Death is an integral part of life. Sooner or later, we all face the loss of loved ones; it is impossible to understand this process with the human mind. No one but God knows in what mysterious way the soul connects with the body at conception and how it leaves it. Therefore, after the death of a loved one, we try to scrupulously observe all the traditions and rituals known from ancient times. Not all of them are related to Orthodoxy, but the funeral of the deceased is the most necessary and important rite, which the relatives of the deceased should take care of.
What is a funeral service?
The funeral of the deceased is a special church rite performed over the body of a deceased person. Only an ordained clergyman who has the right to perform church sacraments can conduct a service. It is believed that the funeral of the deceased inchurch is the most important rite, expressing reverence, respect and love of those close to the deceased. It is held only for Orthodox Christians.
The funeral of the dead: the meaning and purpose of the rite
Many, even deeply religious people wonder why the funeral of the deceased is needed - after all, his soul has already left the body at the time of death, and relatives cannot help her in any way. It makes sense.
In fact, the funeral of the deceased is necessary in order to cleanse the soul of the deceased Orthodox from sins and the burden of earthly life. The soul is forgiven of its sins, and with their prayer, the relatives of the deceased help it cope with the trials that it must overcome on the way to God. The clergy say that until the soul appeared before the face of the Lord on the fortieth day, it is necessary to pray for it. After all, every prayer helps the soul to enter the Kingdom of God more easily. The clergy themselves consider the funeral service to be the most important part of the funeral Orthodox rite. Keep in mind that only those sins that a person repented of at confession before death can be forgiven.
Who can't be buried?
There is a special category of people for whom the funeral ceremony of the deceased is inaccessible. First of all, this applies to people of other faiths and people who were once baptized according to the Orthodox custom, but rejected God and lived their lives without faith. It is also forbidden to bury those who bequeathed to bury themselves without this rite. In this case, the will of the deceased is carried out strictly.
Suicides should also be buried without funerals. The clergy explain thisthe prohibition is as follows - human life is a gift from God, and only he decides when to stop the earthly path of the soul. Therefore, the act of suicide is equated with the sin of pride, when a person considers himself equal to the Lord and disputes his rights. In addition, suicides are considered the spiritual descendants of Judas, who could not bear the burden of his sin. The only exceptions are the madmen who committed suicide. In this case, the relatives of the deceased must submit a petition to the Diocesan Office and attach all related documents explaining the situation.
The funeral of the deceased in the church is impossible for unbaptized babies, as they have not passed this sacrament.
Funeral service for baptized babies
A special rite is performed on babies who die after baptism. Their souls are considered sinless; up to seven years of age, children are buried only with prayers for acceptance into the Kingdom of God. The priest also prays for the comfort of the child's parents and for the sinless soul to become an intercessor before the Lord for the souls of their loved ones. This funeral service for the deceased in the church (the time is not regulated here) takes place in the same way as the usual ceremony for an adult. The Church does not separate souls by age.
The funeral of the deceased in the church: how long does the ceremony last?
It's hard to say how long the funeral will take. There are no specific rules in the church that regulate the time period that a church ritual will take. If it is very important for you to know in advance how long the funeral of the deceased lasts inchurch, then talk to the priest. He will tell you exactly how the process will go, and how long it will take. But on average, the funeral lasts no more than forty-five minutes, in some cases it can take half an hour.
The time of the funeral service does not affect the rite itself in any way, because the key moment is precisely the prayers of the clergyman over the body of the deceased. And nothing is said about the time of these prayers.
Remote funeral: is it necessary to conduct this ceremony?
The funeral service in absentia is still some stumbling block in church dogma. In fact, such a concept does not exist, because the rite itself involves prayers performed over the body of the deceased. This has a deep meaning - the body of the deceased, which was the Sacred Vessel for his soul, is brought to the church for the last time to honor his earthly life and facilitate the transition to the Kingdom of the Lord. Therefore, the funeral service in absentia does not make any sense for the soul of the deceased. Until 1941, such a wording had never even been encountered, but the war made its own adjustments. Mothers of dead soldiers often began to come to the church, whose bodies were buried far from their native land. Some were considered missing, so the only way to honor their memory was a funeral. The clergy went to meet the grieving loved ones, and performed the ceremony in absentia. Although, in fact, the funeral service in absentia is a funeral service, and not a funeral service in the truest sense of the word.
Remote funeral of the dead: how is it going?
As we alreadyclarified that the performance of the funeral ceremony does not make sense without the body of the deceased. But in some cases, priests make concessions to heartbroken relatives. This applies to people who died from infectious diseases, died as a result of a natural disaster (when the bodies were not found or nothing was left of them), or in the absence of a church and clergy nearby. In these cases, the only way out is an absentee funeral service.
How does this ceremony take place in the absence of the body of the deceased and relatives? Everything is extremely simple - the funeral service is ordered from the priest in the church. Then he independently conducts the ceremony and gives the relatives the land, the funeral aureole and permissive prayers.
How long does the funeral of the dead last in absentia? Exactly the same as the usual rite. But once again we clarify that if you want to do this and have all the opportunities, then be sure to hold a regular church funeral. So you will do a good deed for the soul of the deceased.
What needs to be done before the funeral?
Priests advise from the moment of death of a loved one to start reading the Ps alter. It is desirable to read it day and night before the funeral. Absolutely any Orthodox person can do this; in some cases, clergy are invited home for these purposes. They have the necessary experience and can help you in such a difficult time. You can buy the Ps alter in any church shop, it should be available to any believer.
The funeral is held on the third dayafter death. This is due to Orthodox beliefs that until the third day the soul is close to loved ones and still cannot tear itself away from them. From the third to the ninth day, the soul is shown the Kingdom of God, and until the fortieth day it goes through its entire earthly path and re-experiences all sins. Only on the fortieth day does the soul come to the Lord and there it is decided where it will wait for the Last Judgment. The prayers of relatives and clergy in this case play a purifying role and help to pass into the Eternal Kingdom.
Accompany the coffin with the deceased to the temple should be all relatives, led by a priest. Previously, it was customary to stop at every intersection to read prayers. Now quite often stops along the way are made regardless of the presence of intersections. The priest simply stops the procession and asks everyone present to pray for the soul of the deceased. There may be several such stops, their number is not regulated anywhere.
Preparing for the funeral: what is needed?
After the death of a person, you must immediately come to church and agree with the priest about the funeral. This must be done as quickly as possible, because the day may already be occupied by some other rituals.
Before the funeral, you must have a few items with you. A shroud, a funeral aureole, a small icon, a pectoral cross and a permissive prayer are placed in the coffin for the deceased. All this can be purchased at the church. It is also mandatory to have candles, you do not need to put them in the coffin.
Relatives of the deceased are often worried about how much the funeral ceremony costs. Herethere is no definite answer - the church does not have a price list for its services. Therefore, usually the family of the deceased leaves donations for the needs of the church for the ritual performed. The amount should not be agreed in advance.
Unfortunately, many modern clergy succumb to the temptation and set fixed prices for all church rituals and ceremonies. This is a fundamentally wrong approach, but if there is no other church nearby, then you will have to perform the funeral service for the deceased by paying the specified amount of money.
How is a church funeral held?
So, you have decided to hold the funeral service for the deceased in the church. How is this ritual going? Everyone who will take part in it should know about this.
After the coffin with the body, covered with a shroud, was brought into the church, a funeral wreath is placed on the forehead of the deceased. The coffin should face the altar, four lighted candles are placed around it. One candle is placed in the hands of the deceased, they should be folded on the chest. Each of the relatives and those present at the funeral should hold a lit candle in their hands, they symbolize the victory of life over death.
Above the body of the deceased, the priest reads prayers, excerpts from the Holy Scriptures and psalms. It is good if the relatives of the deceased also know these prayers and sincerely pray for the soul of the deceased. Such sincerity can strengthen the prayers offered to God several times over. In the process of the funeral of the deceased, the priest asks to forgive the soul of the deceased for all sins and cleanse it before the face of the Lord. Howthe stronger the prayer will be, the easier it will be for the soul to find itself in the Kingdom of God after ordeals through the milestones of its life.
After that, the clergyman reads the permissive prayer, after which the sheet with its text is put into the hand of the deceased. Now each of the relatives can approach the coffin and say goodbye to the deceased. First of all, you need to kiss the icon, and then the rim on the forehead of the deceased. At this point, you can ask for forgiveness and say the last words.
At the final stage of the funeral service, the priest prayerfully covers the face of the deceased with a shroud and crosswise sprinkles his body with consecrated earth. Earlier at this point, the coffin was covered with a lid and nailed down. Now this can be done in the cemetery just before the burial.
The icon that was near the deceased can be immediately taken with you. Some relatives leave her in the church and take her home a few days later. The church does not make any prescriptions in this regard.
Funeral at home: the essence of the ceremony
The funeral of the deceased at home may be possible in the following cases:
- death from infectious disease;
- lack of possibility of transporting the body to the temple;
- extremely difficult physical and emotional state of the next of kin.
How is the funeral of the dead in this case? The ceremony itself is no different from the church, but it is worth taking care of the special decoration of the room. You will definitely need to put a memorial table and candlesticks. Also, there should be icons in the room, the priest will tell you which ones should befuneral service.
In addition to the home and the church, the funeral can be done in the crematorium or the hall of funeral services. In some cases, the ceremony takes place in the cemetery chapels, if they stand on its territory. Priests believe that this option is one of the most acceptable and convenient for the relatives of the deceased.
Burial rites not related to Orthodoxy
Unfortunately, modern man is filled with a lot of superstitions and fears. The clergy are extremely negative about the mixing of pagan funeral rituals with the Orthodox. And it is worth noting that even very religious people sin with this. Therefore, it is necessary to know those things that Orthodox Christians should not do when burying their loved ones.
First of all, the church condemns the abundance of wreaths and music during burial. Wreaths of artificial flowers are related to pagan rituals, you do not need to completely lay the grave with them. This only speaks of the material we alth of the relatives of the deceased. If you want to show respect to the soul of the deceased, then just plant perennial flowers on the grave - they will symbolize the victory of life over death. Music is also not a charitable accompaniment of the deceased to another world. In churches, during the funeral, musical accompaniment is not used, it is believed that nothing should distract the soul from the transition to the Kingdom of God.
Such a popular tradition to put a glass of vodka and bread for the deceased at the wakealso has nothing to do with Orthodoxy. It is unacceptable to drink alcohol at the wake. After all, the commemoration itself is held in order to remember all the good things about the deceased and send him a kind word to the afterlife.
Priests also condemn such pagan traditions as hanging mirrors, wiping the floors after taking the coffin out of the house, and throwing coins into the grave. You do not need to put any of his personal belongings in the coffin of the deceased. All these superstitions will not make it easier for the soul to stay in the afterlife, they only show the degree of limitation and fear of death that burdens the life of an ordinary person who does not have enough faith.
Many Christians worry when they start dreaming about the deceased. They begin to go to the cemetery and call the priest to consecrate the house. In fact, the soul that comes in a dream shows concern for you, it asks for prayers. Therefore, you need to pray harder for the deceased, you can order a special liturgy in the church or put candles yourself for the repose of the soul on certain days. All this will eventually make the appearance of the soul of the deceased in a dream a rare event. In Orthodoxy, dreaming dead souls are not a bad omen, they should not be feared.
The funeral service for the dead is the ritual without which the earthly path of an Orthodox Christian cannot end. Keep in mind that the responsibility for its implementation lies entirely on the shoulders of the relatives of the deceased. They must see to it that everything is done in accordance with the laws of the Church. And do not be afraid of death, tryingperform all funeral rites as "correctly" as possible. After all, most of them came to us from dark times, when the light of true faith had not yet penetrated the souls of people.
Of course, going through the death of a loved one is very difficult. But, the main thing that Orthodox Christians should remember is that death is not the end, it is just the transition of the soul to another world. And it is necessary to live with dignity what the Lord measured out for you, in order to meet again with all those whom we loved so much in this life beyond the borders of earthly existence.
