Orthodox Funerals and Memorial Services: What Happens and Why

Most people meet the Orthodox Church's prayers for the dead at the worst moment, with a funeral home asking questions nobody has thought about. Why is the coffin open? What is the plate of sweet wheat? Why another service on the fortieth day?

This guide explains what happens, from the deathbed to the yearly memorials. It does not repeat the theology of the afterlife or the early history of prayer for the dead, covered in What Happens to the Soul After Death? The Orthodox View and Prayer for the Departed in Early Christianity. Customs vary between Greek, Slavic and other parishes and between bishops; where they do, we say so, and families should follow their own priest.

In brief

The Church prays with the dying in a special office "at the parting of the soul from the body." The funeral has the shape of Matins, with psalms, a canon, somber hymns attributed to St John of Damascus, readings and a prayer of absolution. The coffin is normally open; the service ends with the "last kiss" and "Memory eternal," and the body is buried. Then the Church keeps praying: on the third, ninth and fortieth days and at the anniversary, at memorial services called the panikhida or mnemosyno, often with boiled wheat called koliva, and on the "Soul Saturdays." Burial is the norm everywhere, but rules on cremation differ between jurisdictions.

Thesis: Orthodox funeral and memorial services are old, coherent and hopeful: they look death in the face, entrust the departed to God's mercy and point to the resurrection of the body, while many of their details are local custom rather than universal rule.

Where these services come from

The Apostolic Constitutions, a church order compiled in Syria around 380, already set out a calendar of remembrance: "Let the third day of the departed be celebrated with psalms, and lessons, and prayers, on account of Him who arose within the space of three days." It goes on to name the ninth day, the fortieth and "the anniversary day in memory of him," and asks for alms to the poor from the dead person's goods.¹ {{very-strong: The third, ninth and fortieth days and the yearly anniversary are named in a church order of the late fourth century.}} St John Chrysostom, in the same period, said the Apostles ordered "that remembrance should be made of the dead in the dreadful Mysteries."²

Service quotations below come, unless noted, from Isabel Hapgood's public-domain Service Book of 1906, which follows Russian usage.

At the deathbed

The "Office at the Parting of the Soul from the Body" begins with the priest asking the dying person about anything left unconfessed or unforgiven, then continues with Psalm 51 and a canon to the Theotokos in the voice of one who can no longer speak: "My mouth is silent, and my tongue speaketh not, but my heart maketh utterance."³ Where possible the dying also receive Confession, Communion and often Holy Unction (see Holy Unction). Call the priest early.

After death, Hapgood's notes describe the body being washed "after the custom of Apostolic times (Acts ix. 37)," dressed in new clothes, and the Psalter read over it until the funeral.⁴ A short service for the departed (called the Trisagion in Greek parishes) is often served at the first viewing.

The funeral service

Fr Thomas Hopko's catechism for the Orthodox Church in America explains that the funeral "has the basic form of Matins." It opens with the Trisagion prayers and Psalm 91 (90 in the Septuagint), a litany for the departed, and a troparion asking God to give rest to "Thy servant who has fallen asleep."⁵ Psalm 119 (118 in the Septuagint) follows. The same psalm is sung at Christ's tomb on Holy Friday, so every Christian funeral echoes the burial of the Lord.

Then come a canon and the kontakion: "With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of thy servant, where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting."⁶ The Beatitudes are sung with verses for the departed. The Epistle is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (some books continue to verse 18): "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (NKJV). The Gospel is John 5:24-30, Christ's promise that the dead will hear His voice.⁷

The hymns of St John of Damascus

The service books give eight hymns, one in each tone, to "John, the Monk of Damascus," the eighth-century monk of Mar Saba (see Who Was St. John of Damascus?). They are frank about death. The first, in Hapgood's translation:

What earthly sweetness remaineth unmixed with grief? What glory standeth immutable on earth? All things are but shadows most feeble, but most deluding dreams: yet one moment only, and Death shall supplant them all. But in the light of thy countenance, O Christ, and in the sweetness of thy beauty, give rest unto him whom thou hast chosen: forasmuch as thou lovest mankind.⁸

The last begins: "I weep and I wail when I think upon death, and behold our beauty, fashioned after the image of God, lying in the tomb disfigured, dishonoured, bereft of form." Hopko answers those who find this gloomy that the funeral is "not the Church's 'final word' about death," noting that the same John wrote the Paschal canon.⁹

Absolution, the last kiss and "Memory eternal"

Near the end the priest reads a prayer of absolution, asking that the departed be loosed from the sins and bonds he or she repented of; in Russian practice, Hapgood notes, it is printed separately and laid in the dead person's hand.¹⁰ The order of these closing parts differs between service books. The coffin is normally open throughout, with an icon of Christ in the hand and a strip of material bearing icons on the brow. The congregation comes forward to give the "last kiss" while the choir sings: "Come, brethren, let us give the last kiss unto the dead, rendering thanks unto God."¹¹ A funeral booklet approved by the OCA's Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania adds that "the immediate family are the final ones to offer the 'last kiss,'" after which the remains "are now sealed in the casket."¹²

The choir sings "Memory eternal," before or after the last kiss depending on the book. Hopko's catechism explains that it asks God to remember the departed, "for in the Bible it is God's 'eternal memory' which keeps man alive."¹³

Variations worth knowing

• There are separate orders for priests and for children, and a largely Paschal service for those who die in Bright Week, because the feast is "a festival of joy and gladness, not of mourning."¹⁴
• Church funerals are for Orthodox Christians. After a suicide, the old canonical answer of Timothy of Alexandria (fourth century) withheld the offering for the dead "except the case be very clear that he was distracted," that is, not in his right mind. Today bishops apply this with attention to mental illness. The Greek Orthodox cathedral in Atlanta, for example, permits a church funeral "with the blessing of the local Hierarch" where mental illness, severe emotional stress or impaired rationality is found.¹⁵ Such cases are decided pastorally by the bishop.

Burial, and the question of cremation

At the grave, Hapgood's rubric directs the priest to strew earth on it "crosswise" with the words "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," and to pour on oil from the lamp and ashes from the censer.¹⁶ A meal often follows; Greek parishes call it the makaria.¹⁷

Burial is the norm because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and will be raised: "The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption" (1 Corinthians 15:42, NKJV). Early Christians already refused to burn their dead. Minucius Felix, writing around the turn of the third century (the exact date is debated), put it this way: "Nor, as you believe, do we fear any loss from sepulture, but we adopt the ancient and better custom of burying in the earth."¹⁸ God can raise a body from ashes as easily as from dust; the issue is reverence and witness, not God's power.

On those who are cremated, the Churches do not speak with one voice:

• Church of Greece. Its Holy Synod's 2014 encyclical and a 2019 pamphlet, as reported in the Greek church press, call cremation "incompatible with the practice and tradition of the Church for theological, canonical and anthropological reasons"; clergy will not serve a funeral for those who choose it.¹⁹
• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. We found no Archdiocese-wide statement online. The Annunciation Cathedral in Atlanta states that "Cremation is not permitted in the Orthodox Church," so there is no funeral in church or at the funeral home for a cremated Orthodox person, though a priest may offer "an informal service," preferably before the cremation.²⁰
• Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Its Council of Bishops in 1956 forbade cremation and church funerals for bodies designated for it, with an exception, by the bishop's permission, only where cremation was forced against the dead person's will.²¹
• Moscow Patriarchate. A 2015 Holy Synod document calls burial the norm. Where law, distance or other objective reasons make it impossible, the Church, "considering cremation undesirable and not approving it," may treat it with leniency; the ashes must then be buried (our translation from the Russian).²²
• Orthodox Church in America. Two answers in its website's Questions & Answers (not synodal statements) differ. One says "According to Byzantine Canon Law, cremation is not permitted," with rare exceptions by economy; the other says the Church "does not condemn cremation outright, provided that there is a valid reason for it," citing Japanese law and epidemics.²³

A Christian whose body was burned by accident, war or persecution is not lost: the Russian document says the Church prays for those whose bodies "burned in fire" and recalls martyrs who had no burial at all.²² Anyone facing this question should speak to their priest before deciding.

After the funeral: the days of remembrance

The third, ninth and fortieth days

The ancient calendar survives in Slavic practice: memorials on the third, ninth and fortieth days and at anniversaries, to which Hapgood's notes add the birthday and name day.²⁴ Greek practice marks the third and ninth days with the short Trisagion service and holds the full memorial from the fortieth day. St Sophia's Greek cathedral in London lists memorials at "The 40th day," at three, six and nine months and at yearly anniversaries, adding: "These are not strict obligations, but a traditional timeline for families to follow."²⁵

Why these days? The Apostolic Constitutions tie the third day to Christ's rising and the fortieth to an ancient period of mourning. A later explanation in Hapgood's notes, attributed to St Macarius of Alexandria, describes stages of the soul's journey.²⁶ Such accounts are pious tradition, not dogma; on the most detailed of them, see Are Orthodox Christians Required to Believe in Aerial Toll Houses?

The panikhida and the mnemosyno

The memorial service is the panikhida in Slavic usage and the mnemosyno (mnimosyno) in Greek: a shortened form of the funeral prayers, ending with "Memory eternal." At St Sophia's it is read "during the Divine Liturgy, just before the final dismissal"; in Slavic usage it is often served after the Liturgy, before a table with koliva and candles. Commemoration by name in the services is for Orthodox Christians.²⁷

Koliva

The dish is koliva (Greek kollyva, Slavic kutia), which the OCA describes as "wheat or rice cooked with honey and mixed with raisins, figs, nuts, sesame, etc."²⁸ Hapgood's notes explain: as grain "must be buried in the earth" to bear fruit, "so, also, the body of the dead must be committed to the earth, in order that it may rise to life eternal."²⁹ Behind it stands Christ's word: "unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John 12:24, NKJV).

Soul Saturdays

Saturday, when Christ lay in the tomb, is the weekly day for the departed, and some Saturdays are set apart for all of them:

• The Saturday before Meatfare Sunday, when the Church prays especially for those who "may not have received a proper burial."³⁰
• The second, third and fourth Saturdays of Great Lent, because "the Divine Liturgy cannot be served on weekdays during Great Lent."²⁸
• The Saturday before Pentecost.
• In Slavic practice, Radonitsa (the Tuesday after Thomas Sunday), when priests bless graves "to share the paschal joy with the departed," and Demetrius Saturday, the Saturday before St Demetrius's day (October 26).³¹

St Sophia's guidelines call the Saturdays before Meatfare and Pentecost "universally recognised"; the rest follow regional custom. Parishes also set days without memorials: St Sophia's, for example, serves none on great feasts or from Lazarus Saturday to Thomas Sunday.³² For the dates, see The Orthodox Church Calendar.

Honest questions

"Isn't praying for the dead unbiblical, or a form of purgatory?"

Many Protestants hold, citing Hebrews 9:27, that destiny is settled at death, so prayer for the dead is pointless. That is a serious argument. The Orthodox reply is that the practice is very old and that the departed remain members of one Body in Christ. Orthodoxy does not hold the medieval Western doctrine of purgatory and does not claim to know how God answers. The history is in Prayer for the Departed in Early Christianity.

What we can say confidently

• The funeral has the shape of Matins, with Psalm 119, a canon, the hymns attributed to St John of Damascus, 1 Thessalonians 4 and John 5.
• The coffin is normally open, and the service closes with the last kiss and "Memory eternal."
• Memorials on the third, ninth and fortieth days and at the anniversary go back at least to the late fourth century.
• Burial is the norm in every Orthodox Church.

What varies by jurisdiction and parish

• Which memorial days are kept (Slavic 3rd, 9th and 40th days; Greek Trisagion on the 3rd and 9th, memorials from the 40th day) and which Soul Saturdays beyond the two universal ones.
• Whether a funeral is allowed for someone who chose cremation, and on what terms.
• Rules on eulogies, viewings and how much of the long service is sung.
• Funerals after suicide, decided by the bishop.

Conclusion

An Orthodox funeral weeps over "our beauty, fashioned after the image of God," and asks Christ to give rest "where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing." Then the Church keeps praying, because love does not end at the grave. In the Paschal season the same service rings with the hymn that sums up its hope: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death.

Notes

1. Apostolic Constitutions 8.42, trans. James Donaldson, ANF vol. 7 (New Advent). On the date and place, J. G. Mueller, L'Ancien Testament dans l'ecclésiologie des Pères (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005), publisher's description ("Circa 380 in Syria").
2. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians 3, trans. John A. Broadus, NPNF1 vol. 13 (New Advent).
3. "The Office at the Parting of the Soul from the Body," in Isabel F. Hapgood, trans., Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906), 361-368.
4. Hapgood, Service Book, Appendix B, X, "The Burial of the Dead (Laymen)," note 1, p. 609. On the Trisagion at the viewing, Annunciation Cathedral, Atlanta, "Funeral."
5. Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, Worship, "Funeral" (Orthodox Church in America, oca.org).
6. Hapgood, Service Book, "The Order for the Burial of the Dead (Laymen)," kontakion after Canticle VI, p. 384.
7. Hapgood, Service Book, 388-389 (1 Thess. 4:13-18); Hopko, "Funeral" (4:13-17); the Pennsylvania booklet (note 12) also reads to verse 18. Scripture quotations from the NKJV.
8. Hapgood, Service Book, 386 ("by John, the Monk of Damascus"); Hopko, "Funeral" (attributes the funeral songs to St John of Damascus).
9. Hapgood, Service Book, 387 (Tone VIII); Hopko, "Funeral."
10. Hapgood, Service Book, 390-393 (in Hapgood the last kiss comes first, then "Memory eternal" and the absolution); Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, Orthodox Christian Funeral, "Prayer of Absolution."
11. Hapgood, Service Book, 390; on the icon and the band on the brow, Appendix B, X, note 1, p. 610.
12. Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (OCA), Orthodox Christian Funeral (April 2015), "Last Kiss" and "Procession."
13. Hopko, "Funeral."
14. Hapgood, Service Book, index entry "Burial of the Dead" (Child, At Easter, Laymen, Priests) and Appendix B, X, note 5, p. 610.
15. Timothy of Alexandria, Canonical Answers, Question 14, NPNF2 vol. 14 (CCEL); Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Atlanta, "Funeral," "Suicide."
16. Hapgood, Service Book, 393.
17. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Atlanta, "Funeral," "Makaria (Memorial Meal)"; Metropolis of Atlanta, Protocol No. 02/17, "Funerals" (February 14, 2017), which names the Makaria meal.
18. Minucius Felix, Octavius 34, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, ANF vol. 4 (New Advent); in ch. 11 the pagan speaker complains that Christians "execrate our funeral piles, and condemn our burials by fire." On the date, C. Francis Higgins, "Minucius Felix," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
19. "What 2014 encyclical of Church of Greece told about cremation," Orthodox Times, November 7, 2019; "Church of Greece policy statement details opposition to cremation," Orthodoxia News Agency, November 28, 2019.
20. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Atlanta, "Funeral," "Cremation." The Metropolis of Atlanta protocol linked from that page deals only with eulogies.
21. Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, "On the Question of Incineration of Bodies of the Departed in Crematoria," October 6/19, 1956, English text at ROCOR Studies.
22. Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, "O khristianskom pogrebenii usopshikh" (On the Christian Burial of the Departed), approved May 5, 2015 (journal no. 30), text at azbyka.ru. Translations are ours.
23. Orthodox Church in America, Questions & Answers, "Cremation" and "Cremation [2]," oca.org. The first also reports cases where, by economy, cremation followed a funeral with the body present.
24. Hapgood, Service Book, Appendix B, XII, "The Requiem Office for the Dead (Panikhidi)," pp. 612-613.
25. St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, London, "Memorial Service Guidelines" (PDF), pp. 1 and 3.
26. Apostolic Constitutions 8.42; Hapgood, Service Book, Appendix B, XII, note 1.
27. St Sophia, "Memorial Service Guidelines," p. 3; Hapgood, Service Book, "The General Panikhida or Requiem Service," 564-569, and "The Requiem Office for the Dead (Panikhidi)," 437.
28. Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints, "2nd Saturday of Great Lent: Memorial Saturday," oca.org.
29. Hapgood, Service Book, Appendix B, XII, note 2, p. 613.
30. Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints, "Memorial Saturday of Meatfare," oca.org.
31. Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints, "Day of Rejoicing" (Radonitsa, "Tuesday of Saint Thomas week"); Metropolitan Tikhon, "Reflection on the Memorial Saturday of Saint Demetrius" (October 25, 2025), oca.org.
32. St Sophia, "Memorial Service Guidelines," pp. 1-3.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Apostolic Constitutions, Book 8. Trans. James Donaldson. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886. Online at New Advent: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/07158.htm
• John Chrysostom. Homilies on Philippians, Homily 3. Trans. John A. Broadus. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 13. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889. Online at New Advent: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230203.htm
• Minucius Felix. Octavius. Trans. Robert Ernest Wallis. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885. Online at New Advent: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0410.htm
• Timothy of Alexandria. The Canonical Answers. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 14. Online at CCEL: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xvii.xxiv.html
• Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906. Online at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/cu31924029363128
• The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982 (John 12:24; 1 Corinthians 15:42; 1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Orthodox sources

• Hopko, Thomas. The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, Worship, "Funeral." Orthodox Church in America: https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/funeral
• Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (OCA). Orthodox Christian Funeral, with an introduction by Alexander Schmemann. April 2015: https://www.doepa.org/files/Policies/Liturgical-Life/DOEPA-Funeral-Services062615.pdf
• Orthodox Church in America, oca.org. Questions & Answers, "Cremation" (https://www.oca.org/questions/deathfunerals/cremation) and "Cremation [2]" (https://oca.org/questions/deathfunerals/cremation-2); Lives of the Saints, "Memorial Saturday of Meatfare" (https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2025/02/22), "2nd Saturday of Great Lent: Memorial Saturday" (https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2025/03/15), "Day of Rejoicing" (https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2025/04/29); Metropolitan Tikhon, "Reflection on the Memorial Saturday of Saint Demetrius," October 25, 2025 (https://www.oca.org/reflections/metropolitan-tikhon/reflection-memorial-saturday-saint-demetrius).
• Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Atlanta (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Metropolis of Atlanta). "Funeral": https://www.atlgoc.org/funeral; and Metropolis of Atlanta, Protocol No. 02/17, "Funerals," February 14, 2017 (PDF linked from that page).
• St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, London. "Memorial Service Guidelines": https://www.stsophia.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Memorial-Service-Guidelines.pdf
• Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. "O khristianskom pogrebenii usopshikh" (On the Christian Burial of the Departed), May 5, 2015 (journal no. 30): https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/dokumenty/o-hristianskom-pogrebenii-usopshih/
• Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. "On the Question of Incineration of Bodies of the Departed in Crematoria," 1956. ROCOR Studies: https://www.rocorstudies.org/2017/08/09/on-the-question-of-incineration-of-bodies-of-the-departed-in-crematoria-a-decision-of-the-sobor-of-bishops-of-the-russian-orthodox-church-abroad/
• Reports on the Church of Greece's position: "What 2014 encyclical of Church of Greece told about cremation," Orthodox Times, November 7, 2019 (https://orthodoxtimes.com/what-2014-encyclical-of-church-of-greece-told-about-cremation/); "Church of Greece policy statement details opposition to cremation, 2 months after opening of first crematorium in the country," Orthodoxia News Agency, November 28, 2019 (https://www.orthodoxianewsagency.gr/foreignnews/church-of-greece-policy-statement-details-opposition-to-cremation-2-months-after-opening-of-first-crematorium-in-the-country/).

Other scholarship

• Mueller, Joseph G. L'Ancien Testament dans l'ecclésiologie des Pères: Une lecture des "Constitutions apostoliques". Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia 41. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005. Publisher's description: https://www.marquette.edu/maqom/mueller.html
• Higgins, C. Francis. "Minucius Felix." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/minucius/