Saints for Grief and Sorrow
The Orthodox Church does not hurry grief. Mourners pray before the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” and St Xenia, widowed in her twenties, is beloved by the bereaved. The Church keeps Saturdays of the Departed, including Dmitrievskaya Saturday before St Demetrios’s day, and Radonitsa after Pascha, when families remember their dead by name. St John the Warrior is asked for comfort in grief and sorrow. An icon and a candle for the forty days is the gift Orthodox families give each other at a loss.
The saints the Church turns to
The Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.”
Asked for comfort in sorrow and grief.
Dormition, 15 August (28 August on the Old Calendar).
St Xenia of Petersburg
Beloved by widows; asked for the souls of those who died suddenly.
24 January (6 February on the Old Calendar).
St John the Warrior
Asked for comfort in grief and sorrow.
30 July (12 August on the Old Calendar).
St Demetrios
Remembered with all the departed on Dmitrievskaya Saturday, the Saturday before his feast.
26 October (8 November on the Old Calendar).
In our shop
Christ (Zvenigorod Saviour) & Vladimir Mother of God$69
Prayer rope50 knots.$24
St John the Warrior & Guardian Angel$69
St Olga of Alaska & Guardian Angelasked for comfort in grief.$69
- Icons of the Mother of God — wooden.
- St Xenia icon (coming soon)
How Orthodox Christians pray for this
The Psalter is read for the departed, and the Church serves memorials on the third, ninth and fortieth days and on the anniversary. Greek families bring kolyva, boiled wheat, to the memorial. Names of the departed are given at every Liturgy and on the Saturdays of the Departed. A candle burns before the icon for forty days.
Have it consecrated by our priest before it reaches you — Consecration, $49.
Questions
Who is the patron saint of grieving?
Orthodox Christians pray to the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and to St Xenia. Catholics often name Our Lady of Sorrows.
What do you give an Orthodox family after a death?
An icon, a candle for the forty days, and the promise to pray for the departed by name.
