Prayer for deceased parents - how and why to pray

Prayer for a deceased loved one is an important action that the living must perform. One day our parents will no longer be alive, no matter how sad it may sound. This event will be the saddest event in my entire life, the most bitter loss and acute sadness in my hearts. Parents are the most sacred thing in the world. In order for loved ones to feel good in Heaven, and for us to feel calmer on earth, we need a prayer for deceased parents, which everyone should know.

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Special days for reading prayers for the repose of the soul of a deceased parent

Exactly 8 times a year the day comes when everyone should forget about their problems, worldly worries and devote all their time to prayer to their parents. What are these days on which it is important to pray?

• parents' Saturday;
• all Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weeks of Great Lent;
• Radonitsa;
• Trinity Saturday;
• Dmitrievskaya Saturday;
• Day of the Dead Warriors, i.e. 9th May.

It is on these days that it is very good if every child visits the temple and begins to read a prayer for their deceased parents. You can bring food with you, which must be laid out on the funeral table. Usually these are candies, cookies or fruits.

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There is no need to think that children’s prayer for deceased parents is a tribute, a day when everyone remembers their loved ones. First of all, it is communication with the dead. They hear everything and will protect every loved one living on earth in every way. You can not only come to church, but also visit the cemetery to read the Psalter so that life in Heaven becomes the happiest, most joyful and eternal for your beloved parents.

The first forty days after death: what does the soul do during this time?

Prayer for a deceased mother is especially important forty days after her death. It is not for nothing that this period is defined as a certain milestone, after which it is practically impossible to change anything.

• In Orthodoxy, it is generally accepted that after the soul leaves the body, it remains on earth for another two days. She is met by two angels: a guardian and a guide. They will accompany the soul in the first days after death. The soul can spend them next to its loved ones, visit the most memorable places or those that it never had time to visit during its lifetime. This time can be called farewell to your earthly existence.
• The third day is considered one of the most difficult. Angels must lead the soul to the Creator, but along the way demons begin to tempt it. They strive in every possible way to take her to hell, recalling all the sins committed during her earthly journey. It is very difficult to overcome temptation, but a prayer for a deceased mother can become a beacon that will guide and help the soul.
• Over the next six days, the deceased remains in paradise, he gets acquainted with everything that is there, resting before the judgment that every soul fears.
• The ninth day is dedicated to communication with God, after which the disembodied spirit goes to hell. There he remains until the fortieth day, after which the trial itself takes place. On this day the soul receives its verdict until the Last Judgment.

From all of the above, it becomes clear why in the first days after death, children should actively pray for the departed parent in order to help him overcome all trials.

Text of prayer for deceased parents

“Lord Jesus Christ our God! You are the keeper of the orphans, the refuge of the grieving and the comforter of the weeping. I come running to You, orphaned, groaning, and... crying, and I pray to You: hear my prayer and do not turn Your face away from the sighs of my heart and from the tears of my eyes.

I pray to You, merciful Lord, satisfy my grief over separation from the one who gave birth and raised me, my parent (name); accept his soul, as if it had gone to You with true faith in You and firm hope in Your love for mankind and mercy, into Your Heavenly Kingdom.

I bow before Your holy will, which was taken away from me, and I ask You not to take away Your mercy and mercy from him. We know, Lord, that You, the Judge of this world, punish the sins and wickedness of the fathers in children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, even to the third and fourth generation: but you also have mercy on the fathers for the prayers and virtues of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

With contrition and tenderness of heart, I pray to You, merciful Judge, do not punish with eternal punishment your deceased servant, unforgettable for me, my parent (name), but forgive him all his sins, voluntary and involuntary, in word and deed, knowledge and ignorance, committed by him in life him here on earth, and according to Your mercy and love for mankind, prayers for the sake of the Most Pure Mother of God and all the saints, have mercy on him and deliver him from eternal torment.

You, merciful Father of fathers and children! grant me, all the days of my life, until my last breath, not to cease to remember my deceased parent in my prayers, and to beg You, the righteous Judge, to order him in a place of light, in a cool place and in a place of peace, with all the saints , from here all illness, sorrow and sighing have escaped. Merciful Lord!

accept this day for Thy servant (name), my warm prayer and give him Thy reward for the labors and cares of my upbringing in faith and Christian piety, as He who taught me first of all to lead You, My Lord, in reverence to pray to You, in You alone to trust in troubles, sorrows and illnesses and keep Your commandments;

for his concern for my spiritual success, for the warmth of the prayer he brought for me before You and for all the gifts he asked me from You, reward him with Your mercy, Your heavenly blessings and joys in Your eternal kingdom.

For You are the God of mercies and generosity and love for mankind, You are the peace and joy of Your faithful servants, and we send glory to You with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen".

Prayer for suicides

There is an opinion that it is impossible to pray for those who commit suicide, but this is not so. The church has its own opinion about the ordeal of the souls of such people; some clergy may refuse to perform the funeral service for such dead people, but no one can forbid the Orthodox to have conversations with God about their dead brothers in the church. Someone will say that a place in heaven is not prepared for those who have shortened their own life, and there is no chance of salvation for the soul of a suicide, but we must not forget that the Lord is merciful and all-forgiving, which means that it is not only possible to pray for such a person, but also necessary. This applies, first of all, to those cases where the deceased committed suicide due to a mental disorder, which is confirmed by a medical report. Each individual case of death, as a result of which a person can be called a suicide, must be considered individually, without rushing to draw conclusions as to whether the deceased really voluntarily said goodbye to earthly life.

If a Christian’s faith is strong, if his words in addressing the Savior come from the very heart, and his mind is freed from unnecessary thoughts so that it is easier to ponder every line of the prayer book, this conversation with the Almighty can turn out to be life-saving for a suicidal person.

They resort to a prayer consisting of only four lines, written by the Monk Leo of Optina, both in the first days after the death of a person, and in the future, in subsequent years.

After the prayer service, it is recommended to read the prayer of the Optina elders:

Prayer for those who committed suicide to Saint War

About remembering the dead at home

Within the walls of your home there should always be a memory of your parents; do not be afraid to remember them in your room, standing in front of the icons. Home prayer is a real salvation for loved ones of the deceased. You can ask Father in more detail about how exactly the text should be read, because it must be included in the morning address to a relative or in the evening. Those who have passed on to another world feel much freer as soon as we begin to read the sacred text for them. All prayers are as short as possible, so you can easily learn them by heart yourself.

Prayer for deceased parents up to 40 days

It is very important to remember a deceased soul as quickly as possible, especially if a relative has died recently. For this, many people order magpie in church. This is a special liturgical rite that lasts from the day of death of a loved one to 40 days. Sorokoust can be ordered again as soon as the first reporting days are over. Such periods of remembrance can only be ordered in the church for a year or six months. Also, sacrifice takes place here - these are the most ordinary candles that we are used to lighting and placing on lamps with prayer. True, everything is not arranged like that here: for the departed there is not a bright lamp, but sand, into which everyone puts a lit light from a pure heart.

Transition to eternity

According to Orthodox teaching, the death of a person does not mean his complete and final disappearance. The soul created by God lives forever. Therefore, for Christians, the true goal of earthly life is to gain immortality, to meet the Creator. Death is perceived as a birthday to a new life. But the fate of the soul in eternity directly depends on what earthly life was like. What awaits her - heavenly bliss or eternal torment? Therefore, people are concerned about a variety of issues related to the afterlife of the soul. In particular, what happens to the soul six months after death - how to remember and help it.

Six months from the date of death - how to remember?

The Holy Fathers of the Church called to always have “mortal memory.” It was necessary to constantly remember the temporality and finitude of earthly life. And be ready to move to another world. From the lives of the saints it is known that the expectation of death was long-awaited and joyful for many of them. The Monk Paisiy Svyatogorets (1924-1994), upon learning of his diagnosis (cancer), was ready to dance for joy.

“It is unfair, I think, to call the end of real life death, but rather deliverance from death, removal from the realm of corruption, liberation from slavery, cessation of anxiety, suppression of warfare, exit from darkness, rest from work, shelter from shame, escape from passions, and in general , the limit of all evils" (Reverend Maximus the Confessor, 580-662).

Anniversary prayer for a deceased parent

For the Lord God, the world is not divided into the living and the dead. There are only those who live on earth and those who are in Heaven. If a lot of time has passed since the death of a loved one, and the anniversary of death is coming very soon, then you can give to the deceased in the following way:

• invite everyone who was closely acquainted with the deceased;
• organize a wake at home or in a cafe;
• be sure to go to the cemetery early on the day of the funeral and read a prayer there, placing beautiful fresh flowers on the grave;
• gather everyone for a funeral dinner;
• go to church, light a candle for the repose, and on the way out help all the poor with money (if you have extra).

• Prayer for deceased relatives
• Prayer for the unbaptized deceased - here
• Prayer before reading the Akathist -

It is impossible to do without prayer, which frees the soul from torment and gives strength to every deceased person. You can’t even imagine how good it is in Heaven, especially if prayers are read for the deceased. After all, this is real peace for the soul. And here is the prayer itself, which is important to read on the anniversary of the death of a loved one:

“God, merciful Lord, remembering the anniversary of the death of Thy servant N (Thy servant N), we ask You to honor him (her) with a place in Thy Kingdom, grant blessed peace and bring him into the radiance of Thy glory.

Lord, look mercifully on our prayers for the soul of Thy servant N (Thy servant N), whose anniversary of death we remember; We ask You to number him (her) among the host of Your saints, grant forgiveness of sins and eternal peace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

A few rules for what to order for a death anniversary

1. If the date of death falls in the first week after the celebration of Great Easter, then a special Easter canon is sung at this time, and for the second week it is necessary to order mass, proskomedia and requiem.
2. Be sure to take the prosphora and eat it after the church service at home on an empty stomach. This is a kind of memory of the deceased.
3. Always pray and read a prayer - this is the most valuable thing for those who are in Heaven.

How to pray for a deceased mother?

Grief always comes unexpectedly, which is why it is so difficult to think sensibly at these moments. A prayer for a deceased mother does not require special preparations, however, when reading it, certain rules must be followed:

• You should not pray in a state of deep despondency, try to renounce your grief a little and turn to the Creator without grief and with a pure heart. If turning to God is accompanied by tears, then such prayer will become a heavy burden for the soul in the afterlife. It will not bring joy and will not support you in the upcoming trials.
• Of course, it is worth ordering special prayers in the temple, but they should only complement the words that the child will say for his departed mother in the silence of the house. Only such prayers have real power and value in the eyes of God. They must be read at any icon and with a lit church candle. However, if there are no icons and candles in the house, then you can pray without them. The main thing is that the words are spoken with love.
• Of course, prayer alone will not help your deceased mother find peace. Therefore, it is necessary to ask God for her on the days of remembrance and at any other time, because prayer for the deceased mother after forty days is no less important than before the expiration of this period. It is believed that daily appeal to the Creator will help the soul to cleanse itself of sins and find peace in heaven.