From the point of view of the Church, suicide is considered the most serious sin. Suicides are not funeral services, funeral services are not served for them, they do not pray for the repose of their souls during services, and in pre-revolutionary Russia they were even buried outside cemeteries.
There is a popular belief that the Church nevertheless commemorates people who voluntarily passed away, only once a year - on the Saturday preceding the feast of the Holy Trinity (this day of remembrance of the dead is called Trinity parental Saturday). This performance comes from one of the chants that are sung on this day in the temple, there really are words about people who committed suicide, but they are not remembered by name.
The Church never prays for suicides - not on any days, under any circumstances - and it is useless to beg priests for this. The exception is those who committed suicide in a state of mental disorder, being unable to take responsibility for their actions, and this is confirmed by a certificate from a doctor. Such people are remembered in the same way as everyone else, but only with the written permission of the bishop.
Why suicides are not remembered
The church refuses to commemorate suicides not because it does not grieve for their fate or does not sympathize with the grief of their loved ones. She does not do this for the same reason that she does not pray for the unbaptized.
God gives life to a person, only He has the right to decide when it will end - and no matter how pleasant life is to a person. From the Christian's point of view, life on earth is a path of trials that must be accepted with humility, understanding their significance for spiritual growth. By arbitrarily renouncing life and the trials that it carries, a person puts his will above the will of God, thereby demonstrating an outlook on the world that is absolutely inconsistent with the Christian doctrine.
Such a person finds himself outside the Church - like an unbaptized one, therefore, she can no longer do anything for him. Of course, other sins are placed in a similar situation for a person, but they at least presuppose the fundamental possibility of repentance, while a suicide deliberately cuts off this path for himself. The priests do not undertake to assert that for such people there is absolutely no hope - only God can know everything about someone's posthumous fate, but the suicide has to be completely entrusted to His will.
Private prayer
The impossibility of church commemoration forces the close people of the suicide to seek at least some consolation in the cell - individual, home prayer. There is no direct prohibition on private prayer for suicides in the Church, but this can be done only with the blessing of the confessor. However, priests are reluctant to give such blessings, and for good reason.
Prayer for suicide, to a certain extent, becomes a manifestation of pride: the person who does it may seem that he is more merciful to the Church or even God himself. In addition, by praying for someone, a Christian becomes involved in the state of that person's soul. The soul of a suicide leaves the world in a state of despair, despondency, or even anger, hostility to God. The one who prays for him can "become infected" with this condition, therefore priests do not advise praying for suicides.
If the blessing of the priest is nevertheless received, you need to read the prayer of the Monk Leo of Optina. A good way to help the soul of a suicide is by giving alms to those in need.
