Parastas is a great funeral service

Parastas is a special funeral service for Matins, it takes place on Friday, anticipating the advent of the Universal Parental Sabbath (Meatfree, on the eve of Lent, the second, third and fourth weeks of the Fourteen, Troitskaya, before the birth of the Church, the memory of the convergence of the Holy Spirit to the apostles). It is canonically established precisely these five cases, when in Orthodox churches parastas is performed. All of them, as can be judged, fall on the first half of the calendar year, from February to June.

"Intercession" in Greek

It is such an obscure neophyte meaning of the word. Parastas is, essentially, a petition to the Most High on behalf of the departed, proclaimed by the mouth of the Church. The main difference between the especially solemn and heartfelt Matins is the priest's reading of the 17th Kathisma Psalter (the whole of the 118th psalm with division according to articles). The content of this verse, mistakenly regarded as "a special funeral" - the confession of faith, the sorrow of departures from the Law given by the Creator, a request for mercy and condescension for the infirmities of men. Remembering that "there is no man, who lives, and does not sin," and those present in the service of believers from their faces, together with the chorus, repeat the choruses "Savior, save me" and "Blessed are Thou Lord."

The deceased - does not mean non-living

The Christian tradition holds for each person three birthdays: the first is the birth of the light, the second, the main event is Holy Baptism and the third is the transition from the earthly vale full of sorrows and illnesses to Eternal Life. Death, personified in church hymns as defeated by the Resurrection of Christ, the helper of hell, has no more power over those believers who have passed on to otherness through the aspen. "Death, where is your sting, hell, where is your victory?" - in this questioning is the belief that "God has all alive." It is not for nothing that the days of the memory of Christian saints fall precisely on the date of their ascent, returning home, to the Heavenly Creator from a long earthly journey.

Why the deceased need our prayers

The Creator's love, even to a sinner who has departed from the right path, is portrayed in a gospel parable of a prodigal son. However, not all in life manage to return to the threshold, to make the path of repentance, that is, to change for the better, to return to the prototype, which was manifested by the God-man-Christ. Other Death, which has lost undivided power, but has not lost its power, catches on the road. Parastas is an opportunity to continue the path to eternal good by the prayers of those who live for those who wait for the day of the last Judgment, without the possibility of further repentance. Orthodoxy affirms the possibility of changing for the better the afterlife of man. The main means for this is the Proskomedia - a nominal commemoration at the Liturgy. The sacred bonds of love allow also the deeds of faith we are doing - to give alms, church and home prayer to God on behalf of the deceased. Parastas for the deceased is one of the most effective means of helping our loved ones.

Particular importance of parastasis for our deceased relatives

Repeatedly it is necessary to meet with statements of the adepts of various cults far from Orthodoxy: parastas is a kind of begging, which goes back to the ancient pagan practices and replaces them. What is the basis of this statement? At the Liturgy the Orthodox proskomedia is named, prayer is raised for those of our relatives who are listed in the notes sent to the beginning of the service. A pious tradition to know and transmit from generation to generation names of a kind by many of us has long been lost. Parastas is an opportunity to strengthen the cathedral prayer to reach the depths of our genealogies, the memory of which has not been imprinted either in our minds or in family legends. But the point here is not in the "special kind of mysteries." The main force of church prayer is in its conciliarity, in accordance with the words of the Savior: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matt. 18: 20).