On the Memorial of the Departed and on the Eucharistic Bread

Of Mar Jacob of Serugh Memra 22: On the Memorial of the Departed and on the Eucharistic Bread And that the departed benefit from offerings and alms that are made on their behalf. If there were knowledge in the hearer, lovingly I would have been eager now to speak distinctly. But if love does not hear me now, I say that without love my word is hidden from the virtues. Love has shut up the beautiful things from speech, and not even the beloved one teaches what is rejected. Little by little the world abandons good customs, and removes from itself hope and love and faith. The fear of the Lord, which is the cause of all good things, has diminished today, and because of this the distinctions have been abolished. Evil dominion has seized and taken control of the hearts of men, and it gives no place for goodness to be exercised. Not only alms has man abandoned today, but also the offerings for the departed have ceased. From all vigils and also from offerings and from tithes, this remnant has perished before humanity and has been lost. This sacrifice remains for the world, which is sanctified through it, and it has become silent now, and they do not honor it distinctly. Through the bread and wine, which are the mystery of the body and blood, in it all sacrifices have been spiritually fulfilled.

and through it the first ones also approached God. And there was also a remission for the later ones from the multitude. With bread and wine, upon Melchizedek the great priest, to minister before God mysteriously. By this sacrifice, without blood and without slaughter, he was indicating the pattern of the future things. This one, who was a priest forever in his perfection, from all sacrifices chose bread and wine to offer. He knew beforehand, as a spiritual one, for the whole world, that without this the whole world could not be saved. When he had a companion and patterns of Cain and Abel, he did not wish to bring what the living bring before God. Spiritually he trembled in his own soul and perceived that bread and wine alone are suitable to offer. By these mysteries, by which the church stands today, Melchizedek was being honored from that time. Also Moses, the great prophet who offered sacrifices, hinted at this holy and pure sacrifice. With the bread of the face, which he did not repeat from the table, he established all his sacrifices mysteriously. When he had good rams and bulls to offer, he honored the bread more than all of them with truth. Opposite the face of the Lord he placed it on the table, and the great prophet called it the bread of the face.

This bread was the gatherer of all sacrifices, the great mystery of the holy body was accomplished through it. And if the first ones were offering it up by their hands, how much more fitting for the later ones to be baptized in it. And if the Old [Covenant] was offering it up to be honored through it, how much more should the New embrace its honor. And if that bread was more precious than all sacrifices, now that it is the body, what great sacrifice is its equal? For the first ones were drawing types in their offerings, and they gave to the later ones a good path of verities. Afterwards, however, the queen took not images from the first ones; she took up and upon that very thing the bread of mysteries today. In the upper room she saw her Lord, the head of the covenant, his body, and from him she learned to do every day as he ordained for her. Not Melchizedek taught the Church how to do; her Lord taught her, and as he did, she performs every day. Not from Moses, who was a human, did she take the type, but Jesus, who was God, taught her the mystery. And behold, she is vigilant in it, offering it up, and confident in it, that it is the great sacrifice of the living and the dead, completed in it. And why then is this great good, which is so great, diminished today by many and not passed over?

They were bringing the bread of the sanctuary, and they were not bringing it. And what did he say? (And to where and whither did he go?) The parable ceased from the beginning of the discourse concerning the departed. Or he said thus: when a man loves the departed, or whoever hears me, I say to you lovingly: receive with love, for love also moved me to speak. The bread of the Lord was not withheld from you from his table, and the wine of his sanctification daily pours forth spiritually. Bread and wine and love are the house of reconciliation. So that your remembrance may enter, the priest enters before the greatness. On stones of redemption Moses wrote the names of the tribes, that the priest might enter the holy of holies of their memorials. And you, on the spread cloth, inscribe your memorial and that of your departed, and give it to the priest to offer before God. Make a beginning and call your dead; let them come to the altar, which is the mouth and the spirit of all souls. The love of the dead in this shows your love for him, not when you make a great lamentation that does not profit him. His name and his memorial with your offering give to God, and your faith is not obscured by grief. Place his remembrance on the table of the house of reconciliation, with the bread and wine which are the mystery of the body and blood. To the side of the departed he now speaks distinctly: (If you hear me with ears of the soul lovingly).

To the dead in the tombs, behold, she is going around to the mourners, and with lamentations she shows the love of her departed ones. She left the Church and its ministry and its distinctions, and she went, weeping, among the tombs to her beloved ones. Or faith in the sanctuary seeks your mercy. Hunt for God, in whose hands are placed all the souls. Do not read to the dead in the tomb, for he does not hear you. He is not there; here, in the place of refuge, all souls of all the departed gather. For this place is the mother of life, which is sustained by him. Here are placed their memories and their names, in the great book of divinity, in which all things exist. From him who is crucified, the head of healing over the souls, and the great power of his might came to meet him. And when your departed one, the woman, is truly here, to go to the house of tombs, behold, she is going around like a madwoman. Your distinction, go, or your faith is not complete. Your custom leads you after these vain things. You take a stone to the tomb to speak with your departed one, and you have added a stumbling block without distinction in your haste. If there had been love in your soul toward God, instead of lamentation, a prayer would have been born on your lips.

Remain, O mourner, from the wailing of the dirge of grief, and set your soul upon the distinction of faith. Let your love be like the love of your beloved ones toward your beloved, and through offerings and prayers make his memorial. Not from your weeping at the tomb does your dead one profit more; your offering, however, is good and helpful for you and for your dead one. Those tears that were shed at the tomb are gone; here in the Church, let them be sprinkled, as is fitting. The more beautiful things are not accomplished as they ought, and behold, the world is cast into vanities, diligently. The established custom has been abolished from the offering that helps him, and he has been shut in the tomb, separated, while he does not hear. Those things that are not possible to do, as is fitting, and those that are not proper, behold, they are accomplished, not with propriety. Abel offered the firstlings of his flock and their fat, and the righteous soul of the pure one from the rest. Abraham gave three heifers in the sacrifices he offered, and Jacob tithed all that he possessed to the divinity. Lot, the separated one, in place of propriety, delivered over his daughters, and the great Moses commanded that all the firstlings be sacrificed. For the discovery of the treasure of gold and silver, the Hebrews took, and the fine linen, the goats' wool, and the good garments, he burned according to his ability. Through sacrifices and vows, and through fasts and good works, the pious showed their distinctions toward God.

Now then, the day of offering has come to you for the sacrifice. And you have grieved and been troubled by the distinction that aids you. The love of the faith of a man has been changed, and the soul has been darkened by the distinction of the wicked one who is abundant. The offering that is the sacrifice of the soul has been abolished, and no man brings it as is fitting to the house of refuge. Instead, by custom, from among the beautiful things of humanity, and to the clothed ones, they hasten only to the service. And over the inheritance of the dead, they are zealous to divide. His memorial, however, is not remembered for the sacrifice. Neither from his own nor from theirs is he remembered. They have taken his possessions and squandered his love, the evil heirs. Like robbers, they have divided his good things that were established, and they have cast lots upon his beautiful desires. By lot, all robbers divide the plunder they have seized, and the heirs in wrath and in strifes and in contentions. The heirs are worse than the robbers, for they daily oppress the love of the dead in everything. If the love of the Lord were in their minds, what they now divide, they would also make the inheritance. And from his possessions, they have kept the portion that is to be divided, so that for his memorial and his offering after him it might be. And they have distanced themselves from truth and from what is fitting; they have divided, taken, oppressed, and squandered the beautiful things.

the love that is in him by nature, divine love. After death he shows his love, that it does not perish. And by means of memorials and offerings and prayers, he brings his lineage before God into the sanctuary of holiness. (The dead benefit more from the offerings that the living make.) It seems to me that it is not even a vain question. Now then, let a man make haste to inquire concerning the revelations. It is easy for him to hear the truths from teaching. That Judas Maccabeus, the great commander of righteousness, became wise and offered a sacrifice on behalf of the dead. And his great faith, which was of the man, accomplished its own work, and his victory (through his sacrifices) testified how much more the dead benefit from the offering of that distinguished one. That one, his zeal, which with the Jews openly proclaims. He was a wise man, a mighty man of divine power, a great believer, knowledgeable, and full of grace. And on behalf of the dead he used to make sacrifices and cover them, so that the world might learn his beloved deed and be imitated by him. And while he was alive, death was powerful and had a crown, and it was found that sacrifices covered the dead within his dominion. Now that he is slain and his place uprooted and his crown taken away, he is divided over the forgiveness of the dead from now on. It was found that Judas offered to the Lord what belongs to the living, and he tended the dead and covered them, so that they might be saved.

The church today is not with sacrifices that are offered. The priest reconciles the dead, but with the blood of the one who does not die. And if his sacrifice were stale, the Jew would have made peace: the great murder of the Son of God—how can it purify all? Instead of the souls of the dead, the priest enters and stands, and places the bread and wine of sanctity upon the altar. And the death of Jesus he commemorates, also his resurrection, and to all who have passed on he calls the sacrifice for reconciliation. And to all who have departed and gone, he extends a table spread with love, and for the memorial of their departed, he signs the mystery. And on behalf of all the dead who have slept, he offers sacrifices, and calls upon the Father while commemorating the death of his Son. And the Spirit stirs and descends, alighting upon the offering, and becomes incarnate in it, in the bread—a mystery—and becomes a body. And by his Spirit, into the wine mingled with water, what does he make it? And from then on, the body and blood are the sacrifice that sanctifies all. With this sacrifice the priest reconciles all the dead, for in it there is power that conquers death and destroys his place. At the scent of life that emanates from the great sacrifice, all souls, priests and signs, come for reconciliation. And from the resurrection that makes the body of the Son of God fly, daily the dead ascend to life and are reconciled in him. They know that they have cared for the memorial of their beloved ones, and for the offering that can reconcile their departed.

And if there is one who speaks about the custom of the departed: from the sacrifice that the living one makes, and he does not increase in it. Others made him while he was not aware of the death that he would cause. For the living one increases in his own works, not in his companions. His distinction is that the living one increases more than his sacrifice: for he who makes it and he who increases in it are not others. For the sacrifice that the living one makes on behalf of the departed: from his own resources, how can he increase from it? The righteousness of this one is near to that one: he distinguished and brought, and he is not diminished for the departed. But I say, in opposition to what these say: that there is a custom for the church to reconcile the one who does not feel. The infant who is baptized, while not aware in the baptism, receives his own, or perhaps not, as you say. The church reconciles those who do not feel and those who do feel: for the faith raises the dead without dispute. The infant receives from his parents, and the baptizer reconciles and sanctifies him while he does not feel. But you say that the sanctification reconciles the dead, as you say. Nor does the baptism cause the infant to feel it. Therefore, all the mysteries of the church are in vain if the custom for the departed does not reconcile.

For what does the priest say, "Pray for all who have passed away"? And why does he baptize the infant who is not aware, and consecrate him? The believing parents bring the infant to baptism, and the Lord sees their faith and consecrates him. And they offer him to the treasure of the living, while he does not know. And they write his name in the church among the memorials, while he does not perceive. So also the believing heirs of the departed who has passed away bring in his name bread and wine to the holy altar. And there is the prayer of the priest and the people for the deceased, and the Lord covers the departed who is commemorated. But the departed is not covered by the offering, nor is the infant by baptism, on account of the living. If the separation of the living from the living is only a surplus, the parents who separated and baptized the child are the ones who have the surplus. And where is the faith that revives the dead, and does the prayer for the deceased cover them? And does the bringing of infants to baptism consecrate them? And does it have the hope that everything it asks is not hindered? True is the hope of the Bride of the King, and it is not deceived. And great and fitting is her faith, and it is not to be rejected. In glorious mysteries she serves her Lord spiritually, and through her service she astonishes the holy watchers. The faith of the Church is this, O philosophers: that bread and wine are able to become body and blood.

The priest breaks the bread, and it does not know him, but the body; and he mixes the wine, and the blood mingles with what is in the chalice. And he recites the names of all the departed over the oblation, and he joins them with her in the spiritual sacrifices. And he inclines them toward the beginning of body and blood, and he rejoices with her spiritually over her mysteries. O discerning ones who know the mysteries of the faith, without dispute perform the oblations for your customs. The customs which the Church taught her children, for you they have been despised, and they have been mocked and belittled by many, and are not used. For simply, indeed, both ignorantly and contemptuously, the censer comes to the house of God to be offered. There are many who have completely ceased, and do not even bring it; and there are those who, when they bring it, do not bring it discerningly. By the hands of his maidservant he sends the sacrifice to the house of God, and like a lock of hair he brings his sacrifice to the Lord in his hands. The youths of his house, the ignorant ones who are set over the lesser things, to them he commands, "Bring his sacrifice," while he is far away. (For you, O discerning one, do not bring your sacrifice by your own hands, like Abraham who sought the calf for the angels.) He and his wife were ready, and he stood and served at the ministry, and not by the hands of others did he perform the righteousness.

The poor woman’s faith is small, and love departs, and the distinction and faith are removed. The rich man sends the oblation to the house of God, and he carries it in his hands (what he brings into the house of mercy). Either he does not bring it, or if he brings it, he commands and orders the deacons of his house (to bring his offering while he does not approach). Blessed is the widow of the Messiah, who offers her sacrifice with her own hands, and the poor woman who is oppressed by him and who is rich in him. She does not send the oblation to the Lord like the rich man; she offers it herself and weeps in pain, and he accepts it from her. She is like a priest who brings her gift before God, when she remembers her dead in pain over her offering. This knowledge distinguishes: bring to the Lord the offerings, not the rich man who sends them, like the poor man. He loves the offering of the poor woman when it is offered, for tears and love and faith are mingled in it. The oblation is in her hands, tears in her eyes, and praise on her lips, and it is like an offering of great distinction because of her faith. For an offering is not accepted except with love. Blessed is he who, through his love, offered his only one in place of the many. (End of the passage on the oblation of the departed.)