Commemorations

Commemoration of our living and departed loved ones is perhaps the single best way that we can pray for them.  We include here an excerpt from The Soul after Death by Fr. Seraphim Rose which shows the worth of our prayers for the departed: Prayer for the Dead

We see from the above article the great efficacy and need to remember our friends and loved ones (both the living and the dead) at the Divine Liturgy as often as possible.  In order to facilitate the commemoration of both the living and the reposed we present here several options for your convenience.  Please contact us (info@stvladimiraami.org), with questions, concerns, or suggestions!

To arrange for the commemoration of your friends or loved ones at St. Vladimir's please follow these directions:

I. Open one of the files found here:

• For Commemoration of the Living

• For Commemoration of the Reposed

II. Type in the names of those you would like to be commemorated at St. Vladimir's at the Divine Liturgy.  If you have trouble typing the names in on your computer see III below.

III. Either:

• Save the file to your computer and send as an attachment to email (with instructions regarding how long you would like your friends and loved ones commemorated) to this address: info@stvladimiraami.org

• OR: Print out the commemoration slip and send to:

St. Vladimir Orthodox Church
Commemorations
9900 Jackson Rd.
Dexter, MI 48130

IV. Please follow these suggestions when filling out your commemoration slips:

Church Commemoration Lists
From the book Fundamentals of Orthodoxy (in Russian)

• Write legibly.

• (If written in Russian) Names should be in the genitive case.

• Use the full form of the name, even if commemorating a child (e.g. not Seryozha but Sergei).

• Learn the church spelling of saints’ names (e.g. not Polina but Apollinaria; not Artyom, but Artemus; not Yegor, but George).

• The names of clergy should be preceded by their rank, in full or using a recognizable contraction (e.g. priest Peter, abp. Nikon).

• Do not include surnames, patronymics, titles, or professions of those commemorated, and do not indicate their relationship to you.

• It is permissible to include the words “soldier,” “monk,” “nun,” “ill,” “traveling,” or “imprisoned.”

• Conversely, do not use the terms “erring,” “suffering,” “embittered,” “studying,” “grieving,” “virgin,” “widow,” or “pregnant.”

• In commemorating the reposed, it is permissible use the terms “newly-translated” (for one who has reposed within the past 40 days), “ever-memorable,” or “murdered.”

Lists of commemorations may be offered for the Proskomedia, the first part of the Liturgy, at which particles are taken from prosphoras for each of the names listed; later, the particles are put into the Chalice containing the Blood of Christ, as a prayer for the remission of sins of those commemorated is read. Lists of commemorations may also be offered at Moleben and Panikhida services.

V. This is a free service - the Orthodox Church does not charge for prayers, of course!  However, if you would like to make a donation as a thanksgiving for this service please include a check in your envelope when you send your commemoration slips to the parish made out to "St. Vladimir Orthodox Church".  If you are submitting your commemoration slips via email and would like to make a donation we ask that you send that donation along via post.

VI. St. Vladimir's offers bound books of commemoration slips at our parish kiosk.  You may prefer to purchase one of these as a convenience or to send your long-term commemorations to us in one of these books.

VII.  If you would like to receive a prosphora for those who are commemorated we can arrange this, but we ask that you contact our Rector, Fr. Gregory (ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org), if you are interested in this service.

VIII. We encourage the pious tradition of commemorating the newly-reposed for forty days after their death.  In Russian we call this Sorokoust.  At St. Vladimir's we are not presently able to serve the Divine Liturgy daily, and the Sorokoust assumes the daily service of the Divine Liturgy.  However, we are happy to be a resource for you in arranging a Sorokoust at those monasteries where the Divine Liturgy is served daily, both in Russia and abroad.  Please contact us to discuss this further.

XI. For all questions, concerns, suggestions, or to update the list of those you have arranged to be commemorated at the Divine Liturgy at St. Vladimir's please contact:

St. Vladimir Orthodox Church
Commemorations
P.O. Box 2072
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
info@stvladimiraami.org