MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE DEPARTED

It is the tradition of the Church to pray the Memorial Service together with the Liturgy on the day of death, the third day, the ninth day, the fortieth day after death and on the annual anniversary of death, as well as periodically throughout the year. The prayers are said on the third day in remembrance of the third-day Resurrection of Our Savior; on the ninth, that the soul of the deceased be conjoined to the nine ranks of Angels; on the fortieth, from the example of the mourning in the Old Testament for the death of the Prophet Moses for forty days by the Israelites, and because of the Ascension of Our Lord on the fortieth day. Those asleep are commemorated on the annual anniversary of repose because this day is their birth-day into Life Everlasting, and on this day we especially feel the loss of a loved one. Kolyva, boiled wheat, with sugar is offered as well and following the service, a portion is brought to the cemetery and sprinkled atop the resting place of the departed loved one as a blessing and symbol of life referenced in Holy Scripture. 

 

PRIEST/CHANTER:

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your Statutes.

The choir of the Saints has found the source of life and the gateway to Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance. I am the sheep that was lost. O Savior, call me back and save me.

 

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your Statutes.

Give rest, O God, to Your departed servant(s) and assign him(her, them) a place in Paradise, where the ranks of the Saints and the righteous, O Lord, will shine forth as lights. To Your servant(s) now asleep, will You grant rest, overlooking all of his(her,their) offenses.

 

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Let us devoutly praise the one Godhead as radiant Trinity, singing: ‘Holy are You, everlasting Father, co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit. Illumine us as we worship You in faith, and deliver us from the eternal fire.’

 

Both now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Hail, majestic Lady, who for universal salvation gave birth to God in the flesh. Through you humankind has found redemption; through you may we find Paradise, pure and blessed Theotokos.

 

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, glory to You O God. (x3)

 

PRIEST: (while censing the wheat).

Kontakion in the 8th Tone

Give rest, O Christ, give rest among the Saints to the soul(s) of Your servant(s), where there is no pain, no sorrow, nor suffering, but life everlasting.

 

Troparia in the Fourth Tone

PRIEST: Among the spirits of the righteous made perfect in faith, give rest, O Savior, to the soul(s) of Your servant(s), keeping it(them) in that blessed life which is with You, lover of mankind.

 

In Your place of rest, O Lord, where all Your Saints repose, give rest also to the soul(s) of Your servant(s), for You alone are the Immortal One.

 

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

You are our God Who descended into Hades, and there loosed the bonds of those who were held captive. Give rest also to the soul(s) of Your servant(s), O Savior.

 

Both now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Virgin, alone pure and undefiled, who gave birth to God in a hidden manner, intercede that the soul(s) of Your servant(s) may be saved.

 

PRIEST: Have mercy on us, O God, in Your great goodness, we pray to You, hear us and have mercy.

PEOPLE: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.

 

PRIEST: Again we pray for the repose of the soul(s) of God’s servant(s), (Name), departed this life, and for the forgiveness of his(her,their) every sin, whether deliberate or unintended.

PEOPLE: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.

 

PRIEST: That the Lord God will establish his(her, their) soul(s) where the righteous dwell. God’s mercies, the Kingdom of the Heavens, and remission of his(her, their) sins let us ask of Christ our immortal King and God.

PEOPLE: Grant this, O Lord.

 

PRIEST: Let us pray to the Lord.

PEOPLE: Lord have mercy.

PRIEST: God of spirits and of all mankind, as You trampled down death, overthrowing the Evil One and granting life to Your world, will You, Lord, grant rest to Your servant(s), (Name), now asleep in death, in a place of light, in a place of renewed life, a joyous place, shunned alike by pain and sorrow and suffering.

Forgive every sin he(she, they) may have committed, in word or deed or thought, as our good and loving God; for no one can live and not sin. You alone are without sin. Your righteousness endures forever, and Your word in truth.

 

PRIEST: Let us pray to the Lord.

PEOPLE: Lord have mercy.

PRIEST: For You are the resurrection, the life and the repose of Your departed servant(s), (Name), O Christ our God, and to You do we ascribe glory, as to Your Father who is from everlasting, and Your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, both now and forever and unto the ages of ages. 

PEOPLE: Amen.

PRIEST/CHANTER: Eternal be his(her, their) memory. Eternal be his(her, their) memory. Eternal be his(her, their) memory. (x3)