Signs after the funeral and during them have been observed for more than one hundred years. It is believed that a neglectful attitude towards them can threaten with unpleasant consequences, up to inflicting damage on oneself.

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Signs after the funeral, before and during the burial

There are many signs that prescribe to the relatives of the deceased and everyone else who came to see him off on his last journey, how to behave at a funeral, and what not to do. Some of them were lost in the past and have not survived to this day, but many of the signs associated with the funeral are observed to this day.

Failure to comply with most superstitions and signs threatens with serious consequences - from illness to death. The energy of death is very heavy, and it does not forgive mistakes. Therefore, try to remember and observe signs during the funeral.

In the past, everyone knew and observed. Modern people think little about how to properly organize the burial and what to do in general. It is difficult to find a representative of today's youth who would have such knowledge, so older people usually follow what happens during the burial. But this does not mean that you do not need to learn from this experience.

Funeral superstitions - in the home

Even during the existence of numerous ritual offices, a large part of the organizational issues lies with the relatives of the deceased person. There are many points to be taken into account.

The deceased must not be left alone, not only in the house, but even in the room. Someone must always be near the coffin. There are many reasons for this. Items associated with the deceased have great magical power. Sometimes they are sought to be stolen by those who need these things for rituals. Care must be taken not to let this fall into the wrong hands. The church believes that the soul of the deceased needs prayer support, so you need to read the psalms and. Besides, leaving unattended is disrespectful.

There is another reason for this. The eyes of the deceased may open, and the one on whom his gaze falls will soon die. In order to prevent this, there should be someone near the coffin who will close the eyes of the dead if they open.

You may be interested in the article: signs if.

Immediately after death, all mirror surfaces should be hung with an opaque cloth. This is necessary so that the soul of the deceased does not fall into the mirror world instead of the afterlife. For forty days they do not open mirrors, because all this time the spirit is in its native places.

The piece of furniture on which the coffin stood should be turned upside down when it is taken to the cemetery. You can put it back only after a day has passed. If you ignore such a sign, the deceased may return in the form of a spirit. In order to prevent the accumulation of negative energy of death, an ax should be placed in place of the coffin.

Photographs to the deceased are not placed in any case, otherwise those depicted on it will die. So you can damage and kill the enemy from the world. However, this does not apply to photographs of the deceased (for example, the parents of the deceased).

The water used to wash the deceased is poured out in deserted places. So you will not allow it to be used in magic, because such water is not used for good deeds. Everything that was connected with the dead - a comb, soap used for washing, tourniquets, for tying hands and similar things - is placed in the coffin. They use such things only to induce damage.

When the legs of the deceased are warm until the very burial, this is a harbinger of the imminent death of someone living in the house. To avoid this, the dead man should be appeased by putting bread and salt in the coffin.

As long as there is a deceased in the housing, you can’t sweep it away, so you can “sweep out” everyone who lives here in the cemetery. But when they take him away to bury, there should be a person who will sweep and wash the floor in order to drive death out of the house. Tools for such cleaning are immediately taken out of the room and thrown away somewhere, they cannot be stored and used.

Be sure to leave a new handkerchief in the coffin so that the deceased has something to wipe sweat during the trial. Glasses, prostheses and similar things also put inside the coffin - personal items must go to another world with the owner.

If a funeral is taking place near you, and one of your family members is sleeping, be sure to wake it up, because the soul of the deceased can get into a sleeping person. Not all the dead calmly accept that they no longer live, and try to stay in the world of the living. You should especially worry about children and keep them awake during the funeral. And if your child is eating at this time, put water under the cradle.

Dogs and cats are not allowed in the room where the coffin is located. They can disturb his spirit. Jumped into the coffin. Howls and meows frighten the dead.

Near the threshold of the house with the deceased, spruce branches are placed so that relatives and friends who came to honor the memory do not carry death into their homes.

You can not sleep in a room with the deceased. If this happens, in the morning you need to eat noodles for breakfast.

Only widows wash the dead. Wash and dress in clean clothes before the body cools down. But after such a lesson, you can do a ceremony so that your hands never freeze. To do this, a small fire is lit from the chips and other wooden remains from which the coffin was made, and all participants in the washing warm their hands over it.

Why you can't look through the window at a funeral

If a funeral is taking place near you, you can’t look out the window, otherwise you will follow. There is such a sign, but few people know for sure why it is impossible to look through the window at the funeral. It is believed that for some time the soul of the deceased is next to the body, which, as you know, is in the coffin during the funeral. She experiences discomfort from staring at her through the window glass, and even if a good and gentle person is buried in every sense, his spirit can avenge such impoliteness.

It is known how the spirit of the deceased can take revenge - drag it with it to the world of the dead. Old people say that if you look out the window at a funeral or a dead person in general, you can get seriously ill. This disease can be fatal. This belief is especially true for children, whose energy protection is weaker than that of adults. The vengeful spirit will be able to cope with the child much faster.

If a look at the deceased was accidental, which is not at all uncommon, in the old days they immediately looked away and made the sign of the cross three times, and also mentally wished the Kingdom of Heaven to the deceased and prayed for his soul. If you have a desire to look at the funeral procession, you need to go out the door of the apartment or the gate and look from the street. Many have such a desire, and there is nothing wrong in sympathy even with a stranger.

Bad omens at funerals - on the street and in the cemetery

Under no circumstances should you cross the path of the funeral procession. As a rule, those who do not comply with this rule are in for a serious illness. It's hard to let that happen.

Some believe that if you cross the road of the funeral procession, you can die for the same reasons for which the one who was buried died.

If the grave is dug too large, it may threaten the death of another family member. A similar meaning is attached to the coffin lid forgotten in the house. This should not be allowed.

You can not carry the coffin to relatives. This should be done by friends, colleagues, neighbors or people from the ritual agency - anyone but relatives. Otherwise, the deceased can take them with him. The people who carry the coffin must tie a new towel around their hand.

Have you ever wondered why everyone who came to the funeral throws a handful of earth on the coffin? So that the ghost could not come at night.

Close the lid of the coffin is possible only in the cemetery. If this is done at home, death will come to the family of the deceased and to those who board up the coffin.

When the coffin is carried out, you can’t look into the windows - it doesn’t matter if it’s your own or someone else’s, otherwise you will attract death to this house. In order for none of the relatives of the deceased to die soon, they do not turn back.

You can not go in front of the coffin - this is to death.

If, when digging a grave, they stumble upon what is left of the old one - bones, for example, this portends the deceased a good life in the next world and means that his spirit will not disturb the living.

Before the coffin is lowered into the ground, coins are thrown there to buy a place in the next world.

Signs and superstitions at the funeral - after burial

During the commemoration, as a rule, they put a photo of the deceased, and next to it - a glass of vodka (sometimes with water) and a piece of bread. Anyone who drinks this vodka or eats the dead man's bread will fall ill and die. Even animals are not allowed.

After you return from the funeral, be sure to warm your hands with live fire or wash them in hot water. So you protect yourself from an early death. Many instead touch the stove or light candles to burn whatever they can get at the funeral.

You can’t cry too much for the dead, otherwise he will drown in your tears in the next world.

Every person has favorite places. Leave water there, because the soul is among the living for some time, and from time to time it needs water. Let it stand for forty days, top up from time to time. The relatives of the deceased cannot drink the same amount, and the lamp should also burn.

You should leave the cemetery without looking back. On the way out, wipe your feet.

The image that stood in front of the deceased must be floated on the water. They go to the river and put it on the water to float. You can’t store it, throw it away either, water is the only way to get rid of the icon so that it doesn’t bring trouble. In all other cases, take the icons to the church, they will decide what to do with them.

If extra burial items have been purchased, they are placed in a coffin or left in the cemetery. You can carry it away later if you missed this moment. You can not count the number of wreaths and ribbons for them, but they will remain in the cemetery in any case.

Dead energy

Cemeteries are simply saturated with negative (dead) energy. People come here not with joyful emotions. There is only pain, pity, hopelessness and absorbing grief. Of course, the energy of these feelings in cemeteries is everywhere.

Any thing, be it flowers or a souvenir, has a hidden meaning here and definitely means something. When grieving relatives decorate the grave with various trinkets, they put a piece of their soul into it, and the deceased relatives perceive this gift as a kind of offering, a manifestation of respect.

If we completely discard mysticism, then taking something from the graves, a person makes it unpleasant, first of all, to living people, relatives and friends of the deceased, who once again, having come, will not find the things they brought.

Cemeteries traditionally cause mixed feelings in people. Some of them are terrified of them, someone, on the contrary, considers them a place of boundless peace and serenity, preferring to walk along the cemetery alleys alone. However, it is always worth showing due respect to cemeteries. Games, drinking alcohol and photo shoots in cemeteries will not lead to good. Sooner or later, there will be retribution.

What is Necromagic

There is one powerful area of ​​magic practiced by some magicians and sorcerers - necromage. Here, in all rituals, a cemetery is certainly involved, with the help of dead energy, necromages induce or save people from damage, make terrible love spells.

The cemeteries concentrate powerful energy, which necromages know how to use. With the help of special rituals, a clot of dead energy is created that can absorb all living things.

By bringing something, a person, out of ignorance, can start the absorption process or make an energy transfer. The consequences can be very sad. The aura becomes vulnerable. Dead energy, like a cancerous tumor, eats up the energy of life. A person begins to fade right before our eyes, and this process is then very difficult to stop.

What do people carry from cemeteries

Sometimes you are simply amazed at the boundless imagination and irrepressible enterprise of some characters, who are ready to take the most extreme measures for the sake of profit, without even thinking about the consequences.

Enterprising old women collect flowers from the graves for sale. They can even bring “rejuvenating” apples from the churchyard, especially if they live somewhere nearby.

The fashion to leave small souvenirs on the graves came to Russia from Europe. Angels, icon lamps, beads, various knick-knacks, multi-colored pebbles give the grave a touching look. Many people began to decorate the burial places of their relatives and friends in this way. However, there are comrades who shamelessly take these things. Such graves are especially attractive. Of course, the parents are somewhere nearby, but for some reason they allow their children to take jewelry with them, without bothering to explain the danger and blasphemy of this act.

Probably, everyone had to become a witness of signs in the cemetery, which later came true. Definitely do not miss the signs that fate points to. It is necessary to own at least a few beliefs, and then you will know what can alert you, and what should not be given importance.

funeral superstitions

A visit to a cemetery precedes the death of a loved one or his funeral. A large number of ritual actions are associated with the ceremony of seeing off the deceased on their last journey.

They have special signs at funerals and in the cemetery:

• You can not bring fresh or artificial flowers from the cemetery, otherwise you risk getting sick.
• The same applies to any item taken from there. Taking away, you can get other people's misfortunes.
• It is better to put the deceased’s favorite little things in a coffin or bring them to the grave so that he does not come in a dream with requests to give.
• Eating at the cemetery or drinking alcoholic beverages is also prohibited. The commemoration of the dead with food is an ancient pagan rite that does not fit with Christian beliefs. It is better to give to the poor and visit the temple, order a memorial service for the deceased. This way of honoring the dead is more acceptable and spiritually beneficial.
• After the convoy carrying the coffin, they pour in life so that no one else from the household would die.
• Meeting a funeral procession on the street, passing in front of a traveling hearse or people carrying relics, promises danger and grief to a passerby.
• It happens that the coffin does not enter the prepared pit. In this case, they say that the land of the sinner refuses to accept or after the deceased there will be another dead person.
• On the contrary, a good sign for a person who has gone to the next world will be the presence in the prepared grave of an old burial with whole bones. Belief says that the deceased in the afterlife will find solace, and will not bother his relatives, coming to them in dreams and hallucinations.
• You should not brag about your good life in the cemetery, otherwise you will leave your luck here.
• Counting money during a funeral is a bad omen, you will become a beggar. If you accidentally take out banknotes from your pocket, you will have to leave it here. It can be on the grave of the one who was buried, or on the grave of a person with the same name as the owner of the money.

There are also traditions that are observed in the outback. For example, when taking a coffin with a body out of the house on a sleigh for a funeral service, the owner is supposed to look under the hooves of the horse harnessed to the wagon or stick a needle without an eye into the collar. This is only a small part of the existing ones.

A sign of a broken tombstone a priori cannot promise anything good. Provided that the monument deteriorated without human intervention, then in the near future there will be another dead person in the family of the deceased.

It doesn’t matter what damage the burial place received: whether the cross simply broke, the tombstone cracked, or the earth sank and a deep hole formed. Each change threatens the relatives of the person lying here with another death. However, you can understand who the old woman with the scythe will look for next time by determining which side the earth has collapsed from:

• from the south side - a man dies;
• from the northern “fell” - a woman will die;
• the eastern edge sank - an elderly family member dies;
• the earth has left the west - death will take a small child.

Speaking about the place of burial, it should be noted that the graves of evil and sinful people are covered with bad grass: nettle, thistle, wolfberry. And where the righteous is buried, lilies, forget-me-nots, hawthorn or roses grow.

The dead are able to transmit information through various animals, birds. No wonder birds in the old days were considered the embodiment of souls that had lost their human bodies. But the birds flying over the graveyard or the house where the deceased lies are not as dangerous as the cat, which was considered a mythical animal by the ancient Egyptians.

Here's what cat signs say:

• From the housing where the death occurred, pets were removed for a while so that the spirit of the deceased did not move into his pet.
• Which, lying at the base of the coffin, shows that the work will not end with one of the dead, the bony one will take someone else.
• Murka, who joined the funeral procession on the way to the churchyard, should be driven away. However, do this not with kicks, shouts, but with due respect, treating the fluffy escort with some kind of food.
• Do not worry when you see a cat sneaking past in a cemetery. It's just someone's spirit came to look at a new dead friend.

Dog in the cemetery- a negative sign and omen, especially if it curls at the coffin. Lies under it - to another imminent death.

It used to be that a black dog in a cemetery was a rebellious ghoul or evil spirit. If a dog barks or howls during a funeral, it disturbs the spirits, calls them. In any case, dogs that sense the subtle worlds were always treated with caution, moved away from the animal, did not welcome it.

Weak, impressionable natures, small children, poorly moving old people and.
Undoubtedly, to pay the last debt to the deceased and honor his memory with the presence at the funeral means to show the moral and ethical norm prescribed by society.

Only it will be completely out of place if such a person, having become agitated or stumbled, falls on the territory of the burial ground. He is destined for a sudden death. Even just stumbling, passing between the graves, means a warning about the negative impact received here.

Superstition advises a fallen person to immediately retire home, and there read Our Father three times, take a bath with holy water, light a church candle and cross herself with it.

It does not matter to the soul where a loved one will remember her. At the cemetery, in the temple or in a conversation with relatives. The main thing is that it should be sincere, and the memories should be bright, kind.

In a separate line, it is important to mention the frequent question: is it possible to take pictures at the cemetery. There are no signs as such, but pictures from the graveyard will not decorate a home album. But they can attract negativity to the monastery.

Taking pictures against the background of many graves, you capture the invisible world of the spirits of the dead and otherworldly beings, who will later easily find their way to you.

(Voronezh: NPO "MODEK" 2002)

What is a cemetery?

So, for a believing Christian, there is no darkness of death, in essence there is no death either, but only repose, or sleeping in the hope of a beautiful morning of resurrection.

For Orthodox Christians, unlike many other religions, the body is not a "dungeon for the soul." Christians believe in the resurrection of the whole person, and not just such an integral part of it as the soul. That is why cemeteries appeared in Russia as God's field of universal resurrection, and bodies are not burned and are not given to animals to be torn to pieces.

The order of burial in the cemetery

Burial in the cemetery of an Orthodox Christian takes place three days after death, if death did not occur as a result of a contagious disease. In such cases, with the permission of the doctor and at the request of circumstances, it is possible to bury earlier than three prescribed days.

On the first day of Easter, the Nativity of Christ and other highly solemn church days, burial can be performed no earlier than the beginning of the evening service or on the 2nd day of the holiday.

The body of the deceased is carried to the cemetery after the funeral service in the temple. The Holy Church, as a sign of reconciliation and unity with the soul of the deceased, on the edge of the grave, betrays his body to the earth. To do this, before closing the coffin and placing it in the grave, relatives and friends come up to say goodbye to the deceased, give him the last kiss. Usually they kiss the icon on the chest of the deceased and the forehead where the aureole lies, after which they return to the places where they stood before. After that, an icon is taken from the chest of the deceased, which must be left in the temple for up to forty days or immediately taken to the house of the deceased, and women who have menstruation on this day are said goodbye to the deceased.

After this, the deceased is completely covered with a veil and the priest throws the earth on the body of the deceased in a cross-shaped manner, “commits him to the earth” with the words: “The land of the Lord, and its fulfillment, the universe, and all who live on it.” Then oil is poured on the deceased as a sign that the deceased has already completed and accomplished the sacred feats to which he was called, and now his soul has to go through ordeals and reach the Kingdom of Glory. Finally, ashes from the censer are sprinkled on the body of the deceased as a sign that the death of a pious Christian, like fragrant incense, has died out for the earth, but not for heaven. If the cemetery is far from the temple, then this last rite is performed in the temple. At the same time, the troparion is sung: “From the spirits of the righteous...” Now the coffin is closed with a lid, which is nailed. After that, while singing the litia, the coffin with the body on ropes or on long wide towels is lowered into the grave, with its feet to the east, and while singing the troparions: "From the spirits of the righteous ..." the grave is covered with earth. Then, according to the order of the litia, a special litany is laid (the faithful prayer of the faithful to God for the deceased), and after the grave is completely covered, the dismissal is pronounced: “Glory to God, who arranged it.”

When the grave is covered, a grave mound is arranged above it. A cross is immediately made on a covered grave, even a small, temporary one, until a new one is put up, in the height of a person. The cross can be either inscribed on a tombstone or placed over a tombstone. The cross is placed at the feet of the buried person so that the crucifix is ​​facing the face of the deceased. The cross symbolizes the belief of Christians that the body of the deceased is here on earth, and the soul is in heaven. In past centuries, the Russians had a common custom of placing crosses with a gable covering on the graves, under which an icon was installed. Such crosses were called "chapel".

About the grave of an Orthodox Christian

The grave for an Orthodox Christian is an earthen bed, where he awaits the general Resurrection and the Last Judgment. Therefore, during the lowering of the coffin with the body into the grave, those who came sing three times: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” Before closing the grave, all those who came to the burial throw a clod of earth into it. This action symbolizes the words of God: "Thou art the earth, and unto the earth thou shalt return" (Gen. 3:19).

Rules of conduct in the cemetery

The graves in the cemetery are considered a place that cannot be desecrated: ruined, plowed up, and even more so, excavated in order to steal the preserved things from it. So, according to the rule of Basil the Great: "He who digs up coffins for theft, is excommunicated from the sacrament of the holy Mysteries of Christ for ten years." It is also forbidden to take wreaths, lamps left on the grave. It is also not permissible to turn graves into garbage dumps, including throwing earth on them when digging a new grave.

The Church does not forbid moderate mourning for the dead, but it does not allow obscene manifestations of mourning in the cemetery, which are characteristic of pagans. Loud moaning, tearing at one's own clothes are not characteristic of Orthodox Christians, who place their hope in God's Providence. So, the Russian people, although they took everything connected with death to heart, they never associated a cemetery with a gloomy place, as it is considered today. The cemetery for our ancestors was a place where they regularly came to pray for their deceased relatives, a place that led to useful reflections, a place where many soul-saving decisions were made in their lives.

Of course, modern cemeteries are significantly different from primordially Christian churchyards. It's hard not to notice the difference between the old traditional Orthodox monastery cemetery and the modern "remnant" of the Soviet era. If the old Orthodox cemeteries make you think about eternity, about God, about the deceased ancestors and spiritual connection with them, then the modern granite alleys of the "heroes" of gang warfare in full growth make you think about several other things. Looking at black granite, nothing but a feeling of cold and darkness arises. Even appearance tombstones and monuments of Orthodox Christians is strikingly different. If Christian tombstone inscriptions inspire hope and consolation, such as: “You will live in God”, “The soul returned to Christ”, “Here Alexander rests in peace to rise in Christ”, then modern inscriptions often do not go beyond the commonplace: “ From the brothers” or the sore Soviet sample “Sleep well, dear comrade”, written under a star. By the way, according to the 9th canon of the Council of Laodicea: “Let the faithful not be allowed to go to the cemeteries of any heretics, and those who violate this rule should be deprived of church fellowship for a while:”. You can not turn the commemoration of the dead in the cemetery into ordinary drinking parties, and even more so pour vodka on a grave mound. Relatives can commemorate the deceased with kutya (boiled wheat grains with honey or boiled rice with raisins), sweets. Here, the grains symbolize the resurrection, and honey, raisins, sweets are sweets enjoyed by the righteous in the Kingdom of Heaven. According to custom, the deceased is commemorated with a kutya on the 3rd, 9th, 40th days after his assumption.

In addition, since ancient times it has been customary for the Orthodox Church to visit the graves of deceased relatives on Radonitsa (or Radunitsa). On this day, a general commemoration of the dead is performed. As a rule, this is Monday or Tuesday after St. Thomas' week (8th or 9th days after Easter). On this day, believers come to the graves of their loved ones with joy about the Resurrection of Christ. This is where the name of the holiday comes from. By this day, people are trying to renovate the graves, sprinkle them with sand. On Radonitsa, a meal is arranged on the graves, and the dead are commemorated. The living christen with the dead, bring painted eggs to the graves with them. In some places, the custom has survived to this day to paint eggs not red, but yellow or dark blue. Eggs are given to beggars, left on graves, crumbled for birds. On Radonitsa in cemeteries, prayers were served for the dead. It should be emphasized here that it is on Radonitsa, and not on Easter, that the Orthodox visit cemeteries.

There is also a completely pious custom to arrange a "garden" on the grave: plant flowers, fruit trees.

Order of commemoration of the dead

The custom to commemorate the dead was already established in the Old Testament Church. The commemoration of the departed is also mentioned in the Apostolic Decrees. They indicate prayers for the departed during the celebration of the Liturgy, as well as the days on which it is especially necessary to commemorate the deceased Orthodox Christians: the third, ninth, fortieth, anniversary.

The most powerful and effective means of asking the departed for God's mercy is the Liturgy for the departed, the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice for their salvation.

Many people did not have time to be honored with the Sacrament of Penance and Holy Communion before their death, they died unexpectedly. They can no longer repent on their own, give alms for themselves. Only the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice for them, the prayers of the Church, can alleviate their afterlife.

In order for your deceased loved ones to be commemorated at the Liturgy, you need to submit to the temple a Church note “On repose”. In it you list the names of all those dead who are dear to you, but who are necessarily baptized in the Orthodox faith. Commemoration of the unbaptized at church services is not performed. There is also no commemoration of suicides, as those who refused God's help.

It is better to submit notes for a custom Liturgy after the evening service, but you can also do it in the morning if you arrive before the service begins. Names are written in the genitive case, in church spelling. For example, George, not Yuri, Dionysius, not Denis. During the first forty days from the moment of death, a “newly deceased” is added, and when children under seven years old are commemorated, “baby”.

Notes for a prayer service or memorial service, which are performed after the end of the Liturgy, are submitted separately.

Also, immediately after the death of a person close to you, for his repose, you should order a magpie - a daily prayer service for forty days, when every day a particle is removed from the prosphora for the newly deceased.

Of course, an important moment in the commemoration of the dead is the private, home prayer of Christians. It is especially important when it comes to people who died unbaptized, suicides. But such prayers must again be performed with caution, with the blessing of the priest. In such prayers, Orthodox Christians rely on the boundless mercy of God and bold intercession before him. Mother of God and holy saints of God.

Regarding the commemoration of the departed Christians on the third, ninth, fortieth day and the anniversary of death, the following explanation should be made.

The commemoration of the deceased on the third day after his death is performed in honor of the three-day resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the image of the Holy Trinity. On the third day, the human soul ascends to heaven to worship God. On the ninth - in honor of nine angelic ranks who petition for pardon for the deceased. From the third to the ninth day, the soul, accompanied by angels, contemplates the heavenly abodes. On the ninth day, the soul again appears before God, after which it is taken to hell, where until the fortieth day the dead contemplate the torment of unrepentant sinners. In the fortieth - in memory of the Ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven. On the fortieth day after death, the soul ascends to the Throne of the All-Good for the third time. Now her fate is being decided - she is assigned a certain place, which she was honored by her deeds. An anniversary for an Orthodox believer is a birthday for a new, eternal life.

In addition to these days, the Church has established special days for the solemn, ecumenical commemoration of all the dead. These days are: meat-fare Saturday (before cheese week), three Saturdays of Great Lent (second, third and fourth), Radonitsa (Tuesday of the second week after Easter), Trinity parental Saturday (before the feast of the Trinity), Demetrius parental Saturday (Saturday before Demetrius day 8 November NE).

The commemoration of the departed soldiers by the Orthodox Church takes place on May 9 BC. st., September 11, on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist.

It is also necessary to commemorate the deceased on all anniversaries of his death, birth, angel days.

Commemoration by Orthodox Christians is held without libations of alcoholic beverages, sedately, reverently, in prayer. On these days, it is desirable to do good deeds to the poor and loved ones in memory of the deceased.

Superstitions related to deceased loved ones and behavior in the cemetery

The mystery of death has always excited the minds of people. The impossibility of looking ahead of time beyond the boundary of earthly life made the "other world" frightening and attractive at the same time. Basically, it was this circumstance that gave rise to a lot of prejudices and signs associated with death among people. Many of them appeared in pagan times, but "safely" migrated to our days.

So one of the superstitions is such actions as placing various food, a decanter of vodka in the coffin of the deceased. Leaving an inverted pot on the grave of the deceased, allegedly so that the deceased "in the next world" would have something to drink from. In addition, turning over a pot of embers on the grave, to "warm the dead." Also, a harmful superstition, which has its roots in folk magic, includes burying objects associated with the deceased at crossroads, foreign fields - soaps, combs, etc. There is a superstition connected with these actions that the dead man will not find his way home.

In the old Russian "Word of St. Gregory” (according to the Chudovsky List of the 16th century), satanic deeds are condemned, such as sweeping out of the yard and burning garbage on Maundy Thursday to “warm the dead”.

Very harmful superstitions include the idea that the earth from the grave helps to overcome fear, longing and illness. To do this, they pour the earth from a fresh grave to the relatives of the deceased by the collar, rub it on a place near the heart, put it in water, which they wash themselves with. The fact is that grave land is very widely used in harmful magic and witchcraft. It is often necessary to see in churches on reprimands people who have suffered severely precisely from the grave earth. Do not allow anyone to put "experiments" on themselves with this land, so as not to lose mental and physical health. There is no mention of the sand from the graves of saints, which is really perceived by Christians and acts as a shrine.

The next superstition is the belief that in case of insufficient size of the grave, when it has to be expanded, a new dead person will soon go there for the buried. The same applies to those cases when the grave is large. Do not be alarmed if the edges of the grave crumble or someone accidentally falls there. Nothing wrong with that Orthodox Church does not see.

It is also a superstition to throw money into the grave, ostensibly so that the deceased buys himself a place in the cemetery.

Kindling fires on the grave of a stillborn child is also unacceptable.

It is also superstition to go to the cemetery before dawn on the first day of Easter to ask for forgiveness from the mother and father of those who were cursed by their deceased parents. It was believed that if at that time a rumble was heard in the earth, this means that the father or mother forgave their child, and therefore they were accepted by the earth, which had not previously taken them for the sin of the curse.

The next superstition is looking into the stove or into the barrel upon returning from the cemetery, so as not to be afraid of the dead.

The Church also opposes throwing food into the water during St. Thomas Week by families where there are drowned people.

Another superstition is the heating of a bath for the dead on St. Easter eggs to the burial mound.

Conclusion

We do not know when our earthly journey will end, but we know that everything will end in Christ, through whom all things were made. In Christ we will be resurrected. As God showed through the prophet Ezekiel: “The bone will join the bone, the joint will join the joint, and sinews, flesh and skin will be formed, and thus will rise (perfect bodies)” (Ezek. 37, 7-8). And the Apostle, knowing that we would arise with the bodies, taught us, saying: “It is fitting for the corruptible to put on incorruption, and the dead to put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). That is why Christians treat cemeteries as places of the future resurrection, protect them and take care of their safety.

The article gives an idea of ​​what to do in such a case and what to expect.

Signs at the cemetery a monument, a thing, a tree fell, a cross fell on the grave

Falling into a cemetery is not a disaster, stumbling is not good. You must immediately leave the cemetery, wash your face with holy water and read the Our Father.

If the cross or monument itself fell, then the soul of the deceased cannot find peace, worries about unfinished business. A cross is broken or a tombstone is cracked - to the deceased. Those who deliberately destroy monuments, desecrate graves, will be punished, they will be pursued by evil fate.

Signs in the cemetery about birds

Birds are considered the embodiment of the souls of the dead, so they leave food on their graves and there are always a lot of birds in the cemetery. It is believed that a bird flying through the window brings news of the imminent death of loved ones.

Why pregnant women should not go to the cemetery signs

The soul of an unborn baby can be taken away by the souls of dead people, so pregnant women should avoid going to the cemetery.

According to beliefs, someone else's soul can move into a baby. If, nevertheless, a pregnant woman needs to go to the cemetery, then take a red patch with her, tie her hand with a red thread and put on a red dress.

When you can’t go to the cemetery signs and what you can’t do there

You can’t swear in the cemetery, it is believed that all bad words remain on the one who uttered them.

Nothing is taken home from the cemetery, because this thing can harm the owner.
You can’t count money in a cemetery, because you can lose it for a long time. If you still got the money, then leave it on the grave of a relative, there you will prevent poverty.

It is not customary to tell at the cemetery how well you live, so you can leave all the good things here.

You can’t take pictures at the cemetery, because the photo may contain the spirits of the dead and evil spirits, which then will easily find their way to you.

Folk signs at the cemetery during the funeral, a puppy appeared at the funeral, a black cat, a dog approached

If the cat lies at the base of the coffin, then there will be another dead person. The cat that comes with the funeral procession must be carefully driven away. A black cat in a cemetery means the restless soul of a sinner or a witch who went for a walk.

Signs and superstitions in the cemetery about the dead

If the coffin does not fit in the pit, then relatives should expect more deaths. When there are old bones in a dug grave, this is a good sign. The soul of the dead will find peace, and will not annoy the living in dreams. Black clothes are worn in the cemetery, if you come in a bright, colored outfit, the devil will notice, and you will become his victim.

Signs at the cemetery on parent's day

It is on parental day that it is customary to visit the graves of the dead. Pregnant women should not go to the cemetery on this day. If those who came to the cemetery did not commemorate the dead, then no one will commemorate them after death either.

Signs on the red hill in the cemetery

On the first Sunday after Easter, the Red Hill holiday is celebrated, fun and joy are seething. On this day, it is not customary to go to the cemetery, but to commemorate the dead with sweets and food.

It is considered a good omen to see a deceased relative in a dream that day. He is asked to fulfill his cherished desire, and it comes true.

Signs on the grave ants, it started to rain

Ants equip their homes on the graves of good people, this is a good omen, and there is no need to fight them.

Rain during the funeral washes away sorrows from our souls, gives forgiveness and farewell.

They say that these are tears over the whole human race.

If it started to rain after the funeral, it means that the soul of the deceased has found peace and tranquility.

Signs in the cemetery on the rainbow (radonitsa)

On this day, the whole family visits the graves of relatives. You have to say good things about them.

No need to worry about the death of loved ones, they rejoice on Radonitsa and believe in eternal life.