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duh

An app for the commemoration lists of Orthodox monasteries and parishes

Every name handed in reaches the right service.

With duh, a pomelnic (the names a believer hands in to be commemorated) goes from the candle desk to the list for the right service and is read there.

Write to us at contact@calculemus.md

  • Paper stays.
  • Donations belong to the monastery.
  • Someone at the candle desk checks every name.
The list for a service on plain A4 paper: names in large type, in two columns, the living and the departed on separate sheets. A pomelnic whose names are not yet checked prints as its photo. This one is in Romanian; lists can also print in Russian.

Want names commemorated? Give them to your monastery or parish directly; this site, duh.md, takes no names and no donations.

From the candle desk to the service

duh keeps track of each pomelnic, from the candle desk to the list read at the service.

The pictures show simplified app screens. The app works in Romanian and Russian; these are its Romanian screens.

  1. At the candle desk, the pomelnic is photographed

    The pomelnic is handed in on paper, as it is now, and photographed with a tablet or a phone. It is saved at once, even without internet, and sent when the connection returns. Names for commemoration given by phone are typed straight into the app.

  2. The list for each service is ready at the set hour

    For the Divine Liturgy, an akathist, the Psalter or a memorial service, the list is ready at the hour the monastery chooses. You print it from the app on a plain A4 sheet. The app makes out the names in the photo; until someone at the candle desk checks them, the photo of the pomelnic prints on the list instead. A pomelnic handed in after the list is ready goes on a short additions list, printed before the service.

  3. After the service, the list is marked as read

    One tap marks the list as read, and whoever is at the candle desk can do it: the priest needs no tablet. A forty-day commemoration goes on the list of every service it is due for, up to its last day. For any pomelnic, you can see every list it was on.

  4. The giver can learn by e-mail that the names were read

    A pomelnic typed into the app can carry the giver’s e-mail address. If they agreed to be told, they get a short e-mail after the first service, not after each one. It says at which service and on which day the names were included in the list and read. The e-mail can be in Romanian, Russian or English. Each monastery decides whether these e-mails are sent.

What we promise the monastery

  • A flat subscription, never a share of donations

    The monastery pays a flat subscription for duh, invoiced separately; nothing is taken from donations.

  • A suggested donation, not a price

    The monastery sets its own suggested donations, or none at all; duh proposes no amounts.

  • Donations belong to the monastery

    Donations given with a pomelnic at the candle desk stay with the monastery; duh only records them. At the end of the day, that money is counted and checked against what was recorded.

  • The names belong to the monastery

    We keep them for the monastery alone. No ads, and nobody is tracked. The lists are never sold, shared or used for anything else. After the commemoration ends, names and photos are kept only as many days as the monastery decides, then deleted.

  • Someone at the candle desk checks every name

    Artificial intelligence only makes out the handwriting in the photo. It writes to no one, never speaks for the priest or the community, and leaves whatever it cannot make out to a person.

  • Paper stays

    The pomelnic is handed in on paper, as it is now, and photographed. The priest reads from a printed list.

How a pilot starts

Because duh is new, we are looking for the first monastery to try it for 60 days. Parishes are welcome to write too.

  1. A conversation

    We talk with the abbot or abbess and the people at the candle desk about how names are handed in today.

  2. The blessing

    The abbot or abbess gives a blessing in writing and signs an agreement on how the names are kept.

  3. 60 days

    Together with you, we set up your services and kinds of commemoration, and teach the people at the candle desk on the spot. On the first day, we also enter the names from the candle desk’s notebook that are still being commemorated. For the first week the notebook stays, and the printed list is checked against it. After that, new names go only into the app, and once a week we check the lists together against the paper slips.

  4. The decision

    At the end, the abbot or abbess decides in writing whether the monastery keeps using duh.

Questions and answers

What is duh.md?

duh is an app for the commemoration lists of Orthodox monasteries and parishes in Moldova. Each pomelnic (the names a believer hands in to be commemorated) goes on the printed list for its service, and after the service that list is marked as read. Calculemus SRL makes duh in Chișinău. The name duh is the Romanian word for spirit.

Does the pomelnic stay on paper?

Yes. With duh, the pomelnic is handed in on paper, as it is now, and photographed at the candle desk. The list for each service prints on a plain A4 sheet, and the priest reads it from paper, without a tablet.

What if the handwriting is hard to read?

In duh, artificial intelligence makes out the names in the photo of the pomelnic and leaves what it cannot make out to a person. A person at the candle desk checks every name before it goes on a list. Until then, the photo itself prints on the list for the service, so the priest reads the pomelnic as it was written.

Does duh take a share of donations?

No, duh takes nothing from donations: they belong to the monastery. The monastery pays a flat subscription for duh, invoiced separately. The monastery also sets its own suggested donation for a pomelnic, or none: it is a donation, not a price.

What happens to the names after the commemoration ends?

After the commemoration ends, duh keeps the names, the photos and the giver’s contact details only as many days as the monastery decides, then deletes them. Only totals remain: how many pomelnic slips were handed in and how much was given with them. The lists are never sold or shared.

Is duh church management or accounting software?

No, duh does no bookkeeping, keeps no membership records and does not record church-shop sales of candles, books or icons. It does one job: it takes each pomelnic from the candle desk to the list for its service. Each month, duh prepares a report and a file for the accountant.

What does a monastery need to use duh?

duh needs internet, a tablet or a phone at the candle desk, and an ordinary A4 printer they can print to over Wi-Fi. The candle desk can keep taking names without internet; they are sent when the connection returns. The app is in Romanian and Russian, and staff sign in with a code sent by e-mail, with no passwords.

Write to us

Would you like to try duh at your monastery or parish? Do you have a question? Write in Romanian, Russian or English.

contact@calculemus.md