Vespers · Raising of Incense
The Litany of the Departed
Priest
Again, let us ask God the Pantocrator, the Father of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
We ask and entreat Your goodness, O Lover of Mankind, remember, O Lord, the souls of Your servants who have fallen asleep, our fathers and our brethren.
Deacon
Pray for our fathers and our brethren who have fallen asleep and reposed in the faith of Christ since the beginning: our holy fathers the archbishops, our fathers the bishops, our fathers the hegumens, our fathers the priests, our brethren the deacons, our fathers the monks, and our fathers the laymen, and for the full repose of Christians that Christ our God may repose all their souls in the paradise of joy, and we too, accord mercy unto us and forgive us our sins.
Priest
Graciously, O Lord, repose all their souls in the bosom of our holy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sustain them in a green pasture, beside still waters in the Paradise of joy, the place out of which grief, sorrow, and groaning have fled away in the light of Your saints.
Raise up their bodies also on the day which You have appointed, according to Your true promises which are without lie.
Grant them the good things of Your promises-that which an eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither have come upon the heart of man — the things which You, O God, have prepared for those who love Your holy name.
For there is no death for Your servants, but a departure.
Even if any negligence or heedlessness has overtaken them as men, since they were clothed in flesh and dwelt in this world, O God, as the Good One and Lover of Mankind, graciously accord, O Lord, to repose and forgive them, Your servants, the orthodox Christians who are in the whole world from the east to the west and from the north to the south, each one according to his name and each one according to her name.
For no one is pure and without blemish, even though his life on earth be a single day.
As for those, O Lord, whose souls You have taken, repose them, and may they be worthy of the kingdom of the heavens.
As for us all, grant us our Christian perfection that would be pleasing to You, and give them and us a share and inheritance with all Your saints.
This is prayed in Vespers as well as in Matins for those who preceded us into Paradise.
Our prayers for the departed express faith that they are still alive.
‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
— Matthew 22:32
Faith that they are still members of the Body of Christ, with the members feeling for each other and actively praying for one another.
so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
— Romans 12:5
Brethren, pray for us.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:25
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
— 1 Timothy 2:1
Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,
— Romans 15:30
do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
— Ephesians 1:16
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour,” for we are members of one another.
— Ephesians 4:25
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
— James 5:16
Faith in the resurrection of the dead and that we will meet together on the last day.
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
— John 5:26-29
Faith in the connection between Heaven and earth.
giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
— Colossians 1:12
So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
— Luke 16:22
Praying for the departed consoles their living relatives and makes them feel the companionship of the Church with them and participation in their painful feelings.
In the Prayers of the Funeral the first litany will be the Litany of the Sick, considering that the relatives of the deceased are in a state of mental exhaustion and need prayers.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
— Romans 12:15
These prayers honour and respect the body. We believe that the soul of the departed has gone to the places of rest, and the body before us is also sacred, given that it was baptised with the Holy Trinity, was anointed with holy Myron and became a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, united many times with the Body and Blood of the Lord in the mystery of Holy Communion, and toiled in an ascetic life in the service of Christ, the Church, and the people.
From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
— Galatians 6:17
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
— 1 Corinthians 9:27
For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.
— Galatians 3:27
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
— John 6:56
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
— 1 Corinthians 3:16
In these prayers we also seek mercy for the departed on the Day of Judgement. Praying for the departed is the completion of the repentance of the repentant departed. The repentant departed is a person who lived a holy life on Earth but was not without weakness and falls. He presented daily or even momentary repentance. Upon departure from the earth, the angels take him to the dwelling of the righteous in Paradise. But Satan continues to complain against him even after entering paradise, citing forgotten old sins or mistakes, considering them sufficient reason to possess his soul. Satan will continue to complain against humans until the last day when the cry of victory comes from heaven.
When the church praise for the departed, their repentance becomes complete, closing the door on Satan and silencing him.
The Litany of the Departed also alerts the minds of the believers to the beauty of eternity.
But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
— 1 Corinthians 2:9
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
— Revelation 21:3-4
Only the saints, who have completed their struggle on earth and entered paradise, benefit from these prayers. The Church does not pray for the unbelieving or those who have deviated from the straight path that have died, and it does not pray for those who have committed suicide, or those who died in their sin, whether they were caught or killed, because they committed a grave sin.