www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Indulgences, purgatory, & prayer for the dead?

I received this question today on an email. I thought that it would be better answered by the 'answer grapes' on here since this person asked what the 'differnent rites' think. I will send them the link...

I know the Eastern and Western rites differ on their understandings of purgatory. First, I know that the East doesn't like that term much. And, quite honestly, I don't blame them. I also know that the Eastern rites see the final theosis as less of a place or state of punishment, and more of a place for growth in holiness. I can understand that as well. That said, does the Byzantine church practice indulgences? I know that they do commemorate the dead and pray for their souls. Even as a conservative Lutheran, the pastor at my grandmother's burial prayed "May yu rise at the last judgement with all the saints". Even though I didn't learn to pray for the dead as a Lutheran, I see no difference between Catholic prayers and the Pastor's prayer. However, do you believe in partial versus plenary indulgences? I'm finding this a bit hard to understand. I know that an indulgence doesn't actually remit a certain number of days in purgatory like some think. I was just curious to know how the other rites viewed indulgences....

I think when this person was referring to rites, it meant the different Churches of the East both Catholic and Orthodox.

Pani Rose,

Your friend seems to have hit the nail on the head with regard to the Eastern Churches and their understanding of how and why we pray for the dead. We do not particularly like the Roman teaching on Purgatory and Indulgences, although those of us who are in communion with Rome do not condemn it.

As far as indulgences go, in recent centuries this has been primarily a way for the Pope to encourage certain devotional practices. In other words, he adds an indulgence to a prayer or devotion as a way of putting a kind of papal "seal of approval" on it. Indulgences may be sought for one's own soul, or they may be applied to another, living or deceased.

At one time there was a bit of controversy over whether the spiritual disposition of the one seeking the indulgence was important if he was seeking the indulgence for another, but Johann Tetzel's opinion--that it did not matter--has essentially been discredited. Thus, a plenary indulgence requires a very pure and devout intention, along with the other requirements. This makes it a lot less of a "get out of jail free card" than it was considered in the past.

The number of days applied to an indulgence never meant the number of days spent in Purgatory, even though it was often thought to mean that. It actually referred to the equivalent number of days performing public penance in terms of its benefit to the soul. (In fact, the entire practice of indulgences derived from the practice of public penance.)

Anyway, this is all rather moot, since as Eastern Catholics we mostly just ignore them (even though they have been attached to some Eastern devotions, such as the Akafist to the Mother of God), just as many in the West do nowadays.


Peace,
Deacon Richard

Pani Rose

When I attend Divine Liturgy, more than 90 pct of the time it's Ukrainian Rite, and the church I typically go to, is more indulgence-purgatory (in a very Latin sense) oriented than the vast majority of Roman Rite churches I've attended. I know that at least in the Ukrainian Rite (where I have to admit I feel the most at home) this seems to vary from parish to parish. I could be wrong, but I believe this is also common in the Maronite Rite.

Dear Lawrence,
Sorry, but "Ukrainian Rite" is a meaningless term, since no specific Ukrainian rite exists. I realize that such expressions are often used, but that doesn't make them accurate. The Ukrainians are one of a group of Local Churches having in common the liturgical, spiritual, theological, and disciplinary tradition which developed in Constantinople and places like that. Each Local Church has some particular uses, especially in music, but having some particular uses in the application of the basic Constantinopolitan tradition does not mean tht a new rite has been created - by way of an example, contrast the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, which is basically the same in a Ukrainian, Russian, Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Albanian, Italo-Greek, Arab and so on parish, with the Soorp Patarag of the Armenian Rite.

Fr. Serge

It should be noted that while the East has officially condemned 'the sale' of indulgences, indulgences themselves have not been condemned. They were even given by Eastern Patriarchs. I have heard it stated that this was a latinization, perhaps, but it was not a forced latinization and the official condemnations do not make mention of the Eastern use of them.

I have never heard this term used in an Orthodox Church, in terms of there being a "final" theosis. My understanding of theosis is actually that there couldn't be a final stage per se.

Pani Rose is on target when she says that the idea of Purgatory doesn't ring a good tone with Eastern Christians (my words). in my mind, Purgatory looks like a situation where everyone from Mother Teresa (eternal memory) to Adolph Hitler line up for a spanking of various severity and then go off to Heaven.
but seriously, there are philosophical issues to consider. Roman Catholicism has a Carthaginian legal (one may say legalistic) view where there are certain penances for each sin (number of prayers, etc.), so in Purgatory, a certain number of indulgences (500 days for each Sign of the Cross, 1000 days if you use Holy Water) that we need to obtain to get loved ones out of Purgatory, and to guarantee a short stay there ourselves. true, Rome has come a half millenium far from the days of Tetzel where if you make a coin in the box cling, a soul in Purgatory out he'll spring. we all know where that led: Martin Luther and off to the races.I have serious issues with that whole scheme. Eastern Christians look to the mystical and philosophical view from Alexandria, discounting legalistic formulas, but prayng for dead ones with the hope and faith that God will hear us and act on behalf of those we pray for. to go to Confession, the Eastern priest will pray for us and with us for forgiveness.
but is there any merit for the whole idea of Purgatory? perhaps. I am reminded of what C.S. Lewis said when he compared Purgatory to a man in the dentist chair who after an extraction of a tooth (end of life)is given a glass of water and told to rinse his mouth out (of all that the old life has left behind).
Much Love,
Jonn

I wouldn't take the article writen by Sergei Govorun and translated by the retired Bishop Tikhon (OCA) too seriously.
I have read on another site that the article is not based on solid scholarship and is an attempt of a Russian writer to criticise the Greeks.
If and when I find the site I will provide it.

Oh yeah, good old Bishop Tikhon

pravoslavie.ru is also not what I would call a good source of information.

I too, have preferred not to use the language of induglences, and think in terms of theosis. But it is also true that Eastern Catholics have incorporated indulgences into their piety. See this explanation from Melkite Bishop Elya, from the Melkite.org web site: Bishop Elya on indulgences & praying for the dead. One Eastern Bishop's view:

http://www.melkite.org/bishopQA.htm

Indulgences: Your Grace, The Holy Father Pope John Paul II has said that this Jubilee Year of 2000 is an opportunity for Catholics to gain indulgences such as by going on pilgrimage to a church designated as a pilgrimage site or by making an act of charity towards one's neighbor. The belief in indulgences is a doctrine long held by the Roman Catholic Church.

Are Melkite Catholics and all other Eastern Catholics obligated to believe in the doctrine of indulgences? I know of Eastern Catholics who say "no", stating that it has no basis according to the Eastern understanding of sin, and that it is a "Latin" doctrine. I always understood the doctrine of indulgences to be a "Catholic" doctrine- not a "Latin" one - and therefore all Eastern and Western Catholics are to believe in it.

Are Eastern Catholics to believe in indulgences?

Bishop John's Answer : You ask whether or not Eastern Catholics are to believe in indulgences. Yes, I too have heard some folks remark that the doctrine is incompatible with Eastern theology, however, they are sadly mistaken.

The notion of an indulgence that removes the temporal punishment due to sin is deeply rooted in the theological consciousness of both East and West. While it is an explicit doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and thus a doctrine that we Eastern Catholics accept as we walk with the successor of Peter, you will find ample evidence of our Eastern affirmation of the cleansing of the soul after death as we progress towards the moment when, through God's generosity, we are admitted to eternal intimacy with Him.

When we look, for example, at the prayers that comprise the Sacrament of Holy Anointing that we celebrate as part of our observance of Holy Week, we find there, in several of the prayers, the notion that God's healing comes to us as we submit ourselves to His cleansing grace. Repeatedly, the priest prays for a purification from the effects of sin, the complete remission of the effects of sin, and for a healing that penetrates both body and soul. Many of the sacred traditions of our Eastern Church that deal with our prayers of suffrage for the dead speak of our plea that the Lord will wipe away the effects of sin, cleanse us and the faithful departed from its effects so that they might enter fully into the kingdom.

The Church, as the living, mystical Body of Christ, dispenses the mercy of God in many ways. We find that the doctrine of indulgences is a beautiful expression of the Church's role in bringing salvation and healing to both the living and the dead. Feel secure in the teachings of the Church. I suggest that you read No. 1471 of the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church that Pope John Paul II addressed to all Venerable Cardinals, Patriarchs, Bishops, Priests and to all faithful [of the East and West.] This is a jubilee year of abundant graces and many indulgences. We do well to take advantage of its many blessings.

Bishop John's continues to explain indulgences and praying for the dead.

Several folks have asked questions concerning the doctrine of indulgences given the heightened interest in indulgences granted during this jubilee year. I am often astonished at remarks that the legal nature of indulgences seem to prove that they are applicable only to the Latin Church and are thus foreign to our Eastern theology. Many people do not realize that the legal aspects of church life, including canon law, began in the East. The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine court developed canons that are still the basis for many principles of law used in the church today.

Indulgences deal with the wider notion of praying for the dead. We ask the question: Are our prayers for the dead efficacious? Can we benefit our deceased loved ones by prayer, good works and suffrage prayers such as liturgies? Our Eastern liturgy is replete with prayers for the dead. Our calendar, unlike the calendar of the Latin Church, has several feast days that are set-aside for prayers for the dead. The Saturday before Pentecost and the Saturdays of Great Lent are good examples. Further, we observe the third, ninth, and fortieth day after the death of a loved one as important anniversaries that we observe with a Liturgy offered for the repose of the soul of a loved one. Clearly, both in the East and the West, we believe that our prayers benefit the dead. The writings of St. John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent describes some of the imagery that we find in our Eastern view of the soul's ascent to God. Perhaps you have seen the ancient icon that portrays the soul on its ascent to God. We pray that the journey will be free of pain and diabolical attack.

Indulgences, while subject to abuses in the Middle Ages, and an object of polemics against the Catholic Church in many circles, are, nonetheless, connected to the valued doctrine of God's mercy and generosity in dealing with us when we present ourselves to Him before the "awesome judgment seat of Christ". The idea of temporal punishment due to sin is not entirely foreign to our Eastern theology. In some Eastern cultures, the surviving family members of dead offer candy to passersby at a Memorial Service, especially on the Saturday of the Dead, praying that the person would offer forgiveness to the deceased for any wrongs, imagined or real. In the prayers of absolution said over the deceased, the Church prays for the dissolution of any bonds that would keep the deceased tied, in a temporal way, to the corpse or to an intermediate state of purification. We see dying and death as a process of growing towards union with God in eternity. We assist our loved ones with our prayers, our sacrifices, and even by applying indulgences to them.

Our Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome have experienced theological developments and growth. We, as we walk with the successor of Peter, are not bound to the forms of the ancient East in a slavish manner, but rather interpret our liturgy and forms of prayer through the eyes and insights of a church that is both alive and evolving. It is a grave error to keep ourselves blindly confined to the theological ideas of the first 10 centuries. My family has been Melkite Catholic for many generations. Are we to discard our Catholic beliefs because they find their origins in Catholic thought of the 20th century? We appreciate and value our heritage, but we are open to the development of new theological insights as they develop under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We are a living Church.

No wonder I posted in on here, y'all are giving an excellent lesson. THANKS!

Fr Serge

I meant Ukrainian Greek Catholic, which on occasion does get referred to as Ukrainian Rite Catholic. My only experiences have been in churches in the Eparchy of Chicago, and they do seem to vary a bit regarding Latin devotions.

You are correct. There is no such thing as "final theosis"; instead, theosis is a never-ending process. It is an eternal stretching (epektasis) into God through a real participation in the uncreated divine energies.

God bless,
Todd

As far as Bishop John's statements quoted in Lanceg's post are concerned, I disagree with the good Bishop on this issue, and a few others too. Sadly, he appears to suffer from a certain degree of Latinization, and perhaps the fact that he was appointed a Bishop in the Melkite Church by the Pope rather than by the Melkite Holy Synod accounts for that. So, in spite of what Bishop John has written, I do not believe that Eastern Catholics are bound to accept the Latin theory of indulgences.

God bless,
Todd