« On the day of Radonitsa (Commemoration of the Departed), His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh served a panikhida at the grave of Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) »

On May 11, 2021, on the day of Radonitsa, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh served a panikhida at the Old Brompton Cemetery in London, at the resting place of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom).

His Grace Vladyka was assisted by priest Dimitry Nedostupenko, Secretary of the Sourozh diocese.

At the end of the panikhida, the Archpastor laid a bouquet of white roses by the tomb cross on the grave of Metropolitan Anthony.

On Tuesday of the second week after Easter, which is called the Week of St. Thomas, the Orthodox Church celebrates Radonitsa - the day of special commemoration of the departed, the first after Easter.

According to the testimony of St. John Chrysostom (IV century), this feast was celebrated at Christian cemeteries starting from ancient times.

Etymologically, the word "radonitsa" goes back to the words "genus" and "joy", and the special place of Radonitsa in the annual circle of church feasts - immediately after the Easter week - obliges Christians not to go deep into worries about the death of their loved ones, but, on the contrary, to rejoice  their birth into another life - eternal life.  The victory over death, won by the death and resurrection of Christ, overcomes the sadness of temporary separation from relatives, and therefore, in the words of Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh, "we stand at the grave of the departed with faith, hope and Easter confidence".

It is on Radonitsa that there is a custom to celebrate Easter on the graves of the departed, where painted eggs and other Easter dishes are brought, where a memorial meal is served and part of the prepared food is given to the poor brethren in commemoration of the soul.  This real, living communication with the departed reflects the belief that even after the death they do not cease to be members of the Church of the God, Who “is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32).

The now widespread custom of visiting cemeteries on the very day of Easter contradicts the most ancient ordinances of the Church: the commemoration of the dead is never celebrated until the ninth day after Easter.  If a person dies on Easter, then he is buried according to a special Easter rite.  Easter is a time of special and exclusive joy, a feast of victory over death and over all sorrow and sadness.

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