mind - angelic power is also of one nature. I conclude that according to Saint Anthony, our soul is of the same rank as the soul of animals. What distinguishes us is the mind, what I call spirit. Reconsider: all the points of Saint Anthony, where he talks about the mind, I relate to the spirit... and I express it in almost the same words, affirming with him that he is a real person who lives according to the spirit, which Saint Anthony expresses: according to the mind.

And what is said: by one degree, so you are free to understand this as a line on a thermometer. How much higher are angels than us? Per degree. How we are one degree higher than animals. Replace degree with the word degree - it will be one degree. Who finds fault with words, losing attention to the thought?!

Why are humans produced from animals (monkeys)? Because they do not distinguish between the soul and the spirit in a person. Noticing that our soul is similar to the soul of animals, they rave: “But there is only one soul, and the whole person has degenerated from them.” And when we insist on the difference between the spirit and the soul and transfer the characteristics of man to the spirit, then Darwin’s entire theory will fall by itself. For in the origin of man it is necessary to explain not just how his animal life occurs, but even more so how he, as a spiritual person, occurs in an animal body, with his animal life and soul.

Do animals have a soul and where does it go after death?

We have already found out whether animals have a soul and where it goes after death - it remains to be found out. As we found out, according to the Bible, the soul of animals is in their blood. And the blood, of course, goes into the ground. From this, many conclude that the soul of animals also goes into the earth. And they also cite as proof the words of Ecclesiastes:

Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of men ascends upward and the spirit of animals descends down to the earth? (Eccl. 3:21).

But let's notice that Ecclesiastes has a question mark here. And in general, he is talking about something completely different:

I spoke in my heart about the sons of men, so that God would test them, and so that they would see that they are animals in themselves; because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same fate: as they die, so these die, and everyone has the same breath, and man has no advantage over cattle, because everything is vanity! Everything goes to one place: everything came from dust and everything will return to dust. Eccl.3:18

From the words of Ecclesiastes it follows that it is still unknown about people whether it can be that they themselves are only animals and have the same fate as animals. And it is still unknown where each spirit goes.

But in the times of the New Testament it already becomes known that people will not only be resurrected, but many will gain eternal life and even reign with Christ. And all creation also has hope of deliverance from the “slavery of corruption.”

The earthly soul, of course, goes into the earth with all its feelings. But we have already found out that animals have spirits! And people’s earthly soul, it is said, will go into the ground. And only the spirit can ascend to heaven.

Saint Theophan the Recluse claims that there is a certain soul of the world, where the souls of animals plunge after death, while the human spirit after death rushes upward, grief.

By the soul of the world, Saint Theophan the Recluse understands the totality of created forces of a speculative, invisible, formless nature, endowed with an instinctive sense, understanding, willing, directing the material elements for the production of creatures according to the will of God.

“So, the spirit blown by God into a “living body with an animal soul” raised this animal soul “by a whole stage,” that is, the human soul is not equal to the animal soul. Man is not only in spirit, but also in his soul, above the world, therefore the human soul is not included in the list of forces that make up the soul of the world. On this basis, Saint Theophan concludes: “Souls lower than the spirit and man are immersed in the soul of the world. But a person’s soul cannot plunge there, but the spirit is carried away by grief - this is after death.” Hence it is impossible to agree with the statement of Archimandrite. Pimen (Khmelevsky), that “according to the teachings of Bishop Theophan, just as the human body is part of the universal cosmic world of matter, so the human soul is, as it were, a part of the universal cosmic soul.”

The Russian saint, having removed the soul of man from the soul of the world, leaves one body to be “part of the universal cosmic world of matter,” and relates the soul and spirit to the image of God in man, which transcends the world. Thus, St. The recluse in his trichotomy (trinity) draws a division not between the spirit - and the soul-body as the forces of the world, but between the spirit-soul as the image of God - and the body, that is, between the immaterial and the material.” Peter (Aleksenko), hierodeacon, candidate of theology, monk of the Klimovsky Intercession Monastery of the Klintsov and Trubchevsky diocese of the Bryansk Metropolis. Source.

So, we managed to find out whether animals have a soul and where it goes after death.

Prayer of the Hieromartyr Blaise of Sebaste

Blessed and ever-memorable Hieromartyr Blasius, wondrous sufferer and warm representative of ours, after your departure into eternal life, assist those who call upon your holy name, and promise to be heard in all petitions! Behold, now to you, the saint of God, as to the true intercessor of salvation, we come and humbly pray: come to our aid, bound by the bonds of sins, move to your omnipotent prayers to God and pray for us sinners: for you are unworthy, we dare to call for your intercession, and We wish you to receive liberation from all our sins. O holy saint of God Blasie!

In the contrition and humility of our hearts, we fall before you and pray: shine upon us, darkened by the slander of the enemy, with the light of grace from above, so that walking in it, we will not stumble our feet on a stone. You, as a vessel chosen in honor and filled with the grace of God, we pray: grant us sinners the desired acceptance from your fulfillment, and heal our mental and physical ulcers, and ask the Lord for forgiveness of our sins and for our mental and physical health and salvation that is beneficial, and always We glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and your merciful intercession for our souls and bodies, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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