Memorial & Funeral Services
The Complete Text of the Orthodox Funeral Service,
from the Service Book trans. by Isabel Hapgood.
The Office at the Parting of the Soul
from the Body, from the Service Book, transl. Isabel Hapgood.
Reflections on the Funeral, by Panagiotis
Somalis of the Orthodox Church in Kenya. Includes a discussion of
the practice of having open coffins in funerals.
Death,
The Threshold to Eternal Life: An account of the approach to death, it's Christian meaning of Hope
and Eternity, as well as excerpts and meaning of the Burial Service
in the Eastern Orthodox church.
The Requiem Office for the Dead (Panikhidi),
from the Service Book trans. by Isabel Hapgood.
Death,
Funeral, RequiemOrthodox Christian Traditions, Customs and Practice,
by Rev. Victor Sokolov
A Question About Open Coffins, a Q & A from
The Shepherd.
Prayers for the Reposed Non-Orthodox,
a Q & A from Orthodox Tradition.
Praying for the Non-Orthodox. From Orthodox Life.
Commemoration at Proskomedia,
An Instruction: by Bishop Kyrill of Seattle.
A
Recipe for Koliva. This is a food mentioned in various articles
on this page. It is used for Commemoration services for the dead.
Phyllis
Onest explains that the origin of this tradition: "On the
first Saturday of the Great Fast we remember the miracle of St. Theodore
of Tyre in 362 AD with koliva. The Emperor, Julian the Apostate, had
the food in the market sprinkled with the blood of animals sacrificed
to pagan gods in order to defile the first week of the Great Fast.
Patriarch Aphdoxios of Constantinople appeared to the saint in a dream
warning him of the emperor's scheme. St. Theodore told the people
to cook the wheat they had at home rather than grinding all of it
into flour. Thus, they did not buy anything in the market and avoided
the tainted food."
O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest
in his possessions, unto the man that hath nothing to vex him, and
that hath prosperity in all things: yea, unto him that is yet able
to receive meat! O death, acceptable is thy sentence unto the needy,
and unto him whose strength faileth, that is now in the last age,
and is vexed with all things, and to him that despaireth, and hath
lost patience! Fear not the sentence of death, remember them that
have been before thee, and that come after; for this is the sentence
of the Lord over all flesh. And why art thou against the pleasure
of the most High?
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment...
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 41:1-4; Hebrews 9:27; Romans 14:12
O relatives and close ones of the dead! Do for them what is needful
for them and within your power. Use your money not for outward adornment
of the coffin and grave, but in order to help those in need, in memory
of your close ones who have died, for churches, where prayers for
them are offered. Show mercy to the dead, take care of their souls.
Before us all stands the same path, and how we shall then wish that
we would be remembered in prayer! Let us therefore be ourselves merciful
to the dead.
Homily
on Life After Death, by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco
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