Hymns from the Panikhida for Memorial Saturday
Troparion
Thou art the God Who descended into Hades and loosed the bonds of those held captive; do Thou Thyself also give rest to the soul of Thy servant.
Sticheron
Woe is me! What a struggle the soul endures when it is parted from the body! Alas, how many tears it sheds then, and there is none to show it mercy. Lifting its eyes to the angels, it entreats in vain; stretching out its hands to men, it finds no helper. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, considering the brevity of our life, let us ask of Christ repose for the departed, and great mercy for our souls.
Sticheron
What earthly sweetness remains untouched by sorrow? What glory stands unshaken upon the earth? All things are more fleeting than a shadow, all more deceitful than a dream; in a single moment, death takes them all away. But in the light of Thy countenance, O Christ, and in the delight of Thy beauty, grant rest to him whom Thou hast chosen, O Lover of mankind.
On the Commemoration of the Departed
The living who remain on earth believe that those who have departed and died have not been deprived of existence, but are alive before God. As the Holy Church teaches us to pray for our brethren who are traveling, with faith and hope that the prayers offered for them are beneficial to them, that is how we must understand the prayers offered for those who have departed from this world.
—St. Epiphanius
A Christian who knows that all things in the world occur by the will of a loving God should neither give himself over to excessive sorrow nor fall into despair because death takes from him his relatives and loved ones. If a child or a friend has died, reflect that the child has not perished, but has been returned; that the friend has not ceased to be, but has set out on a journey and has gone on ahead of you along that same road which we all must travel.
These words must be spoken from the whole heart, with love, bearing those persons whose names you commemorate in your soul… It is not good before the face of God merely to run through their names with the tongue, without the participation and love of the heart… There is a great difference between a cold recitation of names and heartfelt remembrance.
Do not live carelessly, but strive, through pure faith and immediate correction of your sins, to strengthen within yourself the hope that prayers will also be offered for you after your death, bringing consolation to your soul and helping it attain eternal rest and blessedness in God, Who is ever-blessed and most glorified unto the ages.
—St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow
Do not miss opportunities to pray for any person, whether at his own request or at the request of his relatives, friends, admirers, or acquaintances. The Lord looks with favor upon the prayer of our love and upon our boldness before Him. Moreover, prayer for others is very beneficial for the one who prays—it purifies the heart, strengthens faith and hope in God, and kindles love for God and neighbor.
Prayers for the departed are, in any case, beneficial to those who pray, according to the word of the Psalmist: And my prayer returned into mine own bosom” (Ps. 35:13); and of the Saviour: “Your peace shall return to you (Matt. 10:13).
Our life in the Heavens
Ah, Lord! Why, having clothed us with the right and authority of the apostles to shepherd Thy sheep, to perform the sacraments, to preach Thy word, to do the works which Thou Thyself did, hast Thou not given us the power to heal this Thy handmaiden when she was ill, or to raise her when she had already died? According to our earthly understanding and reasoning, she was still so greatly needed—to her husband, his best friend and helper; to her children, who like little birds nestled sweetly beneath her wings; to her relatives, who loved her tenderly; to her friends and acquaintances; and perhaps to others also, known to God alone. “Lord,” said the sisters of Lazarus to the Saviour, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died (John 11:21, 32)
Why, then, is the Lord not with us also? If He had been here, surely this handmaiden of God would not have died.
But it would seem that miracles in such abundance, as clear proof of the omnipotence of Him in Whose name, or by Whom, they were performed, were needed only at the beginning, when our holy faith was first being spread. For indeed they are necessary only for unbelievers, or to strengthen those of weak faith. Now only some miracles are wrought by the saints of God. Yes, it is not in our time, nor for us sinners, to perform such miracles. But neither are they needed. Sufficient for us is the greatest of all miracles, which was accomplished once and for all by the Son of God. We are talking about the miracle of the Incarnation of the Word of God, His sufferings, His death on the Cross for us, and His Resurrection from the dead. It would be sinful for us to desire further miracles; for a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign (Matt. 12:39). This miracle surpasses all others and must for us replace every miracle. It has poured inexhaustible streams of life and immortality upon our corruptible world, so that whether we live here on earth, we live unto the Lord with the hope of immortality; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord (Rom. 14:8)—that is, in dying we live unto Him, for all live unto Him” (Luke 20:38).
We now have no need to heal every sick person, still less to raise our dead; let sin and nature take from man their due tribute—corruption and decay; let our departed pass through death into the land of immortality. Why should the body, corruptible by nature, be raised again for a second worldly corruption, when it has been laid in the earth like a seed for rebirth into an incorruptible body: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53)?
Why should the soul be returned again to its body for this vain and fleeting life? Let it come to know another life—not vain, but blessed and eternal, in the heavens. There waiting for is our common Saviour, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us (Rom. 8:34).
For our conversation is in heaven (Philip 3:20).
Brethren, the Saviour has commanded us to proclaim continually to you this life in heaven, this Kingdom of Heaven: And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 10:7). Let us not then be overly afraid of death, for guides us into the Kingdom of Glory.
Let us not grieve excessively for the departed, even as others which have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13).
But let each of us, in his own rank, calling, and station, prepare himself for the land of the living, laying up here a store of good works. We were created for this. Let the departed rest until the joyful morning of the resurrection. What more was there for her to live out here on earth? For there is only one thing that must be lived out and attained here—the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore we believe that the Lord, who hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn… and live” (Ezek. 33:11), has called her at the proper time from our sinful earth; and the departed girl has been laid in the grave as shocks of corn come in in their season (Job 5:26).
The Heavenly Father will grant her rest in the heavenly mansions, of which He has very many, and which will be more than sufficient for every human virtue.
From: Readings For Every Day of Great Lent, Ed. N. Shaposhnikova (Moscow: Danilov Monastery, 2025).
