Remembering the Saints with Thanksgiving

It is interesting that the power of the Eucharist is so acknowledged, even among those who have forgotten its complete meaning, that vestiges of this confidence remain. Even in non-liturgical Pentecostal meetings, for example, the ill are remembered and anointed during their Lord’s Supper, even though the act is not understood in its fullness. But we Orthodox are blessed to hold to the Apostolic traditions, and to take Jesus at his word: “For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. (John 6:55–56). As a result, nothing could be more natural at this time, when we encounter the Lord of life, than to name the saints who now see him better than we do, and to remember also those among us who especially require prayer.