““Whatever good we do for the departed faithful both benefits them by conferring eternal rest and salvation, and benefits us, who do such works, by meriting God's grace and fellowship with those who are faithful to him. Therefore, we should not neglect the care for the dead, especially our loved ones and our brothers [in monastic life]. On the contrary, the more uncertain we are concerning their fates, the more attentively should we come to their aid, so far as our means allow, and commend them to our most kind Redeemer by our daily prayers, and mourn less for the death of their bodies than for their having sinned against God, the just Judge.””
![“If they [the dead] should speak, it would be found that in matters of opinion no departed person was exactly what he had passed for in life. They would realise, deep down, that they, and whole nations along with them, are not really what they seem to be-and never can be.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/78e/mark-twain-22_deep-down_if-they-the-dead-should-speak-it-would-b_285979.jpg)
