Leaving the lives of relatives, acquaintances, friends is capable of leaving long healing wounds on the soul. However, the benefit of the departed could be brought not only during their lifetime, but also after their death. Prayers for the repose can help the soul in the afterlife.
Instruction manual
1
Icon of Jesus Christ. After death, the soul aspires to its Father. Only now, weighed down by sins, does not always come to him. By prayers to the Lord you can beg him to have mercy on the departed sinner. We must remember that there are no sinless people. Even if during his life no one noticed anything bad behind the deceased, all the more so no one knew his thoughts and secret affairs. The icon of Jesus Christ is the main decoration of any red corner. She is the first one in front of whom it is worth praying for the deceased, reading the Psalter, akathist "God is all alive."
2
The Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the second obligatory decoration of the icon shelf. Jesus Christ, as the Son, hears the requests and pleas of his mother. Actually, not only his own, but also the whole of humanity, which he once handed over to her in maternal care. It is possible and necessary to read an akathist according to the newly-deceased, pray for their pardon in the kingdom of heaven before the icon of the Mother of God. There are a lot of icons of the Virgin, and there isn’t any special in this case. However, they especially pray for the deceased in front of the "Companion of Sinners, " the "Quick Hearing."
3
Icon of the Archangel Michael. In Orthodoxy - the Archangel of ethereal forces, i.e. head of the holy army of Angels and Archangels. Archangel Michael has a special mission, being the main fighter against the devil and human lawlessness. The memory of the Archangel is celebrated on November 21. It is very important to pray for the departed on the night of November 20-21. Through earnest prayers at this time, Michael lowers his wing to hell, and many, holding on to it, are saved. You can read both the akathist of the Archistrategy and his prayer.
4
Icon of a saint or saint whose name was carried by the deceased. Not always the worldly name that a person bears in everyday life and writes in a passport is the name given to him at baptism. Ideally, a child should be called by the name indicated in the holy calendar on the day when he was born. But to mothers and fathers, such names are not always to their liking, and what they choose may not be in the calendar. Baptism can only be by the name that exists in the Orthodox Church. Hence the difference between the names in the world and the names in the church. So you should know exactly what name the person was baptized with - Stasiki and Slaviki will receive special attention. Stas can turn out to be either Stanislav or Anastas, and Slava may even be Vyacheslav, Svyatoslav, etc. The saint, whose name the deceased bore, is a special intercessor for him before the Lord.
