Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



October 26, 2025

October: Day 26: Teaching 2: Holy Great Martyr Demetrios of Thessaloniki


October: Day 26: Teaching 2:
Holy Great Martyr Demetrios of Thessaloniki

(On the Meaning of Church Prayers and Alms Given on Behalf of the Deceased in the Church)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. According to ancient custom, today we commemorate our departed fathers and brothers. This is a sacred, time-honored custom: it is entirely consistent with the teachings of the Orthodox Church.

II. But how should we commemorate? What should the commemoration consist of?

a) First of all, commemoration should consist of the distribution of alms for the deceased. This kind of commemoration has great power. "The more sins the deceased has, the more necessary alms are for him; give alms to widows and the poor: this is the most important funeral accessory," says Saint John Chrysostom.

And St. Augustine also writes: "Alms given for the souls of the dead help them to be more merciful to the Lord than they deserve for their sins." 

"When you give alms for a deceased relative, remember that it is not you who give it, but the deceased himself, who did not have time to do so during his lifetime, who gives it through you" (Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 21 on Acts). And by giving alms through you, your deceased relative lends to God (Prov. 19:17); and the Lord will reward him a hundredfold in His kingdom!

Give alms, brethren, for the departed: by doing so you will save them from the curse and the unquenchable fire, obtain for them the forgiveness of sins, and lead them into paradise. "Many of the departed," says Saint Chrysostom, "received great help from the alms given for them by others." 

And here is what the dead man himself told "Blessed Kir-Luka" about the importance of alms for the departed. Kir-Luka, passing through a cemetery, saw a dead man, burned like a black coal, who said to him: "My will stated that my relatives should distribute the money I left to the poor for the salvation of my soul, but they have not yet fulfilled my will. I beg you, tell them to distribute the money, otherwise I will forever remain in the state in which you see me now" (Prologue, August 24). But this is just one example. And who can count all the testimonies found in the lives of holy men, clearly proving that alms given on their behalf bring the greatest benefit to the departed even after death?

Give alms, brethren, for the dead, and the Lord will have mercy on them.

b) Then one must turn to church prayers and especially to prayers connected with the offering of a bloodless sacrifice.

Church prayer is such an omnipotent force that it traverses the heavens, ascends to the very throne of the Almighty, descends even to the abyss of hades, and leads the captives there to freedom. For it is offered to the Heavenly Father in the name of His beloved, only-begotten Son, before the immeasurably great sacrifice He made for the sins of the whole world, before His most pure body lying upon the throne, broken for us for the remission of sins, and before His divine blood, shed for you for the remission of sins. It is accompanied and strengthened by the prayers of all God's saints, and above all by the all-powerful prayer of the Mother of God, more honorable of the cherubim. With what trembling longing the soul of your relative may await the moment you go to the temple of God, instruct the celebrant to commemorate her at this great and awesome rite, and pray for her yourself, along with the entire Church! What inexpressible joy, rapture, and blessedness will embrace her when her portion from the prosphora, along with the others, is lowered into the holy chalice, immersed in the most holy blood of the Son of God, with the prayer of the celebrant: "Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those remembered here by Your blood!" This is a priceless service, this is irreplaceable help, which you can render to your deceased relatives, if you wish, every day!

This is what we can do, brethren, for our deceased relatives and friends!

III Let us, beloved, maintain our sacred prayerful communion with the departed and perform philanthropic acts in their memory. Let us abide in true love for them, that we too may find their spiritual help both in life and after death. May they remember us with love there, as we remember them with love here. 
 
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.  
 

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