A Prayer for the Departed

Prayer for the Departed

O thou whose everlasting providence surpasses understanding, who dost prepare the world for everlasting blessedness, thou hast ordained for each the moment and manner of his death. O Lord, grant pardon to the dead from every generation.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

To save fallen Adam and all mankind from condemnation, thou hast opened, through the Cross and Resurrection of thy Son, the way to life eternal. Trusting in thy mercy, we pray that our departed brethren may reign with thee in glory. Give joy, O Lord, to the souls exhausted by the tempests of this life, make them forget their earthly sorrows, and accept them among the angels and the saints.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

From the skull of a dead pagan, St Macarius once heard these words: ‘When you pray for those in hell, the heathen receive consolation.’ How marvelous is the power of Christian prayer! Even unbelievers are consoled when we sing for all the universe, Alleluia!

'A merciful heart never ceases to pray for men, for the beasts, for the whole of creation.’ With these words St Isaac the Syrian bids us intercede for the departed from every generation. Remember, Lord, all who have asked us in our unworthiness to pray for them. Blot out the sins which they forgot to mention in confession, take pity on the souls of those buried without the Church’s prayers, cut down suddenly in the midst of joy or sorrow, who at their burial were deprived of the intercession of the Church.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

It is we men who are to blame for the sufferings of the world, for the illness and pain which children undergo, since it was man’s original sin that destroyed the beauty of creation. O Christ, the greatest of innocent martyrs, thou alone hast power to grant unconditional forgiveness. Bestow again upon the world its former splendour, and then both dead and living will rejoice, as they sing Alleluia.

Infinite Love, Redeemer of the world, we hear the cry from the Cross, spoken in compassion for thine enemies: ‘Father, forgive them.’ With boldness, then, we also beseech the heavenly Father that rest eternal may be granted to thine enemies and to ours. They have shed innocent blood, they have filled our life with sorrow, they have built their prosperity upon the tears of their neighbor. Bestow thy mercy upon all the victims of our involuntary sins.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

Save, O Lord, all who have suffered a tragic end: massacred, buried alive, drowned or burnt, destroyed by hunger or thirst, abandoned in the frost or storm, killed in some accident on earth or in the air. They will bless the time of their ordeal as a means of redemption, singing Alleluia.

Father of all consolation, thou makest glad with earthly blessings not only thy friends but thine enemies; and thy mercy extends beyond the grave, embracing even those who are utterly wicked. The prisoners of destructive unbelief, with blasphemy they spoke against all that is holy; here on earth they knew and understood thee not: may they learn to love thee in heaven! Grant pardon unto all who died without repentance, and forgive the momentary error of their suicides.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

The darkness of a soul estranged from God is terrible, and our heart trembles at the thought of it. May all who are condemned gain refreshment and revival, as we sing Alleluia.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

At every hour in all the world the Church prays for the departed, and sins are washed away through the Blood of the Lamb. By this intercession may the souls rise up from death to life, at the prayers of thy most holy Mother and of all the saints. Look upon the innocent children, O Lord, and for their sake take pity on the parents; and may the tears shed by mothers blot out the offences of their sons. Let the prayers of guiltless victims and the blood of martyrs avail in thy sight for the forgiveness of the sinful.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

The whole earth is one great cemetery, enclosing the dust of our brethren and our fathers. In thy love, O Christ, grant pardon unto all that died since the beginning of time, and to eternity they will sing Alleluia.

Expectantly awaiting our own resurrection, we celebrate also the future transfiguration of the whole created order in harmony and beauty. Lord, thou hast made the world for joy, and thou leadest souls from the depth of sin to holiness. Grant top the dead a new life in the unchanging light of the Lamb of God, and may we celebrate with them the eternal Passover.

O Lord, Love ineffable, remember thy departed servants.

O Father, rich in mercy, thou hast sent thy Son to the outcast, and thou givest them thy life-creating Spirit. Have mercy on our departed parents and relatives, and on the dead from every generation. Bestow upon them pardon and salvation; and grant that, through their intercession, with them we may together raise to thee, our God and Saviour, this our triumphal hymn:

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

O God of the spirits and of all flesh, who hast trampled upon death, destroyed the power of the devil, and given life to thy world: Receive into thy rest the most holy patriarchs, the most reverend metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, all who served thee in major or minor orders of the priesthood, or in the monastic life; the founders of this holy church; our parents and ancestors who are buried here and elsewhere; all who died for faith and country, all believers killed in civil war, all victims of the elements or of wild beasts, all who perished before they could make their peace with the Church and with their enemies, all who in a moment of stumbling took their own life, all who have asked for our intercessions, all the forsaken, with no one to pray for them on earth, all the faithful who have not received Christian burial. Receive them into thy rest, where there is no more pain and sorrow. Forgive, O God who lovest man, every sin committed by them in word or deed or thought, for there is none among the living who does not sin: thou alone art without sin, and thy righteousness is eternal, and thy word is truth. For thou art the resurrection, the life and the repose of thy servants who have fallen asleep [names], and to thee we ascribe glory, with thy Father who is without beginning, and thy Holy Spirit, O supreme Beauty and Master of Life, now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.


• This Akathist for the Departed was written in the period between the two world wars by a Russian bishop, a confessor for the faith. The full text contains twenty-four stanzas, with one additional stanza at the beginning and the concluding prayer. It is published in French translation in Cahiers Saint-Irénée, no. 25 (Eglise Orthodoxe de France, Paris, 1960), pp. 22-29 • Also in Contacts (Revue Française de l'Orthodoxie): 44 (1992), pp. 274-282 • This text from Eastern Christian Review 6 (1974), pp. 189-191