This is the opening prayer of all the liturgies in all occasions, including funerals. It is a thankful remembrance for God’s dealing with His people.

We thank our merciful God because He covers us. He covers our weaknesses and neglects. He covers us from the evil of evildoers. He covers our sins and forgives them for us. He covers us in times of distress. He has helped us and He continues to assist us in our weakness and strengthen us with His power.

(...) Beloved by the Lord, he shall dwell in hope,
And God shall overshadow him all his days;
And he rested between his shoulders.

— Deuteronomy 33:12

For He hid me in His tabernacle in the day of my troubles;
He sheltered me in the secret place of His tabernacle;
He set me high upon a rock.

— Psalm 26:5

You shall hide them in the secret of Your presence from the disturbance of men;
You will shelter them in Your tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.

— Psalm 30:21

Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered.

— Psalm 31:1

You are my refuge from the oppression of those who surround me;
O my exceeding joy, redeem me from those who encircle me.

— Psalm 31:7

For behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the protector of my soul.

— Psalm 53:6

Without this divine assistance, we would falter, and our eternity would be lost. We are reassured because the Lord is our helper.

If the Lord had not helped me,
My soul would have almost sojourned in Hades.

— Psalm 93:17

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob;
His hope is in the Lord his God,

— Psalm 145:5

So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”

— Hebrews 13:6

It is out of God’s goodness that He does not reject us despite our sins and transgressions.

You are altogether beautiful,
And there is no blemish in you.

— Song of Songs 4:7

He has helped us in all matters of our spiritual and social lives. There is no one to support us in our difficulties and hardships except Him. He grants us life and a new day.

While enjoying God’s peace, we should not lose sight of His great reverence. The fatherhood of God does not diminish His majesty and awe.

The devil, the enemy of all good, does not rest in the face of the success of God’s children. He begins to plot problems for them with great envy and tests them with cruelty, but our God protects us from his evil and harm. We must resist the devil.

The evil that has overcome people leads them to devise plots and conspiracies against the children of God. Your enemy might also be your own flesh, leading you to sin. So we pray that Christ, our God, will protect us from the evils of both visible and hidden enemies.

nor give place to the devil.

— Ephesians 4:27

Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

— Ephesians 6:11

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

— James 4:7

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

— 1 Peter 5:8

What we do must be good and beneficial. Every plan, every word, and every action must be done with God.

But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

— John 3:21

Serpents and scorpions are Satan and his forces, and Christ has conquered them for our sake. Satan does not cease to tempt the children of God.

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

— Luke 10:19

And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

— Luke 10:18

Evil will not befall the man who fears the Lord,
But in trial He will deliver him again and again.

— Sirach 33:1

My son, if you draw near to serve the Lord,
Prepare your soul for temptation.
Set your heart right and be steadfast,
And do not strive anxiously in distress.

— Sirach 2:1-2

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

— Mark 14:38

God does not abandon us in our trials.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

— 1 Corinthians 10:13

then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

— 2 Peter 2:9

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

— Revelation 3:10

We do not fear trials but rejoice in them.

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

— James 1:2

The Priest bows his head toward the East and signs himself with the sign of the cross, saying:

Then the Priest turns toward the West from his right and makes the sign of the cross over the people, saying:

He then turns back, facing the East making the sign of the cross over the altar, and says,

The Congregation begin to chant the following, focusing on the first syllable until the Absolutions begin to be prayed. During this, the priest prays the inaudible Prayer of the Prothesis to the Son and Prayer of Absolution to the Son.

And once finished, they resume the chant until its end, leading to the Hymn of the Censer.