Holy Resurrection
YouTube
Orthodox teaching on cremation, abortion, prayer for the dead, and salvation through love
6:12
A priest delivers a talk covering several Orthodox teachings. He states that cremation is not a Christian practice because the body sanctified by the Holy Spirit must return to the earth, not be burned. He condemns abortion as a great sin in which a woman destroys God's work and is judged as a murderer unless she repents deeply.
He identifies the unrepented sin as the only unforgivable sin and laments that Serbian villages have disappeared because people do not repent and refuse to have children, while Roma families remain content with many children despite poverty. He criticizes civil law for dividing land into tiny parcels. When a mother dies, Christians should pray for her soul rather than mourn like pagans, because excessive grief disturbs the peace of the departed and causes suffering in eternity.
He tells of a woman who used sorcery to summon her deceased daughter from paradise, causing the daughter to lose her heavenly place. The priest recounts Saint Nikolai Velimirović's teaching that salvation is possible for the unrepentant if someone prays for them for forty days or more, especially through the Divine Liturgy where the priest asks God to wash away sins by Christ's blood.
He shares a dream from his youth in which a heavenly army advances singing that evil is conquered by love, showing that a person of prayer draws grace upon the whole household.
Key moments
- Cremation is not a Christian practice because the body sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit must not be burned; God did not create the body to be destroyed by fire, and from Adam it has been known that dust must return to dust and the body must be laid in the earth.
- Abortion is a great sin: the mother destroys the life God conceived, acts as a murderer, and must repent deeply or face judgment at the toll houses; no animal kills its offspring, only rational man does.
- The only unforgivable sin is the unrepented sin; the speaker laments that Serbian villages have emptied because people do not repent and refuse children, while the Roma have many children and remain cheerful, and he criticizes civil law for dividing land into tiny parcels.
- When a mother dies, Christians should pray for her and thank God rather than lament like pagans, because mourning causes both the mother and children to suffer in eternity; a mother shapes character and deserves reverence.
- A woman who grieved excessively for her pious daughter used sorcery to summon her from paradise; the daughter appeared and said she could no longer return to heavenly bliss because her mother called her instead of praying to God.
- Excessive mourning disturbs the peace of the departed; Christians must pray for the gospel dwellings, do good deeds in memory, and have the Divine Liturgy offered daily, because only the Lord can release souls from the bonds of hell.
- Saint Nikolai Velimirović taught that there is salvation for those who did not repent in life if someone prays for that soul for forty days or more; the Divine Liturgy is the sacrifice of Golgotha where the priest asks the Lord to wash away sins by the precious blood.
- As a young monk the speaker dreamed of a heavenly army marching from east to west singing that they wage battle for the King of Glory to conquer evil with love; this shows that a person of prayer in a household draws down God's grace so that even cold hearts feel it, and therefore we must pray unceasingly.