When paying our last respects to the deceased, we most often think about how to honorably see him off on his last journey, we take care of organizing a funeral, arranging a memorial meal, and making a monument. But the deceased no longer needs any of this. In the church understanding, the memory of the deceased is a prayerful memory. The basis of such church memory is prayer addressed to God, the Mother of God, and the saints - saints of God. The Holy Church calls upon us, the living, to pray for the departed, for they no longer have the opportunity to pray for themselves. We must pray for the forgiveness of their sins and for the repose of their souls in the heavenly abodes, pray that God’s good memory of them will be eternal... Recommended for publication by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.