In the words of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, which we cited at the beginning, at the Moscow diocesan meeting in 2003, it was noted that only private, home prayer is and has always been allowed for the unbaptized, but “at the service we remember only the children of the Church who have joined it through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism” [5, p. 24]. This division between church and private prayer is essential.
The major work “On the Commemoration of the Dead according to the Charter of the Orthodox Church” was compiled by the New Martyr Athanasius (Sakharov), Bishop of Kovrov. In the section “Canon to the martyr Uar on deliverance from the torment of the dead in other faiths,” he writes: “Ancient Rus', with all the severity of its attitude towards the dead, found it possible to pray not only for the conversion of the living to the true faith, but also for deliverance from the torment of the dead in other faiths. At the same time, she resorted to the intercession of the holy martyr Huar. In the ancient canons there is a special canon for this case, completely different from the canon placed in the October Menaion under the 19th” [2, p. 202].
However, Bishop Athanasius places this section, as well as the sections “Prayer for unbaptized and stillborn babies” and “Prayer for suicides” in Chapter IV - “Commemoration of the deceased at home prayer.” He rightly writes: “At home prayer, with the blessing of the spiritual father, even those who cannot be remembered at church services can be commemorated.” “The commemoration of the departed, out of humility and for obedience to the Holy Church, transferred to our home cell prayer, will be more valuable in the eyes of God and more gratifying for the departed than done in church, but with violation and neglect of Church statutes” [2, p. 201, 205].
At the same time, about the statutory public worship, he notes: “All funeral services are precisely defined in their composition, and the time when they can or cannot be performed is precisely appointed. And no one has the right to transgress these limits established by the Holy Church” [2, p. 195].
So, in a church congregation headed by a priest or bishop, there is no way to legally pray for the unbaptized (as well as for the non-Orthodox and suicides). Let us note that the treatise by Bishop Athanasius deals with both the statutory divine service and the services according to the Trebnik (funeral service, memorial service). Moreover, in the first three chapters there is no mention of service to the martyr Uar. It is noteworthy that the Bishop himself writes at the beginning of Chapter IV: “We have touched upon all the various cases when the Holy Church allows or itself calls, sometimes strenuously calls for prayer for the departed. But all the previously listed cases of commemoration of the dead are performed with the priest” [2, p. 195]. Thus, the rite of vigil and non-statutory service to the martyr Uar, which we have considered, cannot be recognized either by the Orthodox liturgical text or by the rite of the Orthodox Breviary.
Many Holy Fathers spoke about the possibility of private commemoration in home prayer of those dead who cannot be remembered in a church meeting.
The Monk Theodore the Studite found only secret commemoration possible for such people: “unless everyone in his soul prays for such people and does alms for them” [13, p. 634].
The Venerable Elder Leo of Optina, not allowing church prayer for those who died outside the Church (suicides, unbaptized, heretics), bequeathed to pray for them privately like this: “Seek, Lord, the lost soul of my father: if it is possible, have mercy. Your destinies are unsearchable. Do not make this my prayer a sin, but Thy holy will be done" [2, p. 204].
The Venerable Elder Ambrose of Optina wrote to one nun: “According to church rules, a suicide should not be commemorated in church, but his sister and relatives can pray for him privately, just as Elder Leonid allowed Pavel Tambovtsev to pray for his parent. Write out this prayer... and give it to the family of the unfortunate person. We know many examples that the prayer conveyed by Elder Leonid calmed and consoled many and turned out to be valid before the Lord” [1, p. 106].
The testimonies of the Holy Fathers we have cited force us, in full agreement with the word of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, to raise in our Church the question of abolishing from the annual liturgical circle the non-statutory vigil service to the martyr Uar, not provided for by the Typikon, as contrary to canonical church norms.
In all likelihood, only the canon of the martyr Uar (but, of course, not the following of the “All-Night Vigil”) can in particular cases “for the sake of blessed wine” be recommended for home cell prayer for deceased non-Orthodox relatives with the obligatory prohibition of reading this canon in Orthodox churches and chapels at public services and services.