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I wanted to ask what funeral practices are like in Eastern Christianity. Is there a Divine Liturgy said? Are the remains of the deceased present? Are there any other traditions?

Thanks!

The Funeral Service proper in Byzantine Christianity at least is the Order of Burial of a Layman.

Not really the Divine Liturgy - although in some rather latinised quarters, they do do the Div. Liturgy instead of the Order of Burial (which is too bad given that the Liturgy has hardly any references to death and the reposed person - as compared with the Order of Burial)

The remains of the person is present. There is properly no cremation.

The Funeral Rite for a Layman (Panahida) has three separate services. The first customarily took place at home, usually the front parlor: the deceased would be laid out and dressed, then placed in his coffin, which remains open. Today, this service usually takes place at a funeral home. The friends and family pay their respects, then the priest celebrates the first service. The casket is then moved to the church for the second part of the service, which does not include the Eucharist. After this, the final part of the service is conducted at the graveside.

The overall atmosphere of the services has been described as "bright sadness". Death is not viewed as an ending but a beginning. While there are numerous prayers for the repose of the deceased and the forgiveness of all his sins, there are also continual petitions that he be admitted to "a place of light and peace, where there is no pain, sighing or suffering". All the services end with the prayer, "Eternal memory", a petition that God should keep the deceased in mind forever, so that he may be granted life eternal.

The text of the services can be found here: The Order of Burial for the Dead (Layman) [orthodoxinfo.com]

Where possible, at least in our Melkite eparchy, the first service is still conducted in the family's home, surrounded by close friends and family.

It provides a wonderful chance for the clergy to visit the family at home.

Hard here, where so many people live in apartments or relatively small houses. Bringing the casket in or out can pose a significant logistic problem.

Thank you to everyone. I hadn't realized there was not usually a Divine Liturgy said. Is this mainly, as Herbigny said, because the Divine Liturgy does not mention the dead?

The Divine Liturgy certainly mentions the dead - at least during the Prothesis and the Anaphora. There is also at least one petition for the dead in the Ectene (after the Gospel). Some uses also have petitions for the dead in the Great Synapte, and some have an "Ectene for the dead" following the Ectene after the Gospel. It is not unusual to remember the dead during the commemorations at the Great Entrance.

Fr. Serge

Well, simply from a pastoral perspective, a large number of people come to funerals who are not baptized members and who would not, therefore, be allowed to receive the Holy Mysteries. How terrible it would be to exclude large numbers of the gathered community from participating in the "main event" -- which the Divine Liturgy would perforce become! (In a similar vein, our wedding service does not include Divine Liturgy: How rude it would be to invite people to come to a great celebration and then exclude them from receiving the Food and Drink!)

And perhaps the Divine Liturgy is not part of the wedding and funeral service for the very reason that if it were, then the Eucharist would become the focal point of the worship, superseding the marriage or funeral prayers.

Actually, the wedding was part of the Divine Liturgy--or, to be proper, the Wedding culminated with the Divine Liturgy and the reception of the Eucharist. This was the general practice of the Eastern Churches until the Middle Ages, when marriage became a "private" as opposed to an ecclesial sacrament. The custom of drinking from the common cup is a revenant of the sealing of the union through mutual reception of the Eucharist. Meyendorff lays out precisely how the transition was made, and also provides suggestions for how the proper context of the wedding should be restored, in Marriage; An Orthodox Perspective.


In the case of marriage, as with all the sacraments, Eucharist is the focal point, the sacrament of sacraments that seals all the Holy Mysteries. See Alexander Schmemann's Introduction to Liturgical Theology and For the Life of the World for the argument in full.
It's ironic that his suggestions for placing the Rite of Marriage back in the Divine Liturgy mirror very closely what has become a common Greek Catholic practice. Far from being a "latinization" (for marriage in the Latin Church had also become a "private" event), it represents a restoration of an ancient practice with great mystagogical significance.

This is becoming a big issue, at least in my Roman Rite circles. So many times, during funerals (and weddings too) there are few present who can partake in the Eucharist.

I am wondering what to do when my elderly mother passes, in light of the fact that few of my family members attend church any more.

As far as weddings go, the trend in my parish seems to be to make the focus more on the Eucharist itself. It is truly a perplexing problem as more and more people leave the church.

Thank you for your thoughts.

As I read this discussion I am thankful for the statement on Sacramental Practices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which states that the Eucharist is to be offered to all the Baptized who are communicants in their home congregations.

In the past few years communicants at Funerals at which I have presided have included Russian Orthodox, Amish, and Assemblies of God. The note in the worship folder (reinforced by verbal announcment before the Sursum) is that "all Baptized persons who believe and trust that Christ is truly present for the forgiveness of sin are welcome to receive".

In a few cases, an non-Baptized person has spoken to me afterward, expressing a desire to become part of the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism!

So?



Why?

There's no obligation to partake in the Eucharist by receiving Holy Communion.

Or, to be more exact, there is a obligation to receive Holy Communion at least once a year, at Easter time.

At least in the Roman sui iuris Church.

The ancient canons of the Eastern Churches hold that missing the Divine Liturgy for three consecutive Sundays without valid excuse automatically excommunicates and requires confession for readmission to communion. Frequent reception of communion remains the exception in most Orthodox Churches, a process that began in the fifth century and affected both East and West until the Catholic Church established the precept of annual confession and communion, and actively encouraged frequent reception of the Eucharist. Several modern Orthodox theologians, including Schmemann and Meyendorff, also endorsed frequent communion as the authentic Tradition, and with the encouragement of a number of hierarchs is becoming more common in the United States, Britain, France, Canada and Australia. In the traditional Orthodox lands, however, it is still exceptional.