How should we commemorate the departed? What memorial services are observed throughout the year? #

Commemorating the departed is an important aspect of a Christian’s prayer life. Each day during prayer, we recite the Creed, where we profess our hope in the resurrection of the dead and life in the world to come. Our faith in the resurrection of the dead is based on Christ’s actions: He not only died on the Cross for the sins of the world, was buried, and descended into hell, but He also rose from the dead, left the tomb, and led out the souls of the righteous who had awaited Him. The first Christians received this teaching from the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Thessalonians:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:13–14)

Notably, in Church texts, the deceased are often referred to as “asleep” (literally “fallen asleep”), and instead of saying “they die,” the Apostle Paul writes “they sleep.” In the Slavonic text of the Apostle, for example, the phrase reads “и спятъ доволни” (“and many sleep”), while the Russian translation renders this as “и немало умирает” (“and many die”).

According to Orthodox teaching, the Church consists of two parts: the Church Militant (comprising all living Orthodox Christians) and the Church Triumphant (all those who have completed their earthly journey and have been numbered among the saints who pleased God). The living rarely receive definite knowledge about the eternal fate of the departed, unless God reveals it in a vision or revelation, showing whether the departed is in the heavenly abodes or in torment. Orthodox tradition holds that after death, the soul undergoes the so-called aerial tollhouses, where demons accuse and convict it of sins. Until the fortieth day after death, as described by the saints, the soul visits the places where the righteous and the wicked dwell. On the fortieth day, God determines its interim dwelling until the resurrection and final judgment. The souls of the faithful enter a place of light, coolness, and peace—a blessed place of awaiting the Lord. The souls of the unfaithful and wicked enter a place of torment, awaiting the final Judgment.

Orthodox teaching emphasizes that the fervent prayers of the Church, especially of the saints (such as St. Paisios the Great and the Holy Martyr Varus [Uar]), almsgiving, and acts of charity done in memory of the departed can ease their posthumous state. The Church has designated specific days for commemorating the departed, known as parental Saturdays. Christians pray to St. Paisios the Great for those who died without repentance or who had not confessed for an extended period before their death. For those who died outside the unity of the Holy Church (as non-believers or heretics), prayers are offered to the Holy Martyr Varus, who was promised by the Lord that his prayers, even for unbelievers, would be accepted.

According to the liturgical Ustav, there are specific days when commemorative prayers for the departed are not performed. These include Pascha (and Bright Week), the Christmas season, Trinity Week, and on major feasts and Sundays. On such days, Christians rejoice in the Lord, and mourning the dead is deemed inappropriate. However, during these times, commemoration of the faithful departed is permitted during the Proskomedia, the preparatory service before the Divine Liturgy.

— Priest Mikhail Rodin.