Archbishop Theophan (Bystrov) of Poltava and Pereyaslavl was a confessor of the Russian Royal Family, a prominent theologian and insightful missionary. He was also a man of prayer and ascetic life and a direct acquaintance of Saint John of Kronstadt.
As we pray for our dead, we remember that all the living will enter eternal life in their time. We also realise how vain and fragile our earthly lives are, how finite are our worldly comforts and wealth, how small are many of our daily concerns.
