Replies

"The memorial services (panikhidas) are not petitions for God to save the soul of the departed, but services of gratitude in hopes that he did."

In the Greek and Arab Churches the Memorial Service asks for God's mercy on the soul of the deceased and is somewhat different from the Slavic panikhidas. Here's a small part of the text from a Greek/Arab Memorial service:

"Priest: May the Lord God place his soul where the righteous repose. Let us ask for the mercies of God, the kingdom of Heaven, and the forgiveness of his sins from Christ our immortal king and God.

People:Grant this, O Lord.

Priest:Let us pray to the Lord.

People:Lord, have mercy.

Priest:O God of spirits and of all flesh, You have trampled down death and have abolished the power of the devil, giving life to Your world. Give rest to the soul of Your departed servant in a place of light, in a place of repose, in a place of refreshment, where there is no pain, sorrow, and suffering. As a good and loving God, forgive every sin he has committed in thought, word or deed, for there is no one who lives and is sinless. You alone are without sin. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your word is truth.

Priest:For You are the resurrection, the life and the repose of Your departed servant, Christ our God, and to You we give glory, with Your eternal Father and Your all holy, good and life giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages."

kosta: "The memorial services (panikhidas) are not petitions for God to save the soul of the departed, but services of gratitude in hopes that he did."

Kolo: In the Greek and Arab Churches the Memorial Service asks for God's mercy on the soul of the deceased and is somewhat different from the Slavic panikhidas

Actually, they are not different. The text is the same. I didn't express myself properly and your comment is spot on. What I was trying to say, but it didn't come out that way, was that the service, which is otherwise all about gratitude to merciful God, ends on a hopeful note rather than a petition, beginning with the hopeful May. At the the Dismissal the priest chants

May He Who has power over the living and the dead, Who Himself rose again from the dead, Christ our true God, through the prayers of His Most holy Mother, of the holy and God-bearing Fathers, of all the Saints, assign to the abodes of the Righteous the soul(s) of His departed servants. Give him (them) rest in Abraham's bosom, and number them among the Just, and have mercy on us, for He is good and the Lover of men.

Priest: O God of spirits and of all flesh, You have trampled down death and have abolished the power of the devil, giving life to Your world. Give rest to the soul of Your departed servant in a place of light, in a place of repose, in a place of refreshment, where there is no pain, sorrow, and suffering. As a good and loving God, forgive every sin he has committed in thought, word or deed, for there is no one who lives and is sinless. You alone are without sin. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your word is truth. (emphasis added)

What about Mary?