[The Bidding Prayer for Those Departed.]

XLI. Let us pray for our brethren that are at rest  184  [They are “at rest.” Yet this prayer, and wherefore? See St. Augustine, Confessions (ed. Migne), p. 765, Nebridius.] in Christ, that God, the lover of mankind, who has received his soul, may forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and may be merciful and gracious to him, and give him his lot in the land of the pious that are sent into the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with all those that have pleased Him and done His will from the beginning of the world, whence all sorrow, grief, and lamentation are banished. Let us arise, let us dedicate ourselves and one another to the eternal God, through that Word which was in the beginning. And let the bishop say: O Thou who art by nature immortal, and hast no end of Thy being, from whom every creature, whether immortal or mortal, is derived; who didst make man a rational creature, the citizen of this world, in his constitution mortal, and didst add the promise of a resurrection; who didst not suffer Enoch and Elijah to taste of death: “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who art the God of them, not as of dead, but as of living persons: for the souls of all men live with Thee, and the spirits of the righteous are in Thy hand, which no torment can touch;”  185  Matt. xxii. 32; Wisd. iii. 1. for they are all sanctified under Thy hand: do Thou now also look upon this Thy servant, whom Thou hast selected and received into another state, and forgive him if voluntarily or involuntarily he has sinned, and afford him merciful angels, and place him in the bosom of the patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, and of all those that have pleased Thee from the beginning of the world, where there is no grief, sorrow, nor lamentation; but the peaceable region of the godly, and the undisturbed land of the upright, and of those that therein see, the glory of Thy Christ; by whom  186  “With whom,” one V. ms. glory, honour, and worship, thanksgiving, and adoration be to Thee, in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. And let the deacon say: Bow down, and receive the blessing. And let the bishop give thanks for them, saying as follows: “O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance,”  187  Ps. xxviii. 9. which Thou hast purchased with the precious blood of Thy Christ. Feed them under Thy right hand, and cover them under Thy wings, and grant that they may “fight the good fight, and finish their course, and keep the faith”  188  2 Tim. iv. 7. immutably, unblameably, and unreprovably, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, with whom glory, honour, and worship be to Thee and to the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.

[41] Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναπαυσαμένων μετὰ τὸ προσφωνῆσαι τὰ τῆς πρώτης εὐχῆς, ἵνα μὴ πάλιν λέγωμεν, ὁ διάκονος προσθήσει καὶ ταῦτα: Καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀναπαυσαμένων ἐν Χριστῷ ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν δεηθῶμεν, ὑπὲρ τῆς κοιμήσεως τοῦδε ἢ τῆσδε δεηθῶμεν, ὅπως ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς προσδεξάμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν παρίδῃ αὐτῷ πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ἑκούσιον καὶ ἀκούσιον, καὶ ἵλεως καὶ εὐμενὴς γενόμενος κατατάξῃ εἰς χώραν εὐσεβῶν ἀνειμένων εἰς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ μετὰ πάντων τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος εὐαρεστησάντων καὶ ποιησάντων τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, ἔνθα ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός. Ἐγειρώμεθα: ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἀλλήλους τῷ ἀϊδίῳ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ Λόγου παραθώμεθα. Καὶ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος λεγέτω: Ὁ τῇ φύσει ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀτελεύτητος, παρ' οὗ πᾶν ἀθάνατον καὶ θνητὸν γέγονεν, ὁ τὸ λογικὸν ζῷον τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κοσμοπολίτην θνητὸν ἐκ κατασκευῆς ποιήσας καὶ ἀνάστασιν ἐπαγγειλάμενος, ὁ τὸν Ἐνὼχ καὶ τὸν Ἠλίαν θανάτου πεῖραν μὴ ἐάσας λαβεῖν: ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακὼβ οὐχ ὡς νεκρῶν ἀλλ' ὡς ζώντων Θεὸς εἶ: ὅτι πάντων αἱ ψυχαὶ παρὰ σοὶ ζῶσιν καὶ τῶν δικαίων τὰ πνεύματα ἐν τῇ χειρί σού εἰσιν, ὧν οὐ μὴ ἅψηται βάσανος: πάντες γὰρ οἱ ἡγιασμένοι ὑπὸ τὰς χεῖράς σού εἰσιν: αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν ἔπιδε ἐπὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου τόνδε, ὃν ἐξελέξω καὶ προσελάβου εἰς ἑτέραν λῆξιν, καὶ συγχώρησον αὐτῷ, εἴ τι ἄκων ἢ ἑκὼν ἐξήμαρτεν, καὶ ἀγγέλους εὐμενεῖς παράστησον αὐτῷ: καὶ κατάταξον αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τῶν πατριαρχῶν καὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνός σοι εὐαρεστησάντων, ὅπου οὐκ ἔνι λύπη καὶ ὀδύνη καὶ στεναγμός, ἀλλὰ χῶρος εὐσεβῶν ἀνειμένος καὶ γῆ εὐθέων σοὶ ἀνακειμένη καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ὁρώντων τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου, δι' οὗ σοὶ δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ σέβας, εὐχαριστία καὶ προσκύνησις ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας: ἀμήν. Καὶ ὁ διάκονος λεγέτω: Κλίνατε καὶ εὐλογεῖσθε. Καὶ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος εὐχαριστείτω ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν λέγων τάδε: Σῶσον, Κύριε, τὸν λαόν σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, ἣν περιεποιήσω τῷ τιμίῳ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου, καὶ ποίμανον αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν δεξιάν σου καὶ σκέπασον αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγάς σου, καὶ δὸς αὐτοῖς τὸν ἀγῶνα τελέσαι τὸν καλόν, τὸν δρόμον ἀνῦσαι, τὴν πίστιν τηρῆσαι ἀτρέπτως, ἀμέμπτως, ἀνεγκλήτως, διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ σου Παιδός, δι' οὗ σοὶ δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ σέβας ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας: ἀμήν.