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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. Meanwhile, 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 is dawning.”
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.
People: 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 Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world,
and all that dwell therein. You are dust, and the dust you
will return.
Apolysis.
Liturgical Texts courtesy and copyright of Holy Cross Press, Brookline, MA
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