Order a memorial service

Days When Memorial Services are Not Held

1. On the 12 days from the Nativity of Christ to Theophany (Epiphany)
2. On the first week of the Great Lent
3. On the last week of the Great Lent (the Holy Week)
4. On the Bright Week (the first seven days of Easter)
5. On the Twelve Great Feasts:
   • Lord’s Feasts
     • The Nativity of Christ (December 25)
     • The Baptism of Christ (January 6)
     • The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Candlemas) (February 2)
     • The Transfiguration of Jesus (August 6)
     • The Exaltation of the Cross (September 14)
     • The Entry into Jerusalem (the Sunday before Easter)
     • The Ascension of Christ (forty days after Easter)
     • Pentecost (fifty days after Easter)
   • Theotokos Feasts:
     • The Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8)
     • The Presentation of the Theotokos (November 21)
     • The Annunciation (March 25)
     • The Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15)
6. On the Great Feasts:
   • Intercession of the Theotokos (October 1)
   • Circumcision of Christ (January 1)
   • Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24)
   • Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29)
   • Beheading of St John the Baptist (August 29)

There are other divine services for the commemoration of the departed. In addition to memorial services, the Church performs so-called ecumenical or parental services in memory of the deceased. These are held on special days known as Parental Saturdays. It is customary to bring food for such services; everything placed on the memorial table is considered an almsgiving in prayerful memory of our departed loved ones.

In everyday life, memorial services performed on commemoration days such as Meatfare Saturday, the Second, Third, and Fourth Saturdays of Great Lent, and the Saturday before Pentecost, are often referred to as parental services. While such services do not have a specific common name in the Typikon, the term "Parastas" is also commonly used to describe them. Thus, Parastases, Parental Saturdays, ecumenical or parental memorial services are one and the same; it’s just that different names are used in different geographic areas.