Service for the deceased in the Eastern Orthodox Church
A
memorial service
(
Greek
: μνημ?συνον,
mnemosynon
, "memorial";
[1]
Slavonic
: панихида,
panikhida
, from Greek παννυχ??,
pannychis
, "
vigil
";
[2]
[3]
Romanian
:
parastas
and
Serbian
парастос,
parastos
, from Greek παρ?στασι?,
parastasis
)
[4]
is a
liturgical
solemn service for the repose of the departed in the
Eastern Orthodox
and
Byzantine
Catholic
churches.
Service
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In the
Eastern Church
, the various
prayers for the departed
have as their purpose praying for the repose of the departed, comforting the living, and reminding the living of their own mortality and the brevity of this earthly life. For this reason,
memorial services
have an air of
penitence
about them.
[5]
They tend to be served more frequently during the four fasting seasons.
[note 1]
If the service is for an individual, it is often held at the deceased's graveside. If it is a general commemoration of all the departed, or if the individual's grave is not close by, the service is held in a church, in front of a special small, free-standing "memorial table", to which is attached an upright
crucifix
and with a
candelabra
for the faithful to put lighted candles.
The deacon (or, if there is no deacon, the priest) swings the
censer
throughout almost the entire service, while all stand holding lighted candles. Near the end of the service, during the final
troparia
, all either extinguish their candles, or place them in a candle holder by the memorial table. Each candle symbolizes the individual soul, which, as it were, each person holds in his own hand. The extinguishing (or giving up) of the candle, at the end of the service, symbolizes the fact that each person will have to surrender his soul, at the end of his life.
The service is composed of
Psalms
,
ektenias
(litanies), hymns and prayers. In its outline it follows the general order of
Matins
[note 2]
and is, in effect, a truncated
funeral
service. Some of the most notable portions of the service are the
Kontakion
of the Departed
[note 3]
and the final singing of "
Memory Eternal
" (Slavonic:
Vyechnaya Pamyat
).
The memorial service is most frequently served at the end of the
Divine Liturgy
; however, it may also be served after
Vespers
,
Matins
, or as a separate service by itself. If the service is held separately, there are readings from the Pauline epistles and the Gospels, which are assigned by the day of the week; no readings, however, are assigned to Sunday because Sunday should emphasize the resurrection of Christ rather than the departed.
Koliva
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For the memorial service,
koliva
(a ritual food of boiled
wheat
) is often prepared and is placed in front of the memorial table or an icon of Christ. Afterwards, it is blessed by the priest, who sprinkles it with
holy water
.
[note 4]
The koliva is then taken to the
refectory
and is served to all those who attended the service.
Occasions
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After an
Orthodox
Christian dies there are special "Prayers for the Departure of the Soul" that are said by the priest. Then the family or friends of the departed will wash and dress the body and it is placed in the
casket
after which a special expanded memorial service called the
First Panikhida
is celebrated, following which the reading of the
Psalter
[note 5]
commences and continues uninterrupted until the funeral.
Traditionally, in addition to the service on the day of death, the memorial service is performed at the request of the relatives of an individual departed person on the following occasions:
- Third day
after death
[note 6]
- Ninth day
- Fortieth day
- Three months
- Six months
- First anniversary
of death
- Third anniversary
(some will request a memorial every year on the anniversary of death)
It is also served on the numerous
Soul Saturdays
throughout the year.
[note 7]
On these days, not only is the memorial service served, but there are also special
propers
at
Vespers
,
Matins
, and the
Divine Liturgy
. These days of general memorials are:
- Meatfare Saturday
(two Saturdays before Great Lent begins)?in some traditions families and friends will offer Panikhidas for their loved ones during the preceding week, culminating in the general commemoration on Saturday
- The second Saturday of Great Lent
- The third Saturday of Great Lent
- The fourth Saturday of Great Lent
- In the Russian tradition,
Radonitsa
—Tuesday following
Thomas Sunday
; i.e., the second Tuesday after
Pascha
(Easter)
[note 8]
- The Saturday before
Pentecost
?in some traditions families and friends will offer Panikhidas for their loved ones during the preceding week, culminating in the general commemoration on Saturday
- In the Russian tradition,
Demetrius Saturday
(the Saturday closest to the feast of
Saint Demetrius
, October 26), commemorating the soldiers who fell in the
Battle of Kulikovo
(1380), under the leadership of St.
Demetrius of the Don
.
[6]
Demetrius Saturday is also observed in other Slavic churches, as well as among the
Slavic speakers
of northern
Greece
.
The celebration of memorial services is forbidden from
Holy Thursday
through
Bright Week
and on all Sundays throughout the year.
Lity
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A very abbreviated form of the memorial service is called the
Lity
(or
Liti
or
Litia
), from the Greek λιτ? τελετ?,
lit? telet?
, i.e. a plain ceremony, or λιτ?ν μνημ?συνον,
liton mn?mosynon
, i.e. a plain mnemosynon; it consists only of the concluding portion of the regular memorial service. This is often celebrated in the
narthex
of the church on ordinary weekdays (i.e., when there is no higher-ranking
feast day
), especially during
Great Lent
.
In film
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]
The Romanian 2016 film
Sieranevada
features a
parastas
in a Bucharest apartment with documentary precision.
[7]
While the priest arrives, the family argues about several issues.
The priest and his aides finally arrive, they sing and bless the home and the food that will be distributed as alms.
A Wallachian ritual involving a suit is also a plot element.
See also
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Notes
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]
- ^
Great Lent
,
Nativity Fast
,
Apostles' Fast
and
Dormition Fast
- ^
From this comes the Greek name
parastas
which refers to standing all night in vigil, which in the early days was what literally took place.
- ^
Kontakion of the Departed: "With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul(s) of Thy servant(s), where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting."
- ^
in the
Bulgarian Church
it is also customary for the priest to pour wine on the koliva and on the grave
- ^
or the Gospels if the departed be a priest
- ^
In calculating the number of days, the actual day of death is counted as the first day. According to St.
Macarius the Great
, the reason for these days is as follows: from the third day to the ninth day after death, the departed is soul is shown the mansions of
Paradise
(the funeral is normally performed on the third day); from the ninth to the fortieth days, the soul is shown the torments of
hell
; and on the fortieth day, the soul stands before the throne of God to undergo the
Particular Judgement
and is assigned the place where it will await the
Second Coming
. For this reason, the fortieth day is considered to be the most important. In some traditions, the semi-anniversary (six months) is also commemorated.
- ^
Saturday is generally a day dedicated to prayer for the departed, because Christ lay dead in the
Tomb
on a Saturday. In some
monasteries
and large churches, it is customary to serve a Panikhida on every Saturday, unless a
major feast
occurs on that day.
- ^
Because of the sacredness of the days, The celebration of memorial services is forbidden during
Holy Week
and
Bright Week
.
References
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- ^
μνημ?συνον
.
Liddell, Henry George
;
Scott, Robert
;
A Greek?English Lexicon
at the
Perseus Project
- ^
παννυχ??
.
Liddell, Henry George
;
Scott, Robert
;
A Greek?English Lexicon
at the
Perseus Project
- ^
Cross, F. L. Cross; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005).
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
. Oxford University Press.
Available (limitedly) online at the Oxford Reference.
- ^
[1]
"Parastas — Orthodox Terminology — Church of the Mother of God Joy of all the Sorrowful - Mays Landing, NJ", Retrieved 2013-06-29
- ^
For instance, the Panikhida does not have the chanting of "God is the Lord..." as the
Moleben
does; but instead uses, as at matins on Saturdays when the dead are remembered, the "
Alleluia
" of the Dead in place of "God is the Lord".
- ^
[2]
"Orthodox Church in America — Lives of the Saints", Retrieved 2013-06-29
- ^
(in Romanian)
Sieranevada. Flec?reala apoteotic? a poporului nostru
,
Andrei Cr?ciun
, 11 September 2016,
Metropolis
.
External links
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