Orthodox Prayer for the Dead: O God of Spirits and of All Flesh

The best-known Orthodox prayer for the dead is “O God of spirits and of all flesh,” prayed by the priest at every funeral and memorial service (Panikhida) in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Byzantine (Eastern) Catholic Churches: it asks God to give the departed rest “in a place of brightness, a place of verdure, a place of repose, whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled away.” The service ends with the hymn “Memory eternal!” Below is the full prayer from a 1906 English translation, what it means, the Orthodox customs of the third, ninth and fortieth days, and how it compares with the Catholic Eternal Rest prayer.

O God of spirits and of all flesh

From the General Panikhida (memorial service), as translated by Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church (1906). The names of the departed are said at “NN.” The people answer Amen.

O God of spirits, and of all flesh, who hast trampled down Death, and overthrown the Devil, and given life unto thy world: Do thou, the same Lord, give rest to the souls of thy departed servants, NN., in a place of brightness, a place of verdure, a place of repose, whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled away. Pardon every transgression which they have committed, whether by word, or deed, or thought. For thou art a good God and lovest mankind; because there is no man who liveth and sinneth not: for thou only art without sin, and thy righteousness is to all eternity, and thy word is true.

For thou art the Resurrection, and the Life, and the Repose of thy departed servants, NN., O Christ our God, and unto thee do we ascribe glory, together with thy Father who is from everlasting, and thine all-holy, and good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto ages of ages.

For one person, say “the soul of thy departed servant, N.,” and “which he (she) hath committed.”

What the prayer means

“O God of spirits and of all flesh”: the Lord of the living and the dead (Numbers 27:16).
“Who hast trampled down Death”: the Resurrection of Christ, the faith of every Orthodox funeral.
“A place of brightness, a place of verdure, a place of repose”: heaven described with the images of Psalm 22 (23), “a place of pasture… the water of refreshment.”
“Whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled away”: from Isaias 35:10 (Douay-Rheims):

And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

“There is no man who liveth and sinneth not”: we pray for the dead because all of us need God’s mercy.

Memory eternal

At the end of a funeral or memorial service, the priest asks God to give the departed rest and make their memory eternal, and the choir sings three times: Memory eternal! (in Greek Eonia i mnimi, in Slavonic Vechnaya pamyat). It is not only a wish that people will remember the dead; it asks that God remember them forever, since to be remembered by God is to live in him. Orthodox Christians often say “May his (her) memory be eternal” when they hear of a death.

Orthodox customs of prayer for the dead

The third, ninth and fortieth days after death, and each anniversary, are kept with a memorial service. The fortieth day recalls the forty days between Christ’s Resurrection and his Ascension.
Koliva, boiled wheat sweetened with honey and decorated, is blessed at memorials. It recalls Christ’s words about the grain of wheat (John 12:24–25, Douay-Rheims):

Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal.

Soul Saturdays (Saturdays of the Souls), especially before Lent and before Pentecost, are days of prayer for all the departed.
Names of the dead are given to the priest to be remembered at the Divine Liturgy.

Orthodox and Catholic prayer for the dead

Orthodox and Catholic Christians share the ancient practice of praying for the dead. Byzantine Catholics use this same prayer and sing “Memory eternal.” In the Latin Church the best-known prayer for the dead is Eternal Rest:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

See the Eternal Rest prayer and Catholic prayers for the dead.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Orthodox prayer for the dead?

“O God of spirits and of all flesh, who hast trampled down Death,” prayed at funerals and memorial services, followed by “Memory eternal.”

What do Orthodox Christians say when someone dies?

“May his (her) memory be eternal,” or “Memory eternal.” Many also say “May he (she) rest in peace.”

What is a Panikhida?

A memorial service for the dead, served after a death, on the third, ninth and fortieth days, on anniversaries and on Soul Saturdays.

More prayers for the dead

Texts and sources

“O God of spirits”: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church (Boston, 1906), General Panikhida, public domain (archive.org).
Eternal Rest: Charles J. Callan and John A. McHugh, Blessed Be God (1925), public domain (Wikisource), given in the plural.
Isaias 35:10 and John 12:24–25 (Douay-Rheims).