Funeral Service During
Renewal Week
If any of
the brethren dies during the
holy week (if' Renewal, we do not sing the customary Funeral Service but
that of the Resurrection. This same service is also sung on the Apodosis of
Easter. 11eanwhile, during the period between the end of Renewal Week and the
Apodosis, the regular service is sung except that instead of Holy God we sing
Christ is risen. On the way to the church we also sing Christ is
risen. Instead of' Brethren, conic and let us a farewell kiss, we
sing Resurrection Day isdawning.
Priest
Blessed is our
God always, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life. (3).
Jesus, having
risen from the grave, as He foretold, has given us Eternal Life and great
Mercy.
Priest
Have mercy on
us, O God, according to Your great
Mercy; we pray
You, listen and have mercy.
Again we pray
for the repose of the soul of the servant of God (Name), departed this
life, and for the forgiveness of his (her) every transgression, voluntary and
involuntary.
Let the Lord
God establish his (her) soul where the Just repose; the mercies of God, the
Kingdom of the Heavens, and the remission of his (her) sins, let us ask of Christ,
our immortal King and our God.
Let us pray to
the Lord. Lord have mercy.
Priest
O God of all
spirits . . . (see page 100).
For You are the
Resurrection ...
Apolysis
Glory to You, O
God our hope, glory to You.
May Christ our
true God, Who rose from the dead, have mercy on us; He Who as Immortal King has
authority over both the dead and the living. Through the intercessions of His
spotless, pure and holy Mother; of the holy, glorious, and all‑praiseworthy
Apostles; of our venerable and Godbearing Fathers; of the holy and glorious
forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of His holy and just friend Lazaros, who
lay in the grave four days; and of all the Saints; establish the soul of His
servant (Name), departed from us, in the tentings of the Just; give him (her)
rest in the bosom of Abraham; and number him (her) among the Just, through His
goodness and compassion as our merciful God.
Everlasting be
your memory, O our brother (sister), who are worthy of blessedness and eternal
memory. (3)
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
In the
church
Priest
Blessed is our
God always, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
And then is
sung,
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
Choir
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life. (2).
Priest
Have mercy on
us, O God ... Again we pray for the repose . . . That the Lord God
establish ... (seepage 99).
Let us pray to
the Lord. Lord have mercy.
Priest: For You
are the Resurrection ... (see pp. 104).
Then the
katavasia of Easter are sung as follows:
Ode 1, Tone
I
Resurrection
Day is dawning! Let us shine forth with its light! Pascha, the Lord's own
Pascha! For out of death into life, and from earth into His Heaven has Christ
our God taken us, in safety singing our triumphal song.
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
Jesus, having
risen from the grave, as He foretold, has given us Eternal Life and great
Mercy.
Priest
Let us pray to
the Lord. Lord have mercy.
For You are the
Resurrection and the Life and the repose of Your servant, O Christ our God; and
to You do we send up glory, with Your Eternal Father, and Your All-Holy, Good,
and Life‑creating Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages.
Amen.
Ode 3
Come, of this
new drink let us drink deeply. Not such it water a, Prophet once drew from
sterile rock, but life immortal which is Christ abundantly pours forth from His
grave; in Him we have our strength.
Christ is risen
(3) Jesus, having risen Priest
Let us pray to
the Lord. Lord have mercy.
For You are the
Resurrection ...
Ode 4
With us now
share our holy watch; let Prophet Habakkuk now stand and for us reveal the
first gleaming of the dawn the angel brings with words that pierce our hearts
with joy: "This is the day that brings men salvation, for Christ is risen
from death as our Almighty Lord."
Christ is risen
(3) ... Jesus, having risen ...
Ode 5
Come, and let
us rise ere comes the dawning, and bring not myrrh but our praises as offering
to the Master; then our eyes shall look on Christ, our radiant Sun of Righteousness,
rising to lighten the world with light.
Christ is risen
(3) Jesus, having risen ...
Ode 6
You went down
into the deeps of the abyss to destroy the cruel bars that for ages held men in
weary bondage, O Christ, and as Jonah rose from the sea beast in three days,
You are risen from Your grave.
Christ is risen
(3) . . . Jesus, having risen ...
Ode 7
The Children
from the furnace were saved alive by Him that was born of man, Who as Man knew
pain, and by His suffering clothed our flesh with beauty of His immortality;
the Lord that alone was blessed by our Fathers, our God exceedingly glorious.
Christ is risen
(3) ... Jesus, having risen ...
Ode 8
Now has dawned
that day most renowned and most holy, the first of the Sabbaths, hailed as
queen and sovereign. Fairest Feast of all feasts and most joyous celebration of
all celebrations, when we tell how blessed is Christ unto all ages.
Christ is risen
(3) . . . Jesus, having risen . . .
Ode 9
The angel, when
he saw Mary Full‑of‑Grace, cried saying:
O holy Maid, I
hail you! Yea, once again I hail you, for in the days returning your Son from
death has risen; O shine with clear radiance, you new Jerusalem, for now on you
is dawning glory from the risen Lord; dance now for joy, and be glad, O Zion;
grieve now no more, Maiden Theotokos, but look with joy on your risen
Son."
Christ is risen
(3) ... Jesus, having risen . . .
The
Exaposteilarion
Tone 2
On You as Man
the sleep of death descended, our King and Lord, but in three days are You risen,
and raise Adam from decay and have destroyed the might of Death, Pascha of
incorruption, salvation of all the world.
Then the
Epistle and the Gospel of the day.
Choir: Glory to
You, O Lord; glory to You.
Priest
Have mercy on
us . . Again we pray ... (seep. 99)
Let us pray to
the Lord. Lord have mercy.
O God of all
spirits and of every flesh, Who did trod down death and overcome the devil,
bestowing life on this Your world, to the soul of this Your servant (Name), departed
this life, do You Yourself, O Lord, give rest in a place of fight, in a place
of green pasture, in a place of refreshment, from where pain and sorrow and
mourning have fled away. Every sin by him (her) committed in thought, word, or
deed, do You as our Good and Loving God forgive; seeing that there is no man
who shall live and sin not, for You alone are without sin. Your righteousness
is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is truth; for You are the
Resurrection, the Life, and the Repose of Your servant (Name), departed
this life, O Christ our God; and to You do we send up glory, with Your Eternal
Father and Your All‑Holy, Good and Life‑creating Spirit; both now
and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
If a bishop
is present he reads one of the prayers of absolution:
Priest: Let us pray to the Lord, Lord have mercy.
O Lord our God,
Who by Your unutterable wisdom have fashioned man out of the dust and
transformed him into comeliness and beauty; and have adorned him, as a precious
and heavenly creature, for doxology and magnificence of Your glory and Kingdom,
in that You brought him into existence as a being fashioned according to Your
image and likeness; and Who, when he had transgressed the commandment of Your
ordinance, and kept it not, although he participated in Your image, gave
command for this reason, as God of our fathers, to prevent evil from becoming
immortal, decreeing that his composite and mixture, this bond which You made
for joining body and soul unbreakably, should be sundered by Your divine Will,
and be dissolved; so that the soul would withdraw where it had required
existence, and there abide until the general Resurrection; whereas the body
would break up into the elements out of which it had first been
compounded; for this reason we pray You, the beginningless Father, and Your
Only‑Begotten Son, and Your All‑Holy, Consubstantial and Life‑creating
Spirit, that endured not to see the work of Your fashioning swallowed up by
destruction, but rather let the body indeed be dissolved into the elements, and
let the soul be appointed a place in the Choir of the Just: Yea, O Lord our
God, let Your Immeasurable mercy prevail, and Your manbefriending love which is
beyond compare; and if this servant has incurred the curse of father or mother,
or a ban invoked upon himself (herself); or if he (she) has provoked any priest
to bitter severity, and from him has incurred a ban unbreakable; or if he (she)
has incurred a Bishop's very grievous interdict, but through thoughtlessness
and needlessness has failed to obtain forgiveness; do You forgive him (her)
through me, Your sinful and unworthy servant; and let his (her) body indeed
dissolve into its elements, but his (her) soul do You appoint to dwell in the
tentings of the Saints. Yea, O Lord our God, Who to Your holy Disciples and Apostles
gave this authority for granting remission of sins, and did say that whatsoever
things they would bind and loose, those things would be bound and would be
loosed; and Who through them in Your manbefriending love has caused to be
transmitted to us also, unworthy though we be, the same gift in equal measure;
loose this Your servant (Name), now fallen asleep from sin of soul and
body, and make him (her) to be now forgiven in this present world and in the
world to come; through the intercessions of Your all‑pure and Ever Virgin
Mother, and of all the Saints. Amen.
Second
Prayer of Absolution
Let us pray to
the Lord. Lord have mercy.
Greatly
merciful Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ our God, Who after Your holy, third‑day
resurrection from the dead gave to Your holy Disciples and Apostles the Keys of
the Kingdom of Heaven, and also the authority of Your Grace both to bind and to
loose the sins of men, so that bound in Heaven would be whatsoever things
through them might be bound on earth, and likewise loosed in Heaven whatsoever
things‑ through them might be loosed; and gave also that as their
successors, we, Your deficient and unworthy servants, should have, by Your
unutterable and manbefriending love, this same exceedingly holy Gift and Grace
from You, so that we in like manner should both bind and loose the things that
happen to be done among Your people; Yourself, All‑Good King, through me,
Your humble and unprofitable servant, forgive this Your servant whatsoever
mistakes as a human being he (she) has made in this present life: remit for him
(her) whatsoever sins he (she) has committed in word, deed, and thought: and
loose him (her) also from any ban which in any wise whatsoever has come upon
him (her), whether he (she) himself (herself) out of recklessness or by some
other fault has bound it upon himself (herself); or, by a Bishop or another,
when, because of the envy and cooperation of the Evil One, he (she) stumbled
into so grievous a state: be well pleased, as alone Good and greatly merciful,
that his (her) soul be appointed a place with the Saints which from everlasting
have been well pleasing to You, but that his (her) body be given to the nature
which You have fashioned; for blessed and glorified are You to the ages. Amen.
Priest
Apolysis
Glory to You, O
our God and our hope, glory to You. Christ our true God, Who rose from the
dead, through the intercessions of His spotless, pure, all‑holy Mother;
of the holy, glorious and all‑praiseworthy Apostles; of the venerable and
theophoric Fathers, and of all the Saints, establish the soul of His servant (Name),
departed from among us in the tentings of the Just; give him (her) rest in
the bosom of Abraham; and number him (her) among the Just; and have mercy on us
as our good and loving Lord.
Everlasting be
your memory
Instead of the Brethren, come and let us a farewell
kiss, we sing the following:
Glory ... both
now ...
Resurrection
Day is dawning! Let us shine with its light! Pascha, the Lord's own Pascha! For
out of death into life, and from earth into His Heaven has Christ our God taken
us, in safety singing our triumphal song.
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
Priest
Christ is risen
from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
Exiting from
the church we say:
Resurrection
Day is dawning ...
At the grave
The priest
reads the Trisagion.
Then he says: You shall sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. You shall wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
The earth is
the Lords, and the fullness thereof; the world, and all that dwell
therein. You are dust, and the dust you will return.
Apolysis.
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