DEATH is the culmination of the great mystery that surrounds the entire life of man in general. It is the last mystery, as it is termed by the Fathers of the Church. For those who live outside the realm of Christian faith, death remains the quintessential event of decay and annihilation of life, a tragic and irrational mystery that fills every human existence with fear and bewilderment.

However, for those who believe in the conqueror of death, the Lord who rose from the dead, death loses its tragic quality and transforms into an event full of meaning. It becomes a Paschal mystery, that is, salvation, a passage to eternal life that emerged from the empty tomb of the Lord. The Church of Christ has always experienced the departure from this life of every member as a soteriological event.

As an event that concerns the entire Church, expressed liturgically through the funeral service. Particularly within the context of this service and before the revealed face of the deceased brother, the Church makes the most dynamic confrontation with death, the ultimate enemy of man.

The joyful evangelical message of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal life it contains transforms the harsh face of death. And the pain of mourning is soothed by the Christian consolation of the mourners, as it is excellently expressed through the sung eulogies.

The equality of all people before the reality of death, the vanity of earthly life without the prospect of eternity, and the memory of death as a dynamic state of spiritual wakefulness, are some further spiritual messages of the funeral service that touch every human soul and inevitably influence the broader area of social life.

With this handy edition of the funeral and memorial services, an additional aid is offered not only to the devout ministers of the sacred mysteries but also to every pious Christian who wishes to delve into the mystery of death as it is experienced and practiced within the folds of our Orthodox Church.