The text was published on the portal Kinonia, in the section “From the Editor’s Pen,” on October 12, 2025.
The nature of sacred rites associated with the departed, the need for fervent prayer for the reposed, and the attitude of the community towards its deceased members arise not only from the Christian understanding of death but also from the Church’s awareness of itself as an eschatological communion: “For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 4:28).
In the Old Testament, there was the custom of breaking bread for the dead and distributing it to the poor at their graves (Deut. 26:14; Heb. 16:7), as well as the practice of fasting upon the death of loved ones (1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 1:12). The Book of Judges indicates that the commemoration of the dead was a distinctive custom (Judg. 11:40)—all of this was done with the purpose of asking the Lord for the forgiveness of sins committed by the deceased during their earthly life. The giving of alms in memory of the dead is also mentioned in the Book of Ruth: “Blessed be he (Boaz) by the Lord, who has not forsaken his kindness to the living and the dead” (Ruth 2:20).
A valuable testimony concerning the development of prayer for the departed is found in the Apostolic Constitutions:
“Gather together quietly at the cemeteries, reading passages from the sacred books and singing for the departed martyrs and for all the saints of old, and for our brethren who have fallen asleep in the Lord, offering the pattern of the royal Body of Christ, the acceptable Eucharist, in your churches and at the tombs, and accompanying the faithful who have fallen asleep with hymns at their burial.”
In the New Testament, the necessity of prayer for the departed is evident in the Apostle Paul’s fervent prayer that Onesiphorus might obtain mercy from God after his death (2 Tim. 1:16–18). If the Apostle prayed that Onesiphorus might receive divine mercy after his repose, at the judgment of God, then all Christians—following the example of the Apostle (Phil. 3:17)—are likewise called to pray for their loved ones, that they too may receive mercy from the Lord after their departure.
In the Anaphora of Saint James the Apostle, the Brother of the Lord and first Bishop of Jerusalem, prayer for the departed is included in three places:
(a) during the Proskomide,
(b) after the reading of the Gospel in the general litany for the dead, and
(c) after the consecration of the Gifts.
The prayer for the departed in the Liturgy of Saint James reads as follows:
“O Lord God of the spirits and of all flesh, remember those whose names we have mentioned, the Orthodox, from the righteous Abel until today. Grant them rest in the dwellings of the living, in Your Kingdom, in the delights of Paradise, in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our holy fathers, where there is no sickness, sorrow, or sighing, but the light of Your countenance shines and ever enlightens.”
This prayer, with only minor verbal differences but without change in essence, was transmitted into the Liturgies of Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom.
During the Proskomide, particles for the departed are taken from a special prosphoron. After the Communion of the clergy and the faithful, these particles are placed into the chalice with the prayer: “Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those here commemorated,” just as in the Old Testament the sacrificial blood cleansed the sins of those sprinkled with it (Heb. 9:12–14; 1 John 1:7). The removal of particles from the prosphoron in memory of the departed is prefigured in the Old Testament by the twelve loaves placed on the table in the Temple as an offering of atonement for the sins of the twelve tribes of Israel. Through the sanctification of these loaves, those for whom they were offered were sanctified. Testimonies to prayer for the dead are also found in the canons of the Council of Laodicea (Canon 28) and the Council of Carthage (Canon 42).
According to ancient custom, prayers and works of mercy for the departed are primarily performed on the third, ninth, and fortieth day after death. The prayer on the third day expresses hope that the departed preserved steadfast faith in the Holy Trinity, in whose name he was baptized. The ninth day prayer signifies belief in the nine orders of angels, through whose intercession the departed is now entreated to attain heavenly life with the holy angels. The fortieth day prayer is offered as a sign that, just as the Prophet Elijah ascended Mount Horeb after forty days of fasting and journeying (1 Kings 19:1–18), and just as Christ, after forty days of fasting and prayer, conquered the devil, so too may the departed—through forty days of prayer offered by the Holy Church on his behalf—overcome the evil one and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The oil poured over the body of the departed at burial symbolizes the hope of Orthodox Christians that the deceased, through the prayers of the Church, will receive mercy from the Lord—just as the traveller in the Gospel, wounded by robbers, received mercy from the Samaritan who poured oil upon his wounds. The koliva (boiled wheat) mixed with honey expresses the Church’s hope that all who have died in faith in Christ will rise from the dead. Just as a grain of wheat, though it decays, brings forth fruit (John 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:36–38), so too shall those who believe in Christ rise in the body after death. The honey, sweetening the wheat, symbolically expresses the Church’s hope that those who have died in faith in Christ will be deemed worthy of eternal spiritual joy. The body of the departed is laid facing east, as a sign that he awaits, in faith, the Sun of Righteousness and the Light of Christ.
Prayer for the departed is the only true expression of the sincere love of the living for their deceased. The Word of God commands: “Pray for one another” (James 5:16); pray for your brother “who sins” (1 John 5:16); pray “for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18)—that is, for all Christians—and “for all people” (1 Tim. 2:1). This means that we are called to pray for the departed members of the Church, for with God “all live” (Luke 20:38), since “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8).
Why is it important that we pray for one another? Because we are all children of one Father, members of one Body of Christ. And the Lord says: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35); and love, according to the Apostle, “never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8). “By this we know love,” the Apostle John also testifies, “because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for our brethren” (1 John 3:16).
Saint Ephrem the Syrian turns to God with a prayer that bears witness to the importance of prayer for the departed:
“According to Your goodness, O Lord, give rest to the faithful who have departed from us, who have fallen asleep in hope of You. And when You come, grant them to stand at Your right hand, and with Your saints lead them into Your bridal chamber.”
As members of the Church, we are called to pray regularly and zealously for the departed. This prayer is beneficial—it also grants comfort to us. Prayer consoles us in the grief caused by the loss of loved ones; yet even when time heals wounds, covering them with the ‘grass of forgetfulness,’ our love for them remains active through prayer. He who does not pray for the dead does not love them, nor does he fulfill the commandment of love given by Christ, for it is written: “He who does not love his brother abides in death” (1 John 3:14).
By Catechist Branislav Ilić, Editor of the portal “Kinonia”
