What is a memorial service and when is it ordered?
A memorial service is an all-night funeral service for a deceased person, at which forgiveness of sins and blessed eternal life are asked for the deceased.
It is ordered before the body is buried, then on the third, ninth and fortieth day after death, as well as every year on the days of death and birth, also on the name day (name day).
It is believed that this service helps the soul find peace in the new world.
In addition to individual ones, there are also general memorial services - Ecumenical. These are traditional days of remembrance of the dead, the so-called Parental Saturdays.
There is such a type of memorial service as a civil one. It is secular in nature and is ordered for public people.
Please note: a civil service has nothing in common with a church funeral service. During it, a public farewell to the person takes place, and solemn speeches are made. Most often, a special script is written for such a memorial service.
Perhaps it is useful for everyone to know how to be baptized correctly as an Orthodox Christian.
What is a memorial service
A memorial service is a funeral service performed in memory of deceased Christians. Memorial services are held on special days of remembrance: the third, ninth and fortieth days after the death of a person, on an anniversary, birthday, parental Saturdays, Radonitsa and other established days.
On the third day, the church asks to resurrect a person for eternal life. In the ninth, he asks to number the deceased among God’s saints, and in the fortieth, a prayer is made that Jesus will lift him up into the Kingdom of Heaven. On these days, it is imperative to perform funeral services and pray for the deceased.
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In general, you need to remember the deceased in church as often as possible and not only on designated days. The church performs the main prayer for the departed at the liturgy, offering a bloodless sacrifice to the Lord for them. To do this, before the start of the liturgy, you need to submit notes with the names of the deceased. At the proskomedia, part of the prosphora will be taken out for the repose of those whose names are written down, and at the end of the liturgy, particles of the prosphora will be lowered into the holy chalice and washed with the blood of Christ.
This is the greatest good we can do for our departed loved ones. You can also give alms or bring food to church on memorial days of the deceased. If you have nothing to carry, then a simple candle will be enough. The main thing is that you say a prayer and the soul of the deceased rejoices.
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How to order a memorial service in a church
A memorial service can be ordered in any church or monastery. A note is submitted to commemorate the repose of the souls of the deceased.
It is best served in the evening or early in the morning, before the start of the Liturgy. It must indicate in the genitive case the name according to the church version: “Anastasia”, “Dmitry”.
You need to enter names with love, from the bottom of my heart I wish the best for the one you are writing down. One note can contain up to 10 names. If among the deceased there are children under 7 years old, then they are entered as follows: “baby Alexy.”
It is also important to order a special service - Sorokoust, when prayers are read for 40 days in a row. It’s good if loved ones can order this service as early as possible, because it is believed that the soul of a deceased person remains on earth for 40 days, awaiting its fate, and after this period leaves it forever.
The note is written “newly deceased” if it is submitted within 40 days of death.
Funeral service in church
The funeral service is a special prayer that is performed once over a deceased believer on the third day after death, before burial. The funeral service for the deceased is performed by a clergyman in a church or chapel. According to custom, the funeral service for the deceased must be performed on the third day, but there are cases when it is allowed to do this later, even after repose.
On all days, the funeral service is performed according to one rite, except for the days of Bright Easter Week. These days, instead of sad funeral prayers, joyful chants of Holy Easter are sung. On the days of the Resurrection and the Nativity of Christ, the deceased are not brought into the church, and the funeral service is not performed. In this case, it is postponed to the next day.
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In the Orthodox Church, funeral services are not performed for the unbaptized, those of other faiths, those who fight against God, those who renounced Christ, or suicides. Until recently, funeral services for unbaptized infants were also not performed, but recently a special rite for this appeared. Therefore, parents who have experienced a terrible tragedy will be able to calm their hearts and pray for their child.
The funeral service is held in order to conduct the soul of the deceased to the Lord. The deceased needs nothing more from us, no worldly goods, only sincere prayer for him. This is what everyone on earth can do for a person who has gone to another world. During the funeral service, the entire church prays for the person’s soul, giving hope for the remission of all sins.
The funeral service for the deceased is performed once, on the day of the funeral. However, this does not mean that after this there is no need to remember the deceased. Still as necessary, just now not with a funeral service, but with prayer. This is precisely why memorial services, litias and simple prayers serve us.
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How much does a funeral service cost in a church?
It is a little incorrect to talk about the price in a situation with the remembrance of the souls of the departed. But in the modern world, everything has its cost.
The price of any ritual is a rather significant issue. Accordingly, there is no single tariff; prices are different everywhere.
There are parishes where all sacraments are absolutely free. But in general, prices for church services vary from 10 to 500 rubles.
In our age of virtual technologies, it is possible to order requests online. Almost any website of a monastery or church in a large city has a section called “Order Requirements.” There you can select a service, enter names and make a bank transfer.
What do all funeral services have in common?
Funerals in Orthodoxy are different, but they carry a single meaning - to remember the departed, to facilitate the stay of souls in the afterlife. At funeral services, a prayer is offered for the dead, a petition for pardon of their sins, the granting of eternal life in bliss.
Every memorial service is an opportunity to pray and be heard by Heaven. In the Christian world, it is customary to continue to consider the dead as part of the family, to keep deceased relatives in their hearts and memories. Commemoration in the form of a memorial service, prayer service, or liturgy is of great importance for the deceased and the living. Commemorations help the dead to atone for their sins, while the living fulfill the duty of remembrance of their ancestors.
Church funeral services are a way to offer intense prayer. Participation in various services (memorial services, prayer services, liturgies) that carry their own meaning allows you to use different methods to remember relatives and all deceased Christians.
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Memorial service for the dead as a special funeral service
What is a memorial service? When is it served? Such questions naturally arise among people who have lost their loved ones. For prayerful remembrance of the deceased, the Orthodox Church has a special memorial service - a requiem. It is performed on significant days for the deceased Christian. According to the Apostolic Constitutions, such days are considered to be the 3rd, 9th, 40th, and anniversary of death.
“Perform the thirds of those who have fallen asleep in psalms, readings and prayers for the sake of the Risen One on the third day, and the tithes in remembrance of those who have fallen asleep here, and the fortieths according to the ancient model, for this is how the people of Israel mourned Moses, and the anniversary in memory of the deceased. And let them distribute from his property to the poor in remembrance of him” (Book of Apostolic Constitutions, 8:42).
Also special days of remembrance of the dead are Ecumenical Parental Saturdays, Radonitsa.
But a memorial service can be performed not only on the above days. In many churches it is served at the end of the Liturgy (for example, weekly on Sundays). The main content of the funeral service is the prayer of the Lord for the remission of sins of a deceased Christian. From the Orthodox point of view, before the Last Judgment, a change in the fate of the deceased is possible. The Holy Fathers testify that even the souls of sinners can be prayed for and delivered from a painful state. The deceased will no longer bring repentance to the Lord. They can receive remission of sins only through the prayers of the living for them. That is why funeral services are held.
How to order a memorial service
You can order a memorial service for the deceased in any Orthodox church and at any time. To do this, just contact the church shop. In order for the deceased to be remembered in prayer, a note is written with the name of the deceased. In many churches, memorial services are held not only on Sunday after the Liturgy, but also during the week. Such details must be clarified on site, in the temple chosen for the funeral service.
Particularly important is personal presence at the funeral service and direct participation in prayer.
“Some say: why remember the names of the deceased when praying for them? God, as omniscient, himself knows these names, and also knows the needs of everyone. But those who say this forget or do not know the importance of prayer, do not know how important the word spoken from the heart is - they forget that the justice of God and the mercy of God are bowed down by our heartfelt prayer, which the Lord, in His goodness, credits as if to the dead or living themselves as merit as members of the single body of the Church.
Such people do not know that the Church of the Firstborn, written in heaven, out of love constantly prays for us to God - and specifically mentions before God the names of those people who pray to them - equal for equal. We remembered them, they remembered us. And whoever does not remember his neighbors in prayer out of love will not be remembered and will not be worthy of commemoration. “One word of faith and love means a lot in prayer” (Righteous John of Kronstadt, 1829-1908).
Remembrance of the Dead
It is natural for every person to love their loved ones. And even after they have already passed on to another world. For Christians, this love is manifested in prayer for the souls of the dead. According to Orthodox teaching, the final fate after death will be decided at the Last Judgment. It will be eternal joy and bliss in the Kingdom of God, or eternal torment in hell. Until this time, those living on earth with their prayers and alms can ease the lot of deceased people. And a memorial service is an effective way to do this for souls awaiting their fate.
Memorial service - prayer for the departed
“The duty of love to our neighbors obliges us to pray for the departed who have passed into eternity. Their fate is unknown to us, but we must certainly pray for them. Because it is very good for them and it is of great benefit to us. By praying for the deceased, we thereby testify to our love for them, express compassion and mercy. And the Lord said that blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Gospel of Matthew 5:7). Moreover, if our neighbor, for whom we pray, has pleased the Lord, then he himself already has boldness before the Lord and can offer his prayers before Him for us” (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov, 1919-2017).
What does memorial service mean?
In early Christian times, when the Church was persecuted, the burial of dead Christians took place at night. The service performed at this time was literally an all-night vigil. That is, it lasted throughout the whole night. After the separation of the burial rite from the all-night service, both of them retained the same names. The word “requiem service” comes from the ancient Greek “παννυχίς” (“pannikhis”) - “all-night vigil”.
A memorial service is a shortened form of the burial rite (a special service performed once over the body of the deceased).
“We say goodbye to a person once, and the funeral service is performed only once. But the need for prayer for those who are dear to us remains throughout our lives. This is what a memorial service is for. This service has a comforting content for us who live here, and for the dead it has spiritual benefits” (priest Philip Ilyashenko).
Memorial service at the cemetery
During a burial, a memorial service for repose can be performed not only in a church, but also in a cemetery. Usually this is a private funeral service, performed on the memorial days of the deceased. These are the first forty days after death or on the day of funeral, birthday or death.
There is a Russian tradition to perform a general memorial service in the cemetery on Tuesday of the second week after Easter. This is the so-called Radonitsa. According to the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, no memorial services are held in the first week after Easter (Bright Week).
“This is a time of boundless spiritual joy about the Resurrection of Christ, therefore the funeral aspect is excluded from all types of services of this Week” (Archimandrite Dosifei Mikhailyuk).
According to St. Ambrose of Milan (4th century), after celebrating Easter, Christians should share the celebration and joy with the dead and proclaim to them the glory of the Risen Lord. From the “joyful” commemoration the name Radonitsa arose.
On this day, the funeral service is preceded by a religious procession, which, if possible, takes place around the cemetery fence. At the same time, the Easter Canon is sung, and the priest carries a censer, a cross and a three-candlestick in his hands. The memorial service is served according to the general rules in a place prepared for this purpose. To do this, the face is turned towards the east, and if the funeral service is performed at the grave, then towards the cross.
