By Fr. Stephanos Anagnostopoulos
Years ago, a young priest told me this amazing story:
“My mother did not want her son to become a priest; and three years after I was ordained, she died. I did not pay particular attention at her death as a priest; I only did what was necessary and nothing else.
One evening, at dusk, I was walking by the cemetery and I thought: ‘Why don’t I stop and light her oil lamp?’ I lit her oil lamp and sat down on a rock. I didn’t have my stole with me, so I didn’t read a trisagion for her.
After a little while, I felt faint, and I looked up. It seemed like the graves were open, and the bodies of the dead were getting up and screaming: ‘HELP! HELP! Priests of the most high God, help us! Orthodox Christians, help us! Do liturgies, prayers, memorial services, trisagia… HELP us, Christian people!’
