Memorial service in the Eastern Orthodox Church

If it is a general commemoration of all the departed, or if the individual's grave is not close by, the service is held in a church, in front of a special small, free-standing "memorial table", to which is attached an upright crucifix and with a candelabra for the faithful to put lighted candles.

Some of the most notable portions of the service are the Kontakion of the Departed[note 3] and the final singing of "Memory Eternal" (Slavonic: Vyechnaya Pamyat).

Then the family or friends of the departed will wash and dress the body and it is placed in the casket after which a special expanded memorial service called the First Panikhida is celebrated, following which the reading of the Psalter[note 5] commences and continues uninterrupted until the funeral.

[note 7] On these days, not only is the memorial service served, but there are also special propers at Vespers, Matins, and the Divine Liturgy.

A very abbreviated form of the memorial service is called the Lity (or Liti or Litia), from the Greek λιτὴ τελετή, litē teletē, i.e. a plain ceremony, or λιτὸν μνημόσυνον, liton mnēmosynon, i.e. a plain mnemosynon; it consists only of the concluding portion of the regular memorial service.

The priest and his aides finally arrive, they sing and bless the home and the food that will be distributed as alms.