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FUNERAL The life and the body of every baptized Christian is considered sacred because it had on it the sign of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Chrismation, which he or she received on the day of Baptism. Also as a baptized person is considered part of the body of Christ, according the teachings of the Bible. So during his or her life the body and soul lived together, at the time of death the soul departs from the body to go to judgement and the body returns from where it was taken to the ground. The body even at the death is respected because it was the box that had carried that spirit. This is the reason the body at the funeral service is brought in the place where he or she was baptized the part of the Church called the Solea , also he or she where he or she was married. The Orthodox Church has rituals before and after death which are taken from the Jewish faith and the teachings written for the preparation of the dead body from the Old Testament and from the Apocrypha gospel. First, when somebody is seriously ill and the doctors tell you that their days are counted, you immediately call upon the priest and he reads some prayers. If the ill person has their mental capacity or of sound mind, the priest will ask him or her to Confess and then gives the person Holy Communion. These are called the last rights. If a person is suffering and the end of their life is not coming easy, again the priest is called upon and he performs a special service where he commands the spirit to go to rest with the company of the angels and end the bodily suffering of the patient.
The Body of every Orthodox Christian has to be washed with a spanch dipped in wine and holy water then a shroud has to be passed from the head of the body. To do this, you buy a new linen double sheet. ----X---------------- At the center of the sheet on the height of the x you burn the sheet by lighting an old Easter candle that you brought to your home from Easter and saved it at the icon shrine. When a whole is opened you die out the flame and pass from the head the shroud, the longer peace front and the shorter on the back. You pass it through the legs and you connect the edge with the peace that is on the backside. You cut like a ribbon from the second shroud and you pass it from the belt side to back and come sown at front from the shoulders to do the sign X on the chest. Then you sprinkle the shroud with rose water. On the top of this shroud they put all new underwear even new shoes one size larger then the usual, new dress or a nice one or suit. The second shroud goes in the casket opened and it the body is laid. The priest at the end of the service covers with the edges of the shroud the whole body and pours on it soil and oil and concludes the services. Then the priest leading the funeral to the cemetery takes the casket out of the church. At the grave side the priest reads another short memorial service and the body is lowered to the ground. The people who are around the grave throw dirt or flowers on the casket so the family invites people for a re-pass called makaria . At the makaria fish and red wine has to be taken in memory and repose of the soul of the deceased. Rules and Regulations for the funerals Only people who are baptized in the Orthodox Church are entitled to an orthodox funeral. Is strictly forbidden to cremate or burn the bodies, they have to be buried and decay in the ground from where they were taken. If a non-Orthodox Christian is married in the Orthodox Church that does not entitle the person to an Orthodox funeral, unless has converted to Orthodoxy through the Holy Sacrament of Chrismation or Baptism. The following memorial commemorations are a must and obligations for the next of kin. When you pick up a grave plot at the cemetery try to face the East. Memorial service when somebody dies, at the home, the grave on the 3rd. 9th and 40th day. 3rd, 6th, 9th month. 1st, 2nd, 3rd year on the Saturday of souls or when we visit the grave side with a priest. Memorial cakes called Kollyva should be made on the 3rd, 9th, 40th day. 3rd, 6th, 9th month. 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. On the 4 designated Saturday of Souls of the year. The names of the deceased can be given to the priest in the Altar to be read at the anniversary of their departure. Funeral Links:
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St. George Greek Orthodox Church
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