Last night parishioners were invited to eat potluck and attend a Moleben (pronounced 'molaybean,' which sounds tasty too). The always helpful Orthodoxwiki speaks of the service thus:
A molieben (also called a moleben, service of intercession, or service of supplication) is a supplication prayer service in honor of either our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, or a particular saint or martyr. It is a Slavic service, but closely related to the Paraklesis service. A molieben is usually served by an ordained priest, but a laymen can also do a molieben, although in a modified form.
Having been to a paraklesis service I can say that the two are very similar. A lot of "Lord Have Mercy"s. But, me being me, I wanted to know more about the history of it so I dug a bit deeper. Here's an encapsulation of what I found ...
How does the moleben compare to a paraklesis? The paraklesis is of course Greek in origin. It also differs in that the moleben does not use the canon. What the heck does that mean? I read further... it means that a lot of that Greek I heard sung when I went to the paraklesis service was from the Bible. The moleben lacks this bit, but is otherwise very similar.
Where did it come from? It came from the Slavic countries, but has grown in usage to other places over time. This is not a very good answer. I'll look into this further.
Who can do it and where? It is usually led by a priest, but can be done by a reader as well. This service can also be a processional. I can see that quite easily. It seems quite well suited to it with all the repetition.
I want pictures [foot stomping]! Where are the pictures? They're coming. Again, I failed to bring my camera.
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