November 17, 2003
The Pious Pastors of the Holy Metropolis of Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
In regard to the Trisagion Services for departed laity on the day, or on the evening, before the funeral, it has been the tradition of the Orthodox Church for many centuries to hold these in the home of the deceased. Today, however, funeral homes provide facilities for these services on behalf of the family.
The Trisagion Services only for clergy—bishops, presbyters, and deacons—are held in the church, usually in the cathedral parish or in a parish they served.
It sometimes occurs that special memorials are conducted by fraternal or veterans organizations for their members. These are held at the funeral home or at grave side; they are never to be held in the parish church. When such memorials are conducted they must always take place at the funeral home or at the grave site either before or after the Orthodox service; the priest should not be present for these.
It occasionally occurs that there is not enough room at funeral home chapels to accommodate a large number of individuals expected to attend the Trisagion Service for a very well-known layman. In these rare cases specific permission is required, and has to be explicitly requested from the metropolis hierarch to hold the Trisagion in the parish church. This is an extraordinary and rare circumstance, and should not be generally promoted. Should it occur, no fraternal or veterans organization services or memorials may be held in the church, but they may take place after the funeral at the grave site.
Please keep in mind, that it has always been, and will continue to be, the tradition and practice of the Orthodox Church that only those services specifically prescribed by the Orthodox tradition, and which are provided in the Orthodox service books, may be held in the church; there is no exception to this rule. There may not be any recitation of poems, songs, eulogies, or any other such deviation from the specific order for the Funeral Services; these things can be done by the laity at the Makaria if people choose to do so. The homily at a funeral must always have the resurrection as its theme.
All of you should also be aware that no funeral can take place if the body is not present (e.g. someone is lost at sea) or if the body will be cremated. If you know that the family plans to cremate the body the only service you may do is the Trisagion at the funeral home (never in the church).
With Paternal Blessings,
Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver