If you would like that a your
commemoration list be passed to the altar be read with attention and not
hurriedly, remember the following rules:
Write coherently, better in block letters
mentioning not more than 10 names in one petition.
Put the title at the top: "for the living" , or "for the departed."
Put the names into genitive case (answering the
question "whose").
Use the full name even if you are petitioning for
a child (e.g. not Seriozha, but Sergei).
Find out how to write the traditional church
variant of the names (e.g. not Polina, but Appolinaria ;
not Arteom, but Artemius, not Yegor but George).
Write the clerical title in front of the names of
clergymen; you can write them in full or use understandable abbreviations (e.g.
priest Peter or archb. Nicon).
A child under 7 is called a baby, from 7 to 15
a youth.
There is no need to indicate last names,
patronymics, positions and occupations of people in the petition,
neither should we show what kind of relations those people are to us.
The words "soldier," "monk,"
"nun," "sick," "travelling," "the
prisoner" are allowed to be mentioned in the petition.
On the contrary, we should not write
"lost," "suffering," "angry," student,"
"mourning," "maiden," "widow,"
"pregnant."
In the petitions for the departed you should note
"newly departed" (within 40 days upon death), "memorable"
(the dead who are remembered on that day), or "murdered."
We do not have to pray for those whom the Church
has sanctified (for example, Saint Ksenia, the fool-for-Christ).
We pray for the living who have orthodox names,
but only for those departed who had been baptized in the Orthodox Church.
Most churches provide special printed slips of
paper (usually located near the candle counter) for commemoration purpose. For
longer lists of names commemorated regularly, it is recommended to use a
booklet.
Commemoration lists can be submitted:
during proskomediya the first part of the
Liturgy for every name mentioned in the petition, some parts of special
phosphors are taken out to be dipped in Christs Blood with a prayer for
forgiveness of sins of those mentioned;
during the mass which is a common name used by
people when speaking of Liturgy in general and remembrance after it in
particular usually those petitions are read by priests and clergymen in front
of the Holy Altar;
during the litany
remembrance made publicly and aloud. It is usually read by a deacon.
When the Liturgy is over, in many churches those
petitions are read for the second time during other services for special
occasions. Petitions can also be submitted for a molieben or a commemorative
[funereal] service.
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