Praying for those who have committed suicide


– The mentally ill, when they commit suicide, have extenuating circumstances, because their minds are corrupted. Even if they see clouds, they feel a sensation of pressure, of suffocation. And if they also have some anger, then they have a double “cloudiness”. But for those who commit suicide without being mentally ill – as well as for heretics – the Church does not pray, but leaves them to the judgment and mercy of God. The priest does not mention their names at the Proscomidia, nor does he remove their ashes, because by committing suicide, they despise life, which is a gift from God. It is as if you were throwing everything in God’s face.

But we must pray a lot for those who commit suicide, so that the Good Lord will do something for them too, because we do not know what happened to them when they committed suicide, nor what state they were in at the last moment. It is possible that at the moment they gave up their lives, they repented, asked for forgiveness from God, and thus their repentance was accepted, and their souls were taken by the Angel of the Lord.

I heard that a girl from a village went to pasture with her goat. She tied it in the orchard, and it went on and played. While playing, she forgot about the goat, which got loose and went away. She looked for it everywhere, but did not find it, and returned home without the goat. Then her father became very angry, beat her, and drove her out of the house, saying to her, “Go and look for the goat. And if you do not find it, go and hang yourself!” The poor child set out to look for the goat. It was night, and she had not yet returned home. Her parents, seeing that night had fallen, set out anxiously to look for their child. They searched a lot and finally found the child hanging from a tree. She had tied her neck with a goat rope and thus hanged herself. The unfortunate girl had a great soul, and therefore she had taken to heart what her father had told her. Then they buried her outside the cemetery.

Of course, the Church did well to bury her outside the cemetery in order to discourage those who commit suicide over trivial matters, but Christ will also do well to put her in Heaven.

Saint Paisios the Athonite

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