Today, there are many different debates about whether it is possible to pray for the health of an unbaptized person. Some argue in this regard that it is absolutely impossible to ask the Lord for such people. This is justified by the fact that a person who has not been baptized puts his person against church canons, rejecting the shrine of God’s Temple.
Others say that you can ask God even for lost sheep, so he will definitely hear your prayer for unbaptized people.
Judging by the numerous discussions of clergy on this topic, we can safely draw a conclusion. To the question, is it possible to read a prayer for unbaptized children or adults? You can answer this way: of course it is possible, why not?
Church sources even contain real prayers for unbaptized people. In such prayers, people turn to God for the forgiveness of sinners and the opportunity to return them to the bosom of the divine temple.
Features of prayer for unbaptized living people
If a person for some reason does not accept the Sacrament of Baptism, he cannot be a full member of the church. This is expressed, first of all, in the opportunity to participate in the Divine Liturgy.
Interesting! Some time ago, unbaptized people could not enter the temple beyond the vestibule, and also had to leave the Divine service in a certain part of it.
Today, such a strict restriction has been lifted, but still an unbaptized person cannot participate in worship as an equal.
Liturgy
The main feature of prayer for unbaptized people is that they cannot be remembered at the Divine Liturgy.
The priest at the altar offers a bloodless sacrifice, symbolically representing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. At this time, pieces are taken from the prosphoras for each name submitted for commemoration. These particles are then sent to the Chalice and become a great shrine - the Body of Christ.
Read about church rules:
Rules of behavior in churchIs it possible to be late for serviceThe arrangement and decoration of the temple
If a person deliberately avoids baptism, then Christ’s sacrifice for him becomes meaningless. That is why, in order to participate in the Sacrament of Communion, and indeed in the fullness of the Liturgy, it is necessary to be baptized in church.
But what should we do if a person close to us, whose fate we care about, turns out to be unbaptized? He cannot be commemorated in church, but there are no obstacles to purely personal prayer. At home, in front of the home iconostasis, we can pray for all the people close to us, even if they have not been baptized.
Prayer for unbaptized babies
Prayer for children who have just recently been born and have not yet had time to be baptized also has its own characteristics. There is a tradition of baptizing children after the 40th day of birth, but in fact, the baby can be baptized as soon as it is born. So, if the mother had a difficult birth and the child is in danger, it is very advisable to baptize the baby as soon as possible. In many maternity hospitals and children's hospitals you can freely invite a priest, and in some places there are even functioning churches on the territory of the medical institution.
Child Baptism
If the family decides to baptize the baby later, then all the time before the Sacrament is performed, they pray for the child in close connection with the mother. It is believed that at this time the mother and baby share one Guardian Angel, and only after Baptism does the child have his own.
You can pray for such children in church, but only the note indicates not the individual name of the baby, but the name of the mother with the note “with the child.” For example, if the mother’s name is Maria, then the note should be submitted as follows: “On the health of God’s servant Mary and her child.” After Baptism, you can write in a note the name of the child himself with the postscript “baby”.
First prayer to the Mother of God for children
O Most Holy Lady Virgin Theotokos, save and preserve under Your shelter my children (names), all youths, young women and infants, baptized and nameless and carried in their mother’s womb. Cover them with the robe of Your motherhood, keep them in the fear of God and in obedience to their parents, pray to my Lord and Your Son to grant them what is useful for their salvation. I entrust them to Your maternal supervision, for You are the Divine Protection of Your servants.
Mother of God, introduce me to the image of Your heavenly motherhood. Heal the mental and physical wounds of my children (names) caused by my sins. I entrust my child entirely to my Lord Jesus Christ and Your, Most Pure, heavenly protection. Amen.
Prayer for unbaptized babies
Very often in life there are situations when a long-awaited baby is born into a family. But in recent years, situations have become increasingly frequent when a child is born prematurely and the family experiences some difficult moments in life. At such moments, every parent will try to protect their newborn child with prayer. But what can be done since the baby has not yet been baptized? Don't despair.
In such situations, clergy recommend reading a prayer for the health of the unbaptized, first of all, to the Lord God and the Mother of God. Many try to find such a prayer in special prayer books. But we must admit that despite the fact that in church scriptures there are references to such a petition, in fact it is pronounced in one’s own words in free form. The main thing is that it contains a brief summary. A petition for the unbaptized is made in the following cases:
They ask for protection of the newborn baby from evil eyes and other troubles. They pray for the health of an unbaptized child and an adult. They say prayers for their unbaptized father. They ask to admonish the unbaptized to accept the faith. They ask for forgiveness of sins.
Many novice believers wonder why read such a petition if they can accept the sacrament of Baptism. The fact is that this ritual cannot be performed in all cases. For example, when a premature baby is born, he is placed in a special box in intensive care. He can stay there for quite a long period of time. And such an area of the hospital is not accessible to everyone except medical personnel, so holding the sacrament is simply physically impossible.
You should also observe the period after birth, after which this sacrament can be performed. According to church canons, a baby can be baptized no earlier than the fortieth day after his birth. And there are many such examples when it is not possible to carry out the ritual for some reason. The main thing is to carry faith in your heart and pray for your unbaptized loved ones. And the Lord will definitely have mercy and protect them.
Also read: Prayer against gluttony and gluttony
Prayers for unbaptized dead people
The Church has an ambiguous attitude towards lost souls. But there, nevertheless, there is a real prayer to the Lord for such people. And many clergy even declare that every person has the right to ask for God’s protection.
The best article for you, go to: Prayer to Archangel Michael for protection from enemies, from evil forces and people
However, we must remember that the church prohibits ordering liturgies and funeral services for lost souls. You can only read a private prayer for the deceased. At the same time, being outside the influence of the church.
By praying for a deceased soul, you not only support the deceased, but also yourself. After all, as you know, prayer allows you to pray for sadness, grief for a worthy person who was an important part of your life.
Useful information: What prayers to read after the death of a person
For the deceased unbaptized - prayers to the martyr Uar
If you want to reach out to the Lord and ask for protection for a person who has not undergone the Sacrament of baptism, then it is better to turn to the patrons of the lost. One of such patrons is considered to be the holy righteous man Uar. During his lifetime, this Saint prayed for the repose of the unbaptized for the protection of the Lord.
Saint Huar is addressed to:
Dear brothers and sisters! We invite you to visit the unique resource https://www.slovo-pomoshi.ru/. With its help, you can convey your aspirations to St. Petersburg churches, chapels, monasteries, and also contact the righteous at the place of their burial. We will write a note ourselves, take it to the temple and send you a photo report by email. Turning to God with the help of prayers has helped many people overcome grief, regain health and the joy of worldly life.
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for living lost people; for children who have not been baptized; for unborn babies; for an unbaptized dead baby who did not have time to receive the Sacrament; for dead lost people.
Words of prayer to this Holy Martyr:
“Oh, the venerable holy martyr Uare, we kindle with zeal for the Lord Christ, you confessed the Heavenly King before the tormentor, and now the Church honors you, as glorified by the Lord Christ with the glory of Heaven, Who has given you the grace of great boldness towards Him, and now you stand before Him with the Angels , and in the highest you rejoice, and clearly see the Holy Trinity, and enjoy the light of the Beginning Radiance: remember also our relatives in languor, who died in wickedness, accept our petition, and like Cleopatrine, you freed the unfaithful generation with your prayers from eternal torment, so remember the people buried against God , who died unbaptized (names), trying to ask for deliverance from eternal darkness, so that with one mouth and one heart we may all praise the Most Merciful Creator forever and ever. Amen".
Prayer for the unbaptized dead
It is difficult for any Orthodox Christian to realize that someone close to him has died without becoming a full member of the Church of Christ. There is no point in becoming despondent; God’s Providence exists for such people as well. But sincere heartfelt prayer will help the soul of a deceased person, even if he did not have time to deeply know God.
Other articles about prayer for the repose:
Prayers for deceased parentsSorokoust for the reposePrayer to Archangel Michael for deceased relatives
Have mercy, O Lord, on the soul of Your servant (name), who passed into eternal life without Holy Baptism. Your destinies are unsearchable. Do not make this my prayer a sin for me. But Thy holy will be done.
Important! As is the case with people still living, notes with the names of unbaptized people cannot be submitted in church for commemoration.
The reason is the same - a person during his life, for one reason or another, did not have time to enter the Church of God. It is all the more important for such a soul that there is a person who remembers the deceased in his personal prayer at home. After all, the whole Church prays for baptized people at every liturgy, but only those who take on this burden in personal work pray for the unbaptized.
What kind of prayers to read for the unbaptized dead
In Orthodox worship there is a special service - a requiem - during which all Orthodox Christians who have died from time to time are remembered. You can only submit notes about those who have managed to come to God and His Holy Church in their lives. However, this does not mean that everyone else should be left without prayerful remembrance.
Icon of the Holy Martyr Huar
Most often, they pray to the martyr Uar for the repose of the souls of unbaptized people. There is a specially compiled canon for this saint, who lived in the 3rd century and spent his entire life begging for those unfortunates who remained outside the protection of the Church of Christ. To this day, a sincere appeal to this ascetic brings great relief to souls after death.
Troparion, tone 4
Through the army of the saints, the passion-bearer who suffered legally, in vain, you showed your strength courageously. And having rushed to the passion of your will, and to die lustfully for Christ, who have accepted the honor of the victory of your suffering, Ouare, pray for our souls to be saved.
Kontakion, tone 4
Having followed Christ, the martyr Uare, having drunk His cup, and having been bound with the crown of torment, and rejoicing with the Angels, pray unceasingly for our souls
Prayer
Oh, venerable holy martyr Uare, kindled with zeal for the Lord Christ, you confessed the Heavenly King before the tormentor, and you suffered earnestly for Him, and now you stand before Him with the angels, and rejoice in the highest, and see clearly the Holy Trinity, and enjoy the light of the Beginning Radiance , remember also our relatives in languor, who died in wickedness, accept our petition, and just as Cleopatrine freed the unfaithful family from eternal torment with your prayers, so remember the people who were buried against God, who died unbaptized, trying to ask for deliverance from eternal darkness, so that all with one mouth and With one heart let us praise the Most Merciful Creator forever and ever. Amen.
Separately, for stillborn or unbaptized babies, you can pray with the prayer of Metropolitan Grigoir of Novgorod or Hieromonk Arseny of Athos. If such a misfortune occurs in a family, and a child dies before receiving the Sacrament of Baptism, then special prayer support is needed both for his soul and for his parents and family. In prayer and trust in God's Providence for each person, it will be easier to survive loss and grief.
Prayer of Metropolitan Gregory of Novgorod and St. Petersburg
Remember, O Lord who loves mankind, the souls of the departed servants of Your babies, who in the womb of Orthodox mothers died accidentally from unknown actions or from a difficult birth, or from some carelessness, and therefore did not receive the holy sacrament of Baptism! Baptize them, O Lord, in the sea of Your bounties and save them with Your ineffable goodness.
It should be remembered that prayer is always work. But personal prayer without the support of the church is special work. Therefore, if we undertake to beg unbaptized people close to us, we must be prepared for various temptations and obstacles along the way. And only with God’s help and humility can this path be overcome.
Is it possible to pray for the unbaptized living?
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about babies who died unbaptized
The fate of infants who died unbaptized can by no means be called hopeless. Our church liturgical books express a direct belief in the pardon of infants who die unbaptized. Parents can pray for them, with faith in God’s mercy. Of course, there can be no question of commemorating unbaptized infants during the liturgy. But every Christian, out of love for God and neighbor, can sigh for such babies in his home prayers.
Prayer of Hieromonk Arseny of Athos
Lord, have mercy on my children who died in my womb. For my faith and tears, for the sake of Thy mercy, Lord, do not deprive them of Thy Divine light!
Prayer of Metropolitan Gregory of Novgorod and St. Petersburg
Remember, O Lord who loves mankind, the souls of the departed servants of Your babies, who in the womb of Orthodox mothers died accidentally from unknown actions or from a difficult birth, or from some carelessness, and therefore did not receive the holy sacrament of Baptism! Baptize them, O Lord, in the sea of Your bounties and save them with Your ineffable goodness.
PRAYER TO THE MARTYR UARU for those who died unbaptized
Oh, venerable holy martyr Uare, we kindle with zeal for the Lord Christ, you confessed the Heavenly King before the tormentor and you zealously suffered for Him. And now the Church honors you, as you are glorified by the Lord Christ with heavenly glory, Who has given you the grace of great boldness towards Him. And now you stand before Him with the angels, and in the highest you rejoice, and see clearly the Holy Trinity, and the petition, and like Cleopatrine, you freed the unfaithful race from eternal torment with your prayers, so remember those who were buried against God, who died unbaptized, trying to ask them for deliverance from eternal darkness May everyone with one mouth and one heart praise the Most Merciful Creator forever and ever. Amen.
Prayers for the unbaptized dead and for suicides
The prayer for the unbaptized is based on an incident that occurred in Optina Hermitage. One day, a student turned to the Optina Elder Leonid (in the schema Leo, who died in 1841) in inconsolable grief over his deceased suicidal father, asking whether and how he could pray for him. To which the elder replied: Submit both yourself and the fate of your parent to the will of the Lord, wise and almighty. Pray to the Most Good Creator, thereby fulfilling the duty of love and filial duties, according to the spirit of the virtuous and wise: Seek, O Lord, the lost soul of my father: if possible, have mercy! Your destinies are unsearchable. Do not make this my prayer a sin for me. But Thy holy will be done. You can pray with this prayer at home for relatives who have taken their own lives without permission, but given the certain spiritual danger described earlier, to perform prayer at home you must definitely take a blessing from the priest. From the patristic heritage there are known cases when, through the intense prayer of loved ones, the fate of the souls of suicides was alleviated, but in order to achieve this, one must perform a feat of prayer. Following the example of this prayer, you can pray for the unbaptized (those who have departed into eternal life unenlightened by the Orthodox faith), as well as those who have been baptized, but have apostatized from the faith (who have departed into eternal life in apostasy from the Holy Orthodox Church). In this instruction for every Christian who is in a similar position, there is a lot of comfort, calming the soul in surrendering oneself and the deceased to the will of God, always good and wise. And the fact that the unbaptized can receive some relief through prayer is known from the conversation of the Monk Macarius of Egypt with the skull of a pagan priest. The monk prayed a lot for the departed and therefore wanted to know the effect of his prayers. When you pray for the dead, the skull answered, “we feel some kind of consolation.” This incident gives us hope that our prayers for the unfortunate who died unbaptized will bring them some consolation. We should not forget about such an effective means of alleviating the fate of the dead as alms, which in these cases acquires special significance. It is a great sin not to accept the Savior and to reject the Orthodox faith, but the merciful Lord allowed one of His saints to intercede before Him for the souls of the non-Orthodox deceased. This saint is the martyr Uar, who accepted death for Christ in 307. Once, in a vision of blessed Cleopatra, the saint told her that for her good deeds he begged God to forgive the sins of all her deceased pagan relatives. Since then, Orthodox Christians have turned to the martyr Uar in prayer to intercede with the Lord for their relatives and friends who died not baptized into the Orthodox faith. Canon to the holy martyr Huar, he was given the grace to pray for the dead of Cleopatraine’s ancestors, who were not worthy of receiving Holy Baptism https://www.club-vozrojdenie.ru/publ/54-1-0-1207
The opinion that nothing is known for certain about the fate of dead unbaptized babies is erroneous. The Orthodox Church teaches this quite clearly. For a Christian woman of the past, the loss of an unbaptized child was a terrible, profound grief. If you blurt out to her in this state: “Your child has gone to hell,” it will completely kill her. In my opinion, for this moral and spiritual reason, the saints and the Church preached this dogmatic truth carefully and not so clearly.
Now the situation has changed dramatically, and caution is now even harmful. A modern woman, far from the Church, is not afraid of the death of her children when it comes to abortion, and she doesn’t care much that they were not baptized. This means that she must not be consoled, but rebuked. If in ancient times, due to the poor development of medicine, miscarriages were quite common, and the killing of children in the womb was rare - then in our time, on the contrary, the latter are much less common, because medicine has improved, but abortion has become commonplace. Therefore, we, priests, need to denounce the modern woman with the fact that her children killed in the womb not only suffered here, but will also go to hell with their souls. Then, perhaps, some of these women will bear fruit worthy of repentance in the form of their prayers for the unfortunate children.
Alas, some priests preach that unbaptized babies killed in the womb go to heaven, because they themselves have not committed sin. Such preaching is morally destructive. It will not lead to fewer abortions, it will not lead anyone to repentance, and even if they pray for murdered children, it will be without contrition and repentance. As a certain Maria says about this: “If you believe such priests, then heaven is filled with millions of babies killed by their mothers. But there are mortal sins that fall on subsequent generations. And murder is one of them. So, is heaven a place for hereditary killers? Perhaps the innocent murder cleansed them? Then failed mothers who have had an abortion should be given a medal and milk for life, for what they did was harmful to their health. But how much more correct is the conclusion: pray for your lost children, and the Lord, out of His great love, will take pity on them. It's just common sense."
Now let us present the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church about the fate of dead unbaptized infants. The Lord himself, in a conversation with Nicodemus, said this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3.5). Birth from water and the Spirit, according to the teachings of the Church, is the second, spiritual birth of a person, as a result of which the Holy Spirit descends on the baptized person. And since Orthodoxy, unlike Catholicism, teaches about only two places where the soul can go after death - heaven and hell (Catholics have “purgatory”), then if the soul of a deceased unbaptized baby does not go to heaven, it goes to hell . This is indirectly confirmed by another place in Holy Scripture. The Lord said: “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen a greater man than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). So, in moral terms, the Forerunner of the Lord is higher than all those born of women, including infants, but where does his soul go after martyrdom for the truth? To hell, as we sing in the troparion to the Baptist: “Having suffered for the truth, rejoicing, you preached the good news to those in hell of God,” - goes to hell, for redemption has not yet been accomplished by Christ, and there is no Christian baptism yet. Moreover, this is the fate of all unbaptized infants who are morally inferior to the Forerunner of the Lord.
Let us turn to the second source of Divine Revelation - Holy Tradition. The impossibility of going to heaven without baptism for the remission of sins is confirmed in the 10th article of the Creed: “I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.” According to the Creed, which here comes from the above words of the Savior (John 3:5), without baptism there is no remission of sins, including the firstborn, which infants also have. This truth is confirmed by the 124th canon of the Council of Carthage: “Whoever rejects the need for the baptism of small children and newborn children from the mother’s womb, or says that although they are baptized for the remission of sins, they do not borrow anything from the sin of their ancestors Adam that should be washed in the wash of rebirth , let him be anathema."
Let us now turn to another source of Holy Tradition - the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church. St. Macarius the Great speaks about the fate of unbaptized babies: “A woman who has conceived in her womb carries her baby within herself in darkness, so to speak, and in an unclean place. And if the baby finally happens to come out of the womb at the appropriate time, she sees a new creature for heaven, earth and sun - such as she has never seen; and immediately friends and relatives with a cheerful face take the baby into their arms. And if due to some disorder the baby happens to die in the womb, then it is necessary for the doctors already appointed to do so to resort to sharp instruments, and then the baby passes from death to death, from darkness to darkness.” The words “from darkness to darkness” clearly indicate that the soul of an unbaptized baby goes to hell. For heaven is a place of special presence of God. And according to the word of the Theologian, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1.5), which means that it is not in heaven either - it is in hell. This is where the souls of babies expelled from the womb go.
St. Gregory the Theologian also says that unbaptized infants, due to the fact that they are not enlightened by Holy Baptism, although they will not endure eternal torment and will receive some “weakness,” will still not be glorified in the Kingdom of Heaven and will not see the face of God. A similar thing is said in the Synaxarion of Meat Saturday (Lenten Triodion): “And this is also fitting, for in baptism infants will enjoy food, but ignorance and paganism, less for food, less for Gehenna.”
Another source of Holy Tradition is generally accepted church practice. What does she say about baptism? In the “Teaching News,” instructing the priest on how to perform the Divine Liturgy and how to act correctly in unexpected cases during it, it is said: “If the priest begins the liturgy and there will be action in the proskomedia, or already in the liturgy before the entrance of the Great One, mortals will be called for the sake of what are the necessary needs, whether to baptize or confess... let him leave the service in that place and go there, and having created reliable salvation for the sick in death itself, and returning, complete the divine service.” But if, for the sake of baptizing a person, a priest must even leave the service of the Divine Liturgy, then it is obvious: we are talking about the life and death (spiritual) of a person. If there was a firm hope that the soul of an unbaptized person would go to heaven, why would there be such a hurry? The Trebnik even has a special abbreviated rite of “holy baptisms in brief, like baptizing a baby, fear for the sake of death.”
What specific place in hell are they going to? On this occasion, Rev. Macarius the Great said: “Some argue that there is one Kingdom and one Gehenna; we say that there are many degrees, differences and measures in one and the same Kingdom and in one and the same Gehenna... and the Divinity embraces all creatures, both heavenly and those below the abyss, and everywhere resides entirely in creation, although in its immeasurability and immensity it is beyond creatures... In the light itself and in the glory itself there is a difference. In Gehenna itself and in punishment there are poisoners, and robbers, and others who have sinned in small things.”
What kind of place in hell is this where the souls of unbaptized babies go? Let us pay attention to the teaching of the Lenten Triodion, which indicates that, although these babies go to hell, they do not go to places of torment: “And this is also appropriate, as in baptism babies will enjoy food, but in ignorance and paganism, lower in food, lower in Gehenna they'll go." And St. Gregory the Theologian says that babies will not suffer eternal torment. However, can there be a place in hell where there is no eternal torment? - Maybe. To understand this, let us carefully examine the Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The event described in the parable occurs even before the redemption accomplished by the Savior’s death on the cross. Therefore, after death, the soul of the righteous Lazarus was carried by the Angels not to heaven, but to Abraham’s bosom. What is this Abraham's bosom? According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, this is a place in hell where the souls of the Old Testament righteous went before the Resurrection of Christ. There was no hellish torment in this place, but there was no heavenly joy either. Abraham indicates the state of man in this place when he speaks of Lazarus: “Now he is comforted here” (Luke 16.25). He does not “enjoy”, as in heaven, but only “is comforted.” What is the consolation? The fact that, unlike the merciless rich man suffering in hell, he escaped the torments of hell; that I found here communion with the ancestors and forefathers of the Jewish people; that from their lips I received confirmation of the ancient promise of the future coming into the world of the Messiah, who would save the human race and bring the souls of the righteous from hell to heaven, which happened after the Resurrection of Christ.
So, according to the words of the Savior (Luke 16.19-31), in hell there is a place where there is no torment, although there is no heavenly joy. If we remember the testimony of St. Gregory the Theologian and the Lenten Triodion that unbaptized infants will not experience hellish torment after death, although they will not taste the joy of heaven, we will see that they exactly correspond to the description of this place of hell - Abraham’s bosom. Yes, these babies did not commit sins, but they did not acquire any virtues. Therefore, it is fair not to punish them, but not to grant them heavenly joy. Abraham's womb corresponds to this state of the soul in hell. But what consolation can the souls of unbaptized babies have in such a place? “Just as for Lazarus communication with his forefathers was a consolation, so for these children the mere communication with their parents through prayer is a consolation. And just as it was a consolation for Lazarus that through such communication he was confirmed in the promise of his future salvation, so it was for these children. The prayers and good deeds of parents can lead the souls of their children from hell to heaven.
All of the above applies only to children who died without baptism due to an accident, for whom their Christian parents pray. If the baby is aborted, his fate will be different. He will not have the consolation of his parents' prayers in hell. On the contrary, he will suffer from being killed by them and forgotten forever. I have heard that experienced elders saw the spiritual state of such a baby in a sensual image: imagine a terrible icy desert, completely pierced by a terribly cold wind, in it - a completely naked, blue and shivering from the cold, forgotten baby... Parents need to realize the terrible sin of murder his own children, repentance and church repentance in him and obligatory penance, which consists of the need to pray for the murdered babies until death, to do good deeds for them. The elders said that the prayer of parents, especially mothers, warms children in that icy desert. The desert itself begins to melt, and perhaps the unfortunate babies, due to the moral efforts of their parents, can move to a place where there is no torment. May the Lord help them and us in this matter.
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Prayer of Leo Optinsky for the unbaptized
As mentioned above, there are many different situations when people cannot accept Orthodox baptism. But despite this, their relatives still want to ask for protection for them before the Almighty. Most often, questions arise about the deceased committing suicide. For such cases, there is a prayer by Leo of Otinsky, with the help of which you can offer a petition for the deceased who gave their spirit to God without repentance.
It is read at home at the same time for a certain period of time. Such a prayer will not only help to ask the Almighty for forgiveness of the sins of the deceased, but also to find peace for his soul in the next world.
Seek, O Lord, the lost soul of Your servant (name): if it is possible, have mercy. Your destinies are unsearchable. Do not make this my prayer a sin, but Thy holy will be done.
Also watch the video about whether it is possible to commemorate an unbaptized deceased:
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Prayer for the unbaptized dead, departed, etc.
1. Is it possible for an unbaptized person to light a candle when coming to church? Worldly people speak differently.— Everyone can light candles in the Church: both baptized and unbaptized. If only it was from the heart, and not formally, out of pride and vanity. You also need to realize that a candle symbolizes human life. This means that we should not live in the vanity of this world, but with all our souls we should strive upward towards God, just as a candle strives upward with its flame. Everything we do in the Church is not magic. There must be our participation, assistance, movement towards God. Then the Lord will help. By lighting a candle without complicity, we will only smoke the walls of the temple. There should be nothing formal in the temple, but everything should be holy, that is, dedicated to God. Formalism corrodes the church body. Previously, atheists destroyed the Church from the outside, but now formalists are destroying It from the inside.
2. Is it possible to share with a priest and ask for advice in resolving a difficult situation in life, as shown in Mexican TV series. They have spiritual mentors and psychologists... What about ours?
“And among our priests there are many excellent spiritual mentors and psychologists. All priests receive spiritual education, which in many ways is not inferior to higher secular education. At ordination, priests receive the gift of compassionate love. I will not exaggerate if I say that Orthodox priests are even much better than the movie Mexican ones. It’s just that many people are embarrassed to approach them and ask about something important. Many people still have old Soviet stereotypes towards priests. The problem is that we have few priests (they have been mercilessly exterminated and compromised over the last 70 years) and most of them are still quite young, not wise with life experience. Priests are overloaded with solving all sorts of everyday and economic problems (where to get bricks, where is the iron for repairs or construction of a temple, etc.), which they should not deal with, and therefore cannot always pay sufficient attention to every person who comes to them. There are cities in which there is only one priest per 30-50 thousand inhabitants, but it would be necessary to have one priest per 3-5 thousand inhabitants. Look at the lower old part of the city of Tobolsk. Previously, on almost every street there was a magnificent church, in which services were held on Sundays and holidays. And now the system of spiritual education of the people is dilapidated and, with great difficulty, has only just begun to be restored.
3. There is an opinion that you need to confess only on your deathbed. Does confession only mean telling about your sins?
“The idea that you only need to confess on your deathbed is wrong. In addition to the body, a person also has an immortal soul. Just as the body needs a certain hygiene, so the soul requires regular spiritual cleansing - confession. Without confession, the soul begins to harden and die spiritually. She becomes lukewarm, indifferent, insensitive to the misfortune of others, and incapable of self-sacrifice. It is no coincidence that the Russian people are dying out. About a million people die in the country every year. What is the main reason for this? The answer is obvious - mortal sins that people cannot and do not want to repent of. Many people are not even aware of their sins.
To confess means to admit what your conscience denounces. Since in modern post-Soviet society the lines between good and evil are almost indistinguishable, many people think that they live like everyone else, their conscience does not convict them of anything. But that's not true. We must examine (ask) our conscience in the light of God’s Commandments and the Gospel. We must not be afraid to call things by their proper names. For example, cohabitation with a married man is not called love, but fornication. What kind of love is this when others (legal wife, children, relatives) suffer because of it? Abortion should not be called artificial termination of pregnancy, but infanticide. Do not attribute premarital sexual relations and all other perversions of sex to the demands of nature, but deeply repent of the corruption of the purity of your body, the loss of virginity and live chastely. Theft should not be justified by the fact that everyone steals and that otherwise you cannot live on your salary, but sincerely repent of it and correct yourself. Sincere repentance for all these and other sins will significantly lighten the burden of your conscience. You will leave the temple inspired. Your life will change and take on a new sublime meaning.
4. Poor people, especially on Parents' Saturday, collect sweets, cookies, etc. left by relatives from graves; many are outraged by this. How does the Church feel about this?
“In this case, you just have to feel sorry for these poor people.” There is nothing wrong with them collecting food from graves. They simply have nothing else to eat except what they find in trash cans and on graves. In general, there is no need to leave food at the grave. It is better to give food as alms to those in need. This will be of double benefit: both to the deceased and to you. Those who receive alms will pray for the deceased (if they know how), and the one who gives alms will learn mercy and compassion for the unfortunate.
5. Why do you have to go to some kind of training to baptize a child? That's what they told us at the temple.
— We live in a secular (non-church) world. Before baptizing a child, he must first become a church member and receive the most basic information about the faith. Since the child is small and does not yet understand anything, his parents and godparents, who during the Soviet period did not have any information about faith, must join the church for him (learn the commandments of God, the basic prayers: “Our Father”, “Virgin Mother of God”, “Creed”) got. Parents and godparents take responsibility for raising the child. Baptism is not a formality, but an important life step. Before you do it, you need to think carefully. Only then will Baptism bring good spiritual fruits, otherwise it will lead to condemnation. Unfortunately, most of those who accept Baptism in our time then trample on their holy vows and no longer come to church. This does not go unnoticed for them. As can be seen from the standard of living and morality of the people, first spiritually, and then physically they die.
6. What prayer and which saints help you get pregnant?
— They usually pray to the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos, Joachim and Anna, who also did not have children for a long time. The short prayer “Holy Saints Joachim and Anno, pray to God for us” with three prostrations should be added to morning and evening prayers every day. But prayer may not help if we do not eliminate the causes of infertility. The most common causes of infertility are abortion, premarital sex, and incontinence in married life. You need to repent of all this in confession and try to change your life. You should also know that sometimes the Lord does not give children to kind and pious people for a long time, as a test of their loyalty and love.
7. I want to start going to church. Once I came, I didn’t understand anything of what was happening there. It’s somehow scary to approach the priest, my grandmothers said I don’t understand what... What should I do, where to start?
— Life in the Church begins with repentance. That is, you need to test your conscience, what it has accused you of throughout your life and come to church for confession. If you deeply repent of your sins, then you will feel that life outside the Church is meaningless. As you go to the temple, the meaning of what is happening in it will be revealed to you. In addition, there is now a lot of Orthodox literature that clearly explains the meaning of the service. If coming to confession is scary right away, then just go to church and pray as your soul tells you. In this way, a new spiritual world will gradually open up to you. But you need to arm yourself with patience and humility. Sometimes we may not immediately find in the temple what we expect. We may even encounter misunderstanding and rudeness. But it is not the Church that must be blamed for this, but specific people who bring their infirmities here. We must remember that in the Church it is not people or even priests who save, but the Lord. A believer goes to church to receive grace (the power of God), with the help of which he can soften his unkind heart, learn true love, meekness, mercy, and inherit eternal life.
8. Please explain what God’s Providence is and when you can resort to it in life?
- They don’t resort to God’s Providence. Each person, regardless of his own will, came into this world, which means he is already under the Providence of God. But the Lord in the world grants all people in the world, as rational beings, freedom of choice: either to remain under God’s Providence or to leave and enjoy imaginary freedom. Many people choose the latter and therefore suffer severely. But the Lord is not to blame for this. They are like naughty little children who pull their hand out of their mother’s hand, wanting to walk on their own, but quickly fall and break their forehead. If people repent of their actions, then the Lord is ready to take them back under His Providence. The Lord does not force anyone to follow Him.
9. Lost a loved one. A lot of time passed, but he never dreamed about it. There is a belief that if he doesn’t dream, it means he’s doing well in the “other world.” We people, in principle, are not believers, but I would like to think that there is still something after death. How does the Orthodox Church feel about this?
— A deceased dear person does not have to be dreamed of. Although you consider yourself unbelievers, you learn to pray for him. Then your meeting is possible in a future life. The soul of every person, contrary to all reasonable arguments, feels that human life does not end after death. Even nature tells us this many times. For example, we know that it is winter now, the life of nature seems to have frozen, but spring will come and everything will come to life again. Night comes, but after it, we know, day will come. A grain of wheat in the ground dies, but dozens of new seeds grow from it.
10. Christmas time is coming soon. Does the Orthodox Church allow guessing, at least a little?
Christmastide is a special holy day when all people rejoice at the birth of Christ the Savior in the world. Usually, in the good old days, on Christmastide, people went to visit their many relatives and acquaintances, and caroled. Thus, people shared joy with each other, supported each other, if before they were at enmity, they made peace. This tradition is still preserved in those regions of Ukraine where the tornado of godlessness has been less severe. In Russia, unfortunately, over the last 70 godless years, people have become very divided. Families are rapidly being destroyed. We have now begun to bring only the people we need to visit us. We rarely think about relatives. There are, of course, exceptions, but this is the cruel and selfish rule of the reality around us. Fortune telling in this case will not help at all, but on the contrary, it will harden the heart even more. Those who turn to grandmothers-witches initially experience some satisfaction from the benefits received, but then usually pay with severe mental (mental) and physical disorders. So it’s better, even just a little bit, not to guess, but to go to church and pray with all your heart for your family and friends, so that there is more peace and love between them.
