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Liturgy > Commemoration of the Departed

The Burial Service (Funeral) during Bright Week

Our Euchologion or Trebnyk ("book of needs") provides a special version of the funeral service to be celebrated during Bright Week, the week following the feast of Pascha. During these days which honor the Resurrection of Christ, we return in some sense to the earliest Christian attitude toward death: Christ has conquered sin and death, and those who are alive in Christ are alive with Him.

The Bright Week funeral service also shows one aspect of the Byzantine tradition which sets it somewhat apart from other Christian liturgical traditions: when two different feasts or services overlap, we tend to combine them instead of (as in some other churches) moving the less important to another day. In previous times, burials had to take place expeditiously, and so a funeral during Bright Week was celebrated in the context of the daily Matins in honor of Christ's Resurrection.

The funeral services during Bright Week can be found on pages 149-191 in our current funeral book, The Office of Christian Burial (1983, PDF).

The service "in the home"

As with the ordinary funeral service, the funeral during Bright Week begins "in the home of the departed" (in our day, this is usually the funeral home):

Opening blessing
The paschal troparion ("Christ is risen from the dead"), three times
The paschal antiphons ("Let God arise"), with the paschal troparion as a refrain
Litany for the Deceased
Prayer, "O God of spirits and of all flesh"
The hymn, "Having beheld the resurrection of Christ"

A Gospel may be read, but no dismissal is sung; the body is taken to the church.

The service in the church

Here is the order of the funeral service during Bright Week, from the Roman edition of the Malyj Trebnyk (Small Euchologion). The column on the left shows the service of Paschal Matins for comparison.

Funeral Service during Bright Week	Funeral Service during Bright Week with Divine Liturgy
Blessing by priest: "Blessed is our God"	Blessing by priest: "Blessed is the Kingdom"
The paschal troparion ("Christ is risen from the dead"), three times	The paschal troparion ("Christ is risen from the dead"), three times
The paschal antiphons ("Let God arise"), with the paschal troparion as a refrain	The paschal antiphons ("Let God arise"), with the paschal troparion as a refrain
THE PASCHAL CANON (in Tone 6) Odes 1 Ode 3 Litany for the Departed Hypakoje of Pascha “The women with Mary before the dawn” Ode 4 Ode 5 Ode 6 Litany for the Departed Kontakion and Ikos of Pascha	THE PASCHAL CANON (in Tone 6) Odes 1 Ode 3 Litany for the Departed Hypakoje of Pascha “The women with Mary before the dawn” Ode 4 Ode 5 Ode 6 Litany for the Departed Kontakion and Ikos of Pascha
"All you who have been baptized" Prokeimenon Epistle Alleluia Gospel
The hymn, "Having beheld the resurrection of Christ" "Jesus is risen from the tomb" Ode 7 Ode 8 Ode 9: Magnfication and Irmos of Pascha Remainder of the Ode Small Litany Hymn of Light: "You, O King and Lord"	The hymn, "Having beheld the resurrection of Christ" "Jesus is risen from the tomb" Ode 7 Ode 8 Ode 9: Magnfication and Irmos of Pascha Remainder of the Ode Small Litany Hymn of Light: "You, O King and Lord"
Evlogitaria of the Resurrection ("The hosts of angels") with refrain, "Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your commandments."	Evlogitaria of the Resurrection ("The hosts of angels") with refrain, "Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your commandments."
	If there is a Divine Liturgy. it is celebrated at this point: "All you who have been baptized" Prokeimenon Epistle Alleluia Gospel And the rest of the Divine Liturgy, through the Ambon Prayer
Paschal stichera ("Today the sacred Pasch is revealed to us") Faithful come foreword for last farewell and kissing of the cross	Paschal stichera ("Today the sacred Pasch is revealed to us") Faithful come foreword for last farewell and kissing of the cross
Litany for the Departed	Litany for the Departed
Dismissal	Dismissal
Prayer of Absolution	Prayer of Absolution
Procession to the grave, with singing of "Christ is risen"	Procession to the grave, with singing of "Christ is risen"

What we have here is the service of Paschal Matins, with readings inserted either after Ode 6 (their usual position at an "enhanced" service of Matins such as a moleben) or after the Evlogitaria of the Resurrection. If there is a Divine Liturgy, this makes for a very long service!

Then comes the singing of the Paschal stichera, which replace the Hymns of Farewell, an optional Litany for the Departed, and a dismissal. "Christ is risen" is sung as a processional, in place of "Holy God."

The service at the grave

The interment service is the same as usual, except that "Christ is risen" is sung as the processional, in place of "Holy God."

Recommended Reading

• Rev. Athanasius Pekar, OSBM. Funeral Services according to the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite (Pittsburgh: Byzantine Seminary Press, 1972; PDF).