Information Concerning Funerals

Family and friends arranging a funeral are asked to contact the Parish Priest to schedule a convenient time for funeral services, which will also be coordinated with the family’s preferred funeral home. The Parish Priest will make all arrangements for the Cantor to lead the singing of responses at the services, usually with the assistance of choir members. All responses are sung and there is no musical accompaniment in accordance with the tradition and rubrics of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

At our parish the order of funeral services includes a memorial vigil service prior to the day of burial, a Parastas (also known as the Great Panakhyda). The term Parastas means “to stand by”. Through prayerful intercession we “stand by” the person who has fallen asleep. Our practice is to hold the vigil service in the church and (with the agreement of the family) to have the body of the departed Christian then remain overnight in the church rather than at the funeral home. Burial follows on the next day with a Funeral Divine Liturgy, ending with the Panakhyda (concluding portion of the Parastas) and Last Farewell to the deceased person. (If, on the day of burial, the funeral is to be celebrated without the Eucharist, then the Parastas may be served with readings as the Final Funeral Service.) Afterwards, the body is then taken in procession to the cemetery for a short Internment Service at the gravesite. A detailed explanation of the funeral tradition of our Church can be viewed in the PDF files listed below.

Following the internment at the cemetery most families hold a funeral reception or luncheon. The reception provides an appropriate informal setting for eulogies, slide or video presentations, testimonials and musical tributes for loved ones. The rental of the parish hall for a funeral reception can arranged with the Hall Manager. The parish does not provide catering for funerals; arrangements with outside caterers are permitted with the assistance and concurrence of the Hall Manager.

For the information of all, the Parish Pastoral Council has prepared a schedule of voluntary offerings related to all services including funerals in accordance with the guidelines of the Eparchy of Edmonton, as well as hall rental charges applicable to funerals. This schedule can be viewed by clicking here: Schedule of Voluntary Offerings for Special Intentions and Services.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
2015 Funeral Brochure for Edmonton Eparchy.pdf		831 kB
Пояснення Похонних Відправ.pdf		148 kB
Funeral Rites Explanation.pdf		91 kB