Signs associated with funerals - customs and superstitions. Funeral etiquette: how to behave at a funeral meal What to do at the funeral of a loved one

According to Christian rules, the deceased should be buried in a coffin. In it he will rest (keep) until the future resurrection. The grave of the deceased must be kept clean, respectful and orderly. After all, even the Mother of God was placed in a coffin, and the coffin was left in the grave until the day when the Lord called His Mother to Himself.

The clothes in which a person died should not be given to either one’s own or strangers. Mostly it is burned. If relatives are against this and want to wash their clothes and put them away, then that is their right. But it should be remembered that under no circumstances should these clothes be worn for 40 days.

The deceased is washed the same hour after death, until it has completely cooled down. Soap is usually left behind. It helps in many matters and from troubles. But you have to be careful, because using this soap can also cause harm to other people.

They usually dress in new clothes that are appropriate, neither too big nor too small. If there is no new clothing, then only clean ones are worn.

You should not wear clothes that have sweat and blood on them. This could lead to another death.

If a person, while still alive, asked him to wear what he wanted, then his wish must be fulfilled.

Military personnel are usually dressed in military uniform. Front-line soldiers ask to have orders put on them, because anyway they will lose them or be thrown out many years later, but they deserve them and are proud of them. In general, this is a purely personal family issue.

There must be a white blanket with which the deceased is covered. A crown with the image of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and John the Baptist is placed on the forehead. On the crown are words in the old style, this is the writing of the Trisagion Song. A cross or icon should be placed in your hands.

If it is not possible to invite a minister from the church, then take care in advance to invite older people to read psalms and serve a memorial service. Psalms are usually read without interruption. They are interrupted only during the funeral service.

Such prayers are a consolation for those who grieve for the dead. In addition, you should read this prayer:

Remember, Lord God, in faith and hope, the eternal life of Your servant, our brother (name), and as Goodness and love for mankind, forgive sins and consume untruths, weaken, forgive and forgive all his voluntary and involuntary sins, deliver him from eternal torment and fire Gehenna and grant him the communion and enjoyment of Your eternal good things, prepared for those who love You, even if they have sinned, but have not departed from You, and undoubtedly in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, God glorified by You in the Trinity, faith and Unity in the Trinity and the Trinity in Unity , gloriously, even to his last sigh of confession.

Be merciful to him in the same way, and I believe in You. Instead of works of imputation, and with Thy saints, as generous, rest: for there is no man who will live and not sin. But You are the only God, besides One God of mercies and generosity, and love for mankind, and to You we send up glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now, ever and ever. Amen.

At the end of three days, it is necessary to take the deceased to church for a funeral service. But gradually they did not adhere to this, and the deceased spent the night at home not for three days, but for one night. Four candles are placed on the coffin in the corners, changing them as they burn.

All the time since the day of death there has been a glass of water and a piece of bread, millet is poured into a saucer. You need to be careful during a funeral. Usually relatives have no time for this. But you can stipulate who will keep order, since it is no secret that a lot is done at a funeral: they remove damage, put photos of enemies in the coffin, try to take hair, nails, strings from hands and feet, etc.

Under the pretext of “touching their feet”, so as not to be afraid, they do the necessary things. They ask for the stool on which the coffin stood, flowers from the wreath, and water. It's up to you to decide whether to give it all or not. Blood relatives should not wash the floor in the house where the deceased lay.

Relatives are not allowed to walk in front of the coffin, carry wreaths, or drink wine. It is allowed to lament and eat kutya or pancake after the burial.

At the cemetery they give the last kiss to the crown on the forehead and hands. Fresh flowers and an icon are taken from the coffin. Make sure that the icon is not buried.

People often ask whether it is possible to wear watches and gold. If you have already put on your watch, do not take it off for anything. There is no harm in the fact that a dead person has a watch on his hand. But if you remove the watch from a dead hand, turn the hands back, and cast a spell on some person, then it won’t be that long of a wait until that person dies. Regarding jewelry: if you don’t mind, then there’s nothing wrong with wearing it on a deceased person.

When saying goodbye, the face is covered. The lid is hammered in and the coffin is lowered. Usually on towels. Towels are distributed to people. But it’s better not to take them, you might get sick.

The coffin is lowered so that the deceased lies facing east. They throw money into the grave, a payoff for the deceased: the relatives throw it first. Then they throw the earth. Not only a funeral service is necessary, but also commemorations, which are done upon returning from the cemetery and which are repeated on the third, ninth and fortieth day and every year.

If you realize you made a mistake during the funeral, be sure to tell her off!

My words are repeated, you are church domes, you are silver bells. An Tyn, Khaba, Uru, Cha, Chabash, you are dead spirits. Do not call to my world, but to your own world, do not look, do not seek. I will gird myself with the light of God. I will baptize myself with the Holy Cross. My Lord is Great. Now, forever. Forever and ever. Amen.

How to ask forgiveness from a deceased person during burial.

Sometimes it becomes necessary to rebury a deceased person. But it is unlikely that the one who conceived and executed it understands what act he is committing. People are accustomed to thinking of a dead person as some kind of object that does not see, hear or feel, and therefore, you can do whatever you want with him, without incurring any responsibility, and that any actions with the dead body will remain unpunished. But that's not true. The body is a vessel where, by the grace of Jesus Christ, the immortal soul of a deceased person resided for a long time. When the body of the deceased is buried, it finds its home, or, as they used to say, a home.

They also say that it is difficult for the deceased to get used to his new home. And only after forty days after the death of a person, when his soul leaves the earth forever, the body it left behind goes into the kingdom of spirits. The abandoned, motionless body is preparing to pass into decay. For it is said: from dust he came and to dust he will go.

A sacred place where, until the Day of Judgment, the flesh that carried blood, mind and soul is kept, the sacred peace that was earned by the one who left this world in which he loved, suffered, worked, endured pain, raised children .

You can talk an insane amount about each dead person and still say absolutely nothing.

Arriving at the cemetery and peering at the monuments, seeing the faces of living people, you want to shout: My God! After all, each of them is a whole world. And in each of them this world died...

So think about whether you should disturb the peace of the deceased by digging up his ashes touched by decay in order to transport them to another, from your point of view, better place. Better than?

You cannot make your soul cry again over a body that has been disturbed by people. May it rest in peace. In addition, if the spirit of the dead is disturbed and does not accept a new place, there will be trouble. The spirit of the dead will punish those who came up with the idea of ​​burying the coffin in an elite cemetery.

If this does happen, you need to protect yourself from possible disaster.

At the new burial site, read this plot forty times. You have to read it while standing at the foot of the grave.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Keep, O Lord, the soul of Your deceased servant (name) in Your kingdom. Don’t let this dead soul walk on earth, don’t let this dead soul harm living souls. Saint Lazarus, did you walk on earth after death? And he walked the earth after death and never harmed living people. So that the soul of the deceased slave (name) no longer walks the earth and does not harm living people forever and ever. Key, lock, tongue. Amen.

You should leave the grave without looking back. At home, eat kutya and drink jelly.

Mark yourself with a cross and say a prayer to the Honorable Cross:

May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence. As smoke disappears, let them disappear; just as wax melts in the face of fire, so let demons perish from the face of those who love God and are marked by the sign of the cross, and in joy say: Rejoice, Most Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, drive away demons by the power of our drunken Lord Jesus Christ, who descended into hell and who trampled down the power of the devil, and who gave us His Honest Cross to drive away every adversary.

Oh, Most Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Virgin Mary and with all the saints forever. Amen.

From longing for the deceased.

Get up at night, go to the mirror and, looking into your pupils, say:

Don’t be sad, don’t grieve, don’t shed tears! Night Mother, take the melancholy away from me. As the dawn takes you away, so take away my melancholy. Now and ever and unto ages of ages.

Amen.

After this, wash your face and go to bed. The next day you will feel better. Do this three times, and the melancholy will go away.

How to remove damage done at a funeral.

At night, burn incense on the coals, saying:

How this incense burns and melts so that it burns, and the grave illness disappears from the servant of God (name). Amen.

If a person turns his kutya over on himself.

From the letter: “For some time now I began to believe in omens, and how could I not believe them if I myself became an eyewitness to the fact that they come true. This is why I decided to write to you: a grandfather in our family died, and my aunt accidentally spilled the funeral kutya on herself, all the food they had prepared for the entire memorial! Kutya had to be cooked again, and my aunt died forty days after the funeral, day after day!”

Indeed, if during a funeral someone’s candle falls or a piece of bread and a glass of water placed for the deceased falls directly onto the lap of a sitting person, then this person will soon die.

If this, God forbid, happens, I advise, just in case, to reprimand the person out of trouble with a special spell that I give in this book.

Read the plot before sunrise:

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Soul, body, spirit and all five senses. I protect the soul, I protect the body, I release the Spirit, I protect the feeling. The Lord God gave the commandment, the Lord God protected him and said: “Evil will not come to you, the wound will not come close to your body.” My angels will sing about you, both on earth and in heaven. The true Lord spoke the truth. He sent a savior and guardian angel. Angel of God, throughout my life, hour by hour, day by day, save, preserve and have mercy on me. I believe in One Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

If the deceased was buried not at lunchtime, but after sunset, then exactly seven years later there will be a new coffin.

Children under one year of age are not taken to funerals and are not fed from the funeral table.

If at a funeral they give you part of the towel on which the coffin was lowered into the grave, do not take it. The towel should be left in the grave and not given to people. Whoever uses it will get sick.

Sometimes at a memorial service someone suggests singing the deceased person’s favorite song and everyone sings without hesitation. But it has long been noticed that those who sing at the funeral table soon begin to get sick, and those who have a weak guardian angel generally die early.

Do not borrow anything from a family where the deceased person has not been remembered for forty days. Otherwise, you will have a coffin in the same year.

According to custom, people sit around the coffin all night. Make sure that none of those sitting at the coffin sleeps or dozes. Otherwise, you will “sleep” another dead person. If something like this does happen, then it should be dismissed.

After the funeral, the bathhouse is not heated. On this day you should not wash yourself completely, just wash your face and hands. You should especially be wary of requests from strangers to wash themselves after a funeral in your bathhouse or bathtub.

Questions are often asked about commemorations that coincide with Lent. You need to know that commemorations in the first, fourth and seventh weeks of Lent are done only during fasting and strangers are never invited to the commemoration at this time.

It is a very bad omen when the first person carrying the coffin leaves the apartment with his back turned. You need to take care of this in advance and warn those who will carry the coffin so that they leave the apartment facing the exit, and not with their backs.

They don’t move the coffin in the house, they don’t find a convenient place for it. Think in advance about where to put it so you don’t have to move it from place to place.

ABOUT THE DECEASED AND FUNERALS.

How to see off a loved one on their last journey without harming yourself and your loved ones? Usually this sad event takes us by surprise, and we get lost listening to everyone and following their advice. But, as it turns out, not everything is so simple. Sometimes people use this sad event to harm you. Therefore, remember how to properly escort a person on his final journey.

At the moment of death, a person experiences a painful feeling of fear as the soul leaves the body. When leaving the body, the soul meets the Guardian Angel given to it during Holy Baptism, and demons. Relatives and friends of the dying person should try to ease his mental suffering by prayer, but under no circumstances should they scream or cry loudly.

At the moment of separation of the soul from the body, it is necessary to read the Canon of Prayer to the Mother of God. When reading the Canon, a dying Christian holds a lighted candle or a holy cross in his hand. If he does not have the strength to make the sign of the cross, one of his relatives does this, leaning towards the dying person and clearly saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. In your hands, Lord Jesus, I commend my spirit, Lord Jesus, my spirit.”

You can sprinkle holy water on a dying person with the words: “Grace of the Holy Spirit, who has sanctified this water, deliver your soul from all evil.”

According to church custom, the dying person asks for forgiveness from those present and forgives them himself.

Not often, but it still happens that a person prepares his own coffin in advance. It is usually stored in the attic. In this case, pay attention to the following: the coffin is empty, and since it is made according to a person’s standards, he begins to “pull” it into himself. And a person, as a rule, dies faster. Previously, to prevent this from happening, sawdust, shavings, and grain were poured into the empty coffin. After the death of a person, sawdust, shavings and grain were also buried in the hole. After all, if you feed a bird with such grain, it will become sick.

When a person has died and measurements are taken from him to make a coffin, under no circumstances should this measurement be placed on the bed. It is best to take it out of the house and put it in a coffin during the funeral.

Be sure to remove all silver objects from the deceased: after all, this is precisely the metal that is used to fight the “evil ones.” Therefore, the latter can “disturb” the body of the deceased.

The body of the deceased is washed immediately after death. Washing occurs as a sign of the spiritual purity and integrity of the life of the deceased, and also so that he appears in purity before the face of God after the resurrection. Ablution should cover all parts of the body.

You need to wash your body with warm, not hot water, so as not to steam it. When they wash the body, they read: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us” or “Lord, have mercy.”

To make it more convenient to wash the deceased, an oilcloth is laid on the floor or bench and covered with a sheet. The body of a deceased person is placed on top. Take one bowl with clean water and the other with soap. Using a sponge dipped in soapy water, wash the entire body, starting from the face and ending with the feet, then wash with clean water and dry with a towel. Lastly, they wash the head and comb the deceased’s hair.

After washing, the deceased is dressed in new, light, clean clothes. They must put a cross on the deceased if he did not have one.

It is advisable that ablution takes place during daylight hours - from sunrise to sunset. Water after ablution must be handled very carefully. It is necessary to dig a hole far from the yard, vegetable garden and living quarters, where people do not walk, and pour everything, to the last drop, there and cover it with earth.

The fact is that very strong damage is done in the water in which the deceased was washed. In particular, this water can give a person cancer. Therefore, do not give this water to anyone, no matter who approaches you with such a request.

Try not to spill this water throughout the apartment so that those living in it do not get sick.

Pregnant women should not wash the deceased to avoid illness in the unborn child, as well as women who are menstruating.

As a rule, only elderly women prepare the deceased for his last journey.

Relatives and friends should not make a coffin.

It is best to bury the shavings formed during the manufacture of the coffin in the ground or, in extreme cases, throw them into water, but do not burn them.

The bed on which a person died does not need to be thrown away, as many do. Just take her out to the chicken coop and let her lie there for three nights so that, as the legend goes, the rooster will sing her song three times.

When the deceased is placed in a coffin, the coffin must be sprinkled with holy water, both inside and out, and you can also sprinkle it with incense.

A whisk is placed on the forehead of the deceased. It is given in the church at the funeral service.

A pillow, usually made of cotton wool, is placed under the feet and head of the deceased. The body is covered with a sheet.

The coffin is placed in the middle of the room in front of the icons, turning the face of the deceased with his head towards the icons.

When you see a dead person in a coffin, do not automatically touch your body with your hands. Otherwise, in the place where you touched, various skin growths in the form of a tumor may grow.

If there is a dead person in the house, then when you meet your friend or relatives there, you should greet with a bow of the head, and not with your voice.

While there is a dead person in the house, you should not sweep the floor, as this will bring trouble to your family (illness or worse).

If there is a dead person in the house, do not do any laundry.

Do not place two needles crosswise on the lips of the deceased, supposedly to preserve the body from decomposition. This will not save the body of the deceased, but the needles that were on his lips will definitely disappear; they are used to cause damage.

To prevent a heavy smell from coming from the deceased, you can put a bunch of dry sage at his head, popularly called “cornflowers”. It also serves another purpose - it drives away “evil spirits.”

For the same purposes, you can use willow branches, which are blessed on Palm Sunday and kept behind the images. These branches can be placed under the deceased,

It happens that a deceased person has already been placed in a coffin, but the bed on which he died has not yet been taken out. Acquaintances or strangers may come up to you and ask permission to lie on the bed of the deceased so that their back and bones do not hurt. Don't allow this, don't harm yourself.

Do not put fresh flowers in the coffin so that the deceased does not have a strong smell. For this purpose, use artificial or, as a last resort, dried flowers.

A candle is lit near the coffin as a sign that the deceased has moved to the realm of light - a better afterlife.

For three days, the Psalter is read over the deceased.

The Psalter is read continuously over the Christian’s tomb until the deceased remains unburied.

A lamp or candle is lit in the house, which burns as long as the deceased is in the house.

It happens that glasses with wheat are used instead of a candlestick. This wheat is often used to cause damage; it is also not allowed to bark poultry or livestock.

The hands and feet of the deceased are tied. The hands are folded so that the right one is on top. An icon or cross is placed in the left hand of the deceased; for men - the image of the savior, for women - the image of the Mother of God. Or you can do this: in the left hand - a cross, and on the chest of the deceased - a Holy image.

Make sure that someone else's things are not placed under the deceased. If you notice this, then you need to pull them out of the coffin and burn them somewhere far away.

Sometimes, out of ignorance, some heartbroken mothers put photographs of their children in the coffin of their grandparents. After this, the child begins to get sick, and if help is not provided promptly, death may occur.

It happens that there is a dead person in the house, but there are no suitable clothes for him, and then one of the family members gives his things. The deceased is buried, and the one who gave away his things begins to get sick.

The coffin is taken out of the house, turning the face of the deceased towards the exit. When the body is carried out, the mourners sing a song in honor of the Holy Trinity: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.”

It happens that when a coffin with a deceased person is taken out of the house, someone stands near the door and begins to tie knots in rags, explaining that he is tying the knots so that no more coffins are taken out of this house. Although such a person has something completely different on his mind. Try to take these rags away from him.

If a pregnant woman goes to a funeral, she will do harm to herself. It's possible that a sick child will be born. Therefore, try to stay at home during this time, and it is necessary to say goodbye to someone close to you in advance - before the funeral.

When a dead person is being carried to a cemetery, do not cross his path under any circumstances, as various tumors may form on your body. If this happens, then you should take the hand of the deceased, always the right one, and move all your fingers over the tumor and read “Our Father.” This needs to be done three times, after each time spitting over your left shoulder.

When they carry a dead man in a coffin down the street, try not to look out of the window of your apartment. By doing this you will save yourself from troubles and will not get sick.

In the church, the coffin with the body of the deceased is placed in the middle of the church facing the altar and candles are lit on four sides of the coffin.

Relatives and friends of the deceased walk around the coffin with the body, bowing and asking for forgiveness for involuntary offenses, kissing the deceased for the last time (the corolla on his forehead or the icon on his chest). After this, the entire body is covered with a sheet and the priest sprinkles it with earth in a cross shape.

When the body and coffin are taken out of the temple, the face of the deceased is turned towards the exit.

It happens that the church is located far from the house of the deceased, then a funeral service is held for him in absentia. After the funeral service, the relatives are given a chaplet, a prayer of permission and land from the funeral table.

At home, relatives place a prayer of permission in the right hand of the deceased, a paper whisk on his forehead, and after saying goodbye to him, in the cemetery, his body, covered with a sheet from head to toe, as in a church, is sprinkled with earth in a cross shape (from head to feet, from the right shoulder to the left - to form a cross of the correct shape).

The deceased is buried facing east. The cross on the grave is placed at the feet of the buried person so that the crucifix is ​​facing the face of the deceased.

According to Christian custom, when a person is buried, his body must be interred or “sealed.” Priests do this.

The ties that bind the hands and feet of the deceased must be untied and placed in the coffin with the deceased before lowering the coffin into the grave. Otherwise, they are usually used to cause damage.

When saying goodbye to the deceased, try not to step on the towel that is placed in the cemetery near the coffin, so as not to incur damage to yourself.

If you are afraid of a dead person, hold on to his legs.

Sometimes they may throw earth from a grave into your bosom or collar, proving that this way you can avoid the fear of the dead. Don't believe it - they do it to cause damage.

When the coffin with the body of the deceased is lowered into the grave on towels, these towels must be left in the grave, and not used for various household needs or given to anyone.

When lowering the coffin with the body into the grave, all those accompanying the deceased on his last journey throw a lump of earth into it.

After the ritual of committing the body to the earth, this earth must be taken to the grave and poured out in a cross shape. And if you are lazy, don’t go to the cemetery and take the soil for this ritual from your yard, then you will do very bad things to yourself.

It is not Christian to bury a dead person with music; it should be buried with a priest.

It happens that a person was buried, but the body was not buried. You must definitely go to the grave and take a handful of earth from there, with which you can then go to church.

It is advisable, in order to avoid any troubles, to sprinkle the house or apartment where the deceased lived with blessed water. This must be done immediately after the funeral. It is also necessary to sprinkle such water on the people who participated in the funeral procession.

The funeral is over, and according to the old Christian custom, water and something from food are placed in a glass on the table to treat the soul of the deceased. Make sure that small children or adults do not inadvertently drink from this glass or eat anything. After such a treat, both adults and children begin to get sick.

During the wake, according to tradition, a glass of vodka is poured for the deceased. Don't drink it if anyone advises you to. It would be better if you poured vodka on the grave.

Returning from a funeral, it is imperative to dust off your shoes before entering the house, and also hold your hands over the fire of a lit candle. This is done in order to prevent damage to the home.

There is also this type of damage: a dead person lies in a coffin, wires are tied to his arms and legs, which are lowered into a bucket of water located under the coffin. This is how they supposedly ground the deceased. Actually this is not true. This water is subsequently used to cause damage.

Here is another type of damage in which incompatible things are present - death and flowers.

One person gives another a bouquet of flowers. Only these flowers do not bring joy, but grief, since the bouquet, before being given, lay on the grave all night.

If one of you has lost a loved one or loved one and you often cry for him, then I advise you to get thistle grass in your house.

In order to miss the deceased less, you need to take the headdress (scarf or hat) that the deceased wore, light it in front of the front door and walk around all the rooms with it one by one, reading the “Our Father” aloud. After this, take out the remains of the burnt headdress from the apartment, burn it completely and bury the ashes in the ground.

It also happens: you come to the grave of a loved one to pull out the grass, paint the fence or plant something. You start digging and unearth things that shouldn't be there. Someone outsider buried them there. In this case, take everything you find outside the cemetery and burn it, trying not to get exposed to the smoke, otherwise you may get sick yourself.

Some believe that after death, forgiveness of sins is impossible, and if a sinful person has died, nothing can be done to help him. However, the Lord himself said: “And all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men, neither in this age nor in the next.” This means that in the future life only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Consequently, through our prayers we can have mercy on our deceased bodies, but our loved ones who are alive in soul and who did not blaspheme the Holy Spirit during their earthly life.

A memorial service and home prayer for the good deeds of the deceased, performed in his memory (alms and donations to the church), are all useful for the dead. But commemoration at the Divine Liturgy is especially useful for them.

If you encounter a funeral procession on your way, you should stop, take off your headdress and cross yourself.

When they carry a dead person to a cemetery, do not throw fresh flowers on the road after him - by doing this you damage not only yourself, but also many people who step on these flowers.

After the funeral, do not visit any of your friends or relatives.

If they take the earth to “seal” the dead body, under no circumstances allow this earth to be taken from under your feet.

When someone dies, try to have only women present.

If the patient is dying seriously, then for an easier death, remove the feather pillow from under his head. In villages, the dying person is laid on straw.

Make sure that the deceased's eyes are tightly closed.

Do not leave a deceased person alone in the house; as a rule, elderly women should sit next to him.

When there is a dead person in the house, you cannot drink water in the neighboring houses in the morning, which was in buckets or pans. It must be poured out and freshly poured in.

When a coffin is made, a cross is made on its lid with an ax.

In the place where the deceased lay in the house, it is necessary to place an ax so that no more people die in this house for a long time.

For up to 40 days, do not distribute the deceased’s belongings to relatives, friends or acquaintances.

Under no circumstances should you put your pectoral cross on the deceased.

Before burial, do not forget to remove the wedding ring from the deceased. This way the widow (widower) will save herself from illness.

During the death of your loved ones or acquaintances, you must close the mirrors and not look into them after death for 40 days.

You can't let tears fall on your peace. This is a heavy burden for the deceased.

After the funeral, do not allow your loved ones, acquaintances or relatives to lie on your bed under any pretext.

When a deceased person is taken out of the house, make sure that none of those accompanying him on his final journey leave with his back turned.

After removing the deceased from the house, the old broom should also be removed from the house.

Before the last farewell to the deceased in the cemetery, when they lift the lid of the coffin, under no circumstances put your head under it.

The coffin with the deceased, as a rule, is placed in the middle of the room in front of household icons, facing the exit.

As soon as a person has died, relatives and friends must order the sorokoust in the church, that is, daily commemoration during the Divine Liturgy.

Under no circumstances listen to those people who advise you to wipe your body with the water in which the deceased was washed to get rid of pain.

If the wake (third, ninth, fortieth day, anniversary) falls during Lent, then in the first, fourth and seventh weeks of Lent the relatives of the deceased do not invite anyone to the funeral.

Ignorance of the rules of etiquette does not exempt you from condemnation and reproachful looks. Learn how to behave at a memorial meal so as not to offend either the deceased or the feelings of the relatives of the deceased.

A wake is a fairly private event, usually for older people. Children and youth end up there in rare situations. However, as practice shows, even adults do not always know how to behave correctly and what to do at a funeral meal. In order to avoid awkward situations and reproachful looks, just follow a few simple rules.

• Try to remain quiet and refrain from laughing. Although many people admit that there have been cases in their lives when, right during a meal for the deceased, someone accidentally said something funny or remembered a funny story related to the deceased, as a result of which everyone present involuntarily laughed. Of course, we are all human, so getting distracted and defusing the situation a little will not be a mortal sin, but we must take moderation and not turn the wake into an ordinary meeting of acquaintances and friends.
• Avoid sharp gestures, put off arguing, remember that it is best to behave modestly at a funeral feast.
• Either it’s good or nothing about the deceased - this rule, oddly enough, is forgotten some time after the start of the wake. It is better to keep silent about the fact that the deceased may have liked to drink or had other sins. Now it is important to think and talk only about the best qualities of the deceased.
• When conversations about the deceased smoothly flow into discussions of pressing problems, the memorial meal loses its meaning. Therefore, the best way out of this situation would be to simply end the event and start going home.

Behavior plays a big role during a wake, but at least as much attention should be paid to clothing. For women, there are no strict rules regarding what to wear, but you yourself should understand that on this day you should abandon bright and frilly outfits in favor of a formal suit. It is better to remove jewelry - with the exception of the wedding ring - and leave it at home. A man on this day may wear a formal suit with a white or light shirt and a tie without a pattern. It is common practice to wear patent leather shoes to a funeral meal. A man entering a room must take off his headdress. It is advisable that you also do not have things with you that are not used during burial or wake: large bags, cases, briefcases. But in rainy weather it is advisable to take an umbrella.

People sit at the table depending on the degree of relationship and age. It's good to have a ritual agent who will tell you your place at the table. If the funeral is organized independently, then first let people who are older than you sit at the table, and then take the remaining free seat.

If you know that you will most likely be asked to speak, it is advisable to prepare for this in advance. You shouldn’t look for ready-made versions of funeral speeches on the Internet, and even more so, you shouldn’t talk about the deceased in poetry - it will be absurd, provocative, and the words spoken will have nothing to do with the deceased. Try to be sincere, do not be afraid of your true emotions, if you can, tell those gathered about what this person meant to you, what connected you with him, what he taught you. It will be honest and will provoke a response from everyone present.

People are not invited to funerals, but with wakes things are a little different. Remember that relatives need to calculate the number of dishes and places to hold a wake in a cafe, so with your unexpected appearance you can put the relatives of the deceased in an awkward situation. At worst, you may be thought of as being idlely curious.

After finishing the meal, once again express your condolences to the relatives of the deceased. As a rule, when leaving a wake, they do not say goodbye.

The last notes

Miscalculation of memorial days

*the first day is considered the day of death

How to behave at the funeral of loved ones

February 20, 2018

Sooner or later, a person faces the death of relatives, close friends, colleagues. A funeral is not just the process of burying a coffin with the deceased in the ground, but an entire ritual that requires strict adherence to certain rules.
Seeing off the deceased on his last journey causes panic and even horror in many people. And this is understandable, because the mourning procedure is shrouded in numerous mysterious and mystical rules and signs.
Elderly people believe that mistakes made during a funeral can doom the soul of the deceased to suffering, as well as bring grief to the living. That is why every person should know how to behave correctly at a funeral and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

Behavior at a funeral

In most cases, the funeral ceremony takes place on the second or third day after the person's death. Before this, the body of the deceased must be prepared. Main stages of the preparatory process:

• ablution;
• changing clothes;
• funeral lithium;
• funeral service

The deceased must be washed with clean water and then wiped dry. This is done so that a person gets to heaven perfectly clean. This is followed by changing clothes - the deceased is dressed in new, smart clothes.

An obligatory part of an Orthodox funeral is a funeral lithium and funeral service. Approximately 1-2 hours before the body of the deceased is removed from the premises, the priest conducts a funeral service and sprinkles the deceased with holy water. The funeral service is held immediately before the burial and consists of several chants and prayers. It is believed that only after this the deceased is ready to appear before God.

How to behave at a relative's funeral

How to behave at the funeral of a loved one? This question often arises for people who have not attended farewell ceremonies for a long time. This period is the most difficult for close relatives, as they are faced not only with enormous grief, but also with the organization of the burial of the deceased. They need to contact the relevant authorities and obtain a death certificate.
Fortunately, today there are a huge number of funeral services that will take care of all stages of preparation for the funeral, eliminating this need for relatives. The funeral service organizes not only the farewell ceremony, but also the funeral dinner.

Important rules to follow when burying a relative:

1. One of the relatives or friends must remain near the coffin with the deceased; the deceased should not be left alone in the room.
2. After the death of a person, it is necessary to cover all the mirrors with thick fabric - it is believed that the soul of the deceased can fall into the looking glass.
3. Chairs or other pieces of furniture on which the coffin rested should be turned upside down and left in that position for 24 hours after the funeral.
4. The water with which the deceased was washed should be poured out in a deserted, deserted place.
5. A comb, soap and other items that were used to wash the deceased must be placed in the coffin.

Close relatives must wear exclusively black clothes and shoes to the funeral ceremony. Women are required to cover their hair with black scarves. Traditionally, during a funeral, close relatives should be on the left side of the coffin, and friends and acquaintances should be on the right. After the funeral ceremony, relatives are the first to present wreaths and flowers, and only after them do others present.

How to behave at the funeral of a loved one

When going to a funeral, you should pay special attention to your clothing. The best option would be things of traditional black color, which has long been a symbol of mourning and grief. Black can be replaced with other dark shades - brown, blue, green.

Of course, a funeral ceremony is not the best place for bright colors, deep necklines, high slits or short skirts. Such clothing will be offensive to the relatives of the deceased. Similar restrictions apply to makeup, which should be as natural and neutral as possible.
It is customary to come to a funeral with a bouquet of fresh flowers, of which there should be an even number, or a wreath with a mourning ribbon. It is imperative to approach the loved ones and relatives of the deceased and express condolences.

During the funeral, it is prohibited to talk loudly, laugh or discuss anyone around you. If a relative of the deceased or another person becomes ill, it is imperative to support him and provide assistance. Therefore, it is best to have a few extra handkerchiefs and a sedative with you.

When answering the question of how to behave during a funeral, you should remember that organizing a farewell ceremony falls on the shoulders of close relatives and friends of the deceased. Therefore, it would be right to help with the organization of the funeral, including providing all possible financial assistance.

How to behave at your mother's funeral

The death of a mother is a difficult loss for children, regardless of their age. But children need not only to experience the bitterness of loss, but also to organize a farewell to their mother. Traditionally, farewell is divided into three main stages:

• preparation for the funeral ceremony;
• funeral;

Children can organize their mother’s funeral on their own or seek help from a funeral agency. Relatives and friends are informed about the date and time of burial by telephone.
The basic rules for holding a parent's funeral are no different from a regular funeral ceremony. Before taking the coffin out of the house, it is best to ask one of your relatives to take ammonia, validol or another sedative with them.

After the mother’s funeral, it is the children who invite everyone gathered to a funeral dinner, having previously taken care of the availability of the necessary transport. After lunch, children can pass food from the table to relatives and friends who were not present at the funeral so that they honor the memory of the deceased.

How to behave at a friend's funeral

Relatives send news of a person’s death by telephone or mail. In the event of the death of a close friend, it is believed that you can come to the funeral without notification, because grieving relatives could simply forget about one of the friends.

After arriving at the house of a deceased friend, you must definitely approach his relatives and express condolences, if desired, hug him and offer your help. A few rules of conduct at a friend's funeral:

1. During the funeral ceremony, you must turn off your mobile phone.
2. It is forbidden to shout or talk loudly.
3. If desired, before burial, you can say a few good farewell words about the deceased.
4. You should not hold back your tears - if you want to cry, you can give free rein to your feelings at the funeral.
5. During the farewell ceremony you should not consume alcohol or any food.

The organizers of the funeral ceremony may ask a friend of the deceased to carry the coffin lid - in no case should you refuse, as this is considered disrespect for the deceased and his family.

Behavior at a funeral in a cemetery

There are several rules of behavior at the cemetery that must be observed during the farewell procession. For example, every person knows that it is strictly forbidden to cross the road on the street of a funeral procession. This is considered a harbinger of a bad event.

The coffin lid should only be hammered in the cemetery, but under no circumstances in the courtyard of the house. This threatens the death of another family member. For the same reason, it is forbidden to dig a grave that is too large.

It is not recommended to walk in front of the coffin, which is also considered a bad sign. Relatives are prohibited from carrying the coffin lid; only friends, acquaintances and colleagues of the deceased can do this. You can enter the cemetery through a gate, but you can also exit through the gate.

Under no circumstances should you put coins, photographs or any other things into the coffin with the deceased. It is believed that in this way a dead person can “draw” someone from the living to him. Before burial, the ropes with which they were tied must be removed from the hands and feet of the deceased, and then placed in a coffin. After the funeral, a memorial dinner is required.

Proper behavior during a funeral dinner

When answering the question of how to behave at a wake after a funeral, you need to remember that regardless of the status of the deceased person, the dinner should be as modest and restrained as possible, since it is a tribute to the memory of the deceased, and not a solemn event. For the same reason, a wake should not be held in an expensive restaurant.
One of the closest relatives invites those gathered to the funeral dinner on behalf of the entire family. As a rule, the spouse of the deceased person is at the head of the table, with relatives, friends and colleagues on the sides.

Special attention is paid to table setting - it is best to use a plain tablecloth and tableware, without bright ornaments. Traditionally, during a funeral dinner, forks and knives are not used, only spoons. For this reason, instead of bread, pies or soft rolls that can be broken with your hands are served on the table.

Before starting the meal, the head of the family makes a funeral speech about the deceased. Among the dishes that must be present at a funeral dinner are:

The issue regarding alcoholic beverages is decided by the relatives of the deceased independently. It should be remembered that a funeral dinner is not a celebration; only simple, modest dishes should be present at it.

Signs at a funeral

There are special signs during a funeral that every person who comes to the funeral ceremony should know about. Old people claim that signs associated with funerals must be observed, as they can lead to disaster if not followed.

1. Clothes for burial must be new and clean.
2. The shoes of the deceased must be soft and have backs; they cannot be buried in sandals.
3. The deceased must have a funeral service in the church.
4. If a person dies in a hospital, he must be brought to his home before burial.
5. After the funeral car leaves the yard, the floors in the house must be swept and washed, but not for relatives.
6. The broom and other accessories used for cleaning must be thrown away in a deserted place.
7. Children should attend the funeral ceremony only if absolutely necessary.
8. Cats, dogs or any other animals should not be allowed into the room with the deceased.
9. The handkerchiefs used to wipe away tears should be thrown into the grave.
10. You need to be careful not to leave your belongings in the cemetery.

Signs in the cemetery must be observed, because this will help to avoid many troubles, especially if the person is superstitious.

Pregnant woman at a funeral

For many centuries there has been a belief that Pregnant women are prohibited from attending funerals. The mystical explanation of this rule is due to the fact that pregnancy is the period of birth of a new life, and death is the time of leaving this world.

In addition, a pregnant woman receives a huge charge of negative emotions during a funeral ceremony, which poses a serious danger to the growth and development of the child.

What should you not do at a funeral?

Signs on the day of the funeral indicate what neither relatives nor friends of the deceased should do. It is strictly prohibited:

• when taking the coffin out of the house, look in a mirror or window;
• until the 40th day, distribute the belongings of the deceased;
• flowers should never be taken from a cemetery or the house of the deceased;
• While the coffin with the deceased is in the house, you cannot sweep;
• After burial, you cannot drink alcohol in the cemetery.

A funeral is a whole ritual that requires strict adherence to special rules of conduct. They allow you to take a loved one on their final journey with all honor and respect.

We are all born, grow old and die. Death is not just burying a coffin in the ground, but a special ritual. Since ancient times, it was believed that a funeral is a kind of bridge to another world. And so with death comes inevitable bitter experiences and troubles.

There are many beliefs and rules about what you can and cannot do at a funeral.

Folk beliefs and signs

How to behave at a funeral? You need to remember that you say goodbye to a person, and he goes to a better afterlife. You should also know that funerals are often damaged, so you should be careful.

• When a person dies, you can’t do any laundry or sweep.
• Curtain all mirrors. This is usually done so that the soul of the deceased does not get into the mirror.
• Do not lie on the bed of the deceased, otherwise your bones will ache
• Be careful that no one puts any things in the coffin. If you notice this, immediately remove them from the coffin and burn them.
• Remove all the silver from the deceased so that the unclean will not disturb the deceased.
• The head of a deceased Christian is covered with a scarf, and an icon or cross is placed in his left hand. A pillow is placed under the head and legs. The body is covered with a sheet.
• Needles should not be placed on the lips of the deceased to protect them from decomposition. The body of the deceased will not be preserved, but the needles will be used in black magic.
• Light a candle near the coffin as a sign that the deceased has passed on to the afterlife.
• Under no circumstances should you place photographs of children in the coffin. They can get sick and even die.
• A pregnant woman should not attend the funeral, otherwise a sick child may be born.
• At a cemetery, do not cross the road when a dead person is being carried.
• As a sign of final farewell, it is customary to throw earth on the coffin.
• Upon returning from the funeral, dust off your shoes and hold your hands over the candle fire so as not to bring damage from the cemetery.
• At the wake, make sure that no one drinks from the glass of the deceased, otherwise illness will inevitably occur.
• For the first 7 days after the funeral, do not take any things out of the house.
• Until 40 days, do not distribute the clothes of the deceased.

What to say at a funeral

There are no established rules in such cases. However, it is customary for those who come to the funeral to condole with the relatives of the deceased and offer their help. If there are words, then they should be said. These may be memories, a favorite pastime of the deceased. And just his life path.

Clothes for funerals

If from ancient times it was customary to dress the deceased in white clothes, as a symbol of the infant purity of the Christian soul, then relatives, on the contrary, put on black clothes and tied a scarf around their heads. It is also customary to wear mourning for a year, that is, walk with your head covered and not visit places of entertainment. But this is not a prerequisite and depends only on your personal choice.

A funeral is a farewell to your loved one. Spend it with love and respect. And if he had any requests during his life about how to bury him or what to say, fulfill them.

Not only a person’s life, but also his transition to another world is accompanied by a number of customs and rituals, which are extremely important to observe at funerals and wakes. The energy of death is very difficult, and disregard for signs and superstitions can lead to unpleasant consequences - a streak of failures, illness, loss of loved ones.

Meet

There are several rules when meeting a funeral procession on the street:

• This event foretells happiness in the future. However, today will not bring any changes for the better.
• The procession cannot cross the road - if the deceased died from an illness, you can bring this illness upon yourself.
• It is also forbidden to walk in front of the coffin - according to signs, you can go to the other world before the deceased.
• It is undesirable to move towards the funeral procession; it is better to stop and wait. Men must remove their hats.
• Overtaking a hearse is a bad omen and promises big troubles or serious illness.
• If a deceased person is being carried under the windows of your house, you should not look out the window, it is better to close the curtains. It is also necessary to wake up household members - it is believed that the deceased can take sleeping people with him. If a small child is eating at this time, water should be placed under his crib.

Before the funeral

Before burying the deceased, the following rules must be observed:

• For the next 40 days after death, all mirrors and mirrored surfaces in the house should be covered with opaque fabric - otherwise they can become a trap for the soul of the deceased, and it will never be able to move on to another world.
• In the room with the deceased, windows and vents, as well as doors, must be closed.
• There must be a living person in the house with the deceased. This shows respect for the deceased, and also makes sure that other people do not take his things - such carelessness or malicious intent can result in negative consequences.
• If there are animals in the house, especially dogs and cats, it is better to take them to another place during the funeral. It is believed that the howling of a dog can frighten the soul of the deceased, and a cat jumping into a coffin is a bad sign.
• You cannot sleep in the room where the deceased is lying. If this does happen, the person is offered noodles for breakfast.

To prevent harm from the deceased, a lit lamp is placed in his room all night, and fir branches are placed on the floor and at the threshold. The needles should lie until the funeral, and people leaving the house should step on them, thus throwing death off their feet. After burial, the branches are taken out and burned, avoiding exposure to smoke.

• When buying something for a funeral, you cannot take change (change) - this way you can buy new tears.
• While there is a body in the house, they do not clean it or take out the trash. Sweep away the dead man's dirty linen and take everyone out of the house.
• The coffin must be made according to the measurements of the deceased so that there is no free space in it. If the coffin is too large, there will be another death in the house.
• It is better to wash and dress the deceased while it is still warm, so that he appears clean before the Creator. Widows should definitely do this. After washing, the water should be poured into a deserted place, preferably not under a tree.
• If an unmarried girl dies, she is dressed in a wedding dress - she becomes the bride of God.
• Wearing red on a deceased person means the death of a blood relative.
• If the widow of the deceased wants to get married in the future, she should place the deceased husband in the coffin, unbelted and unfastened.
• Things that the deceased constantly wore during life (glasses, dentures, watches) must be placed with him in the coffin. You should also put there the measure that was used to measure the body for making the coffin, the comb that was used to comb the deceased’s hair, and a handkerchief so that he could wipe the sweat from his forehead during the Last Judgment.
• If you put a piece of bread with salt under the table with the deceased, no one else in the family will die this year.
• One of the bad omens is if the eyes of the deceased are not tightly closed or suddenly open. It is believed that he is looking for someone to take with him, and this portends a new death.

Signs during and after the ceremony

• Hammering the lid of a coffin in the house of the deceased means another death in the family. You should also not leave the coffin lid at home when going to a funeral.
• Men should carry the coffin out of the house. At the same time, they should not be blood relatives of the deceased, so that he does not pull them along with him - blood is drawn to blood.
• During removal, they try not to touch the coffin on the door frame. The body must be carried feet first - so that the soul knows where it is being directed, but does not remember the way back, and does not return.
• Rye is poured after the deceased - to close the path of death, and no one else in the family will die.
• Towels are tied to the hands of the coffin bearers, which these men then keep for themselves - as a thank you from the deceased.
• If a person stumbles while carrying out the coffin, this is a bad sign for him.
• Things that belong to living people should not lie with the deceased - they acquire mystical power and can drag the owner along with them.

If there is to be cremation, icons are not placed in the coffin - they cannot be burned.

• After removing the body, the floors in the house must be swept from the room where the deceased lay to the front door, after which the broom must be immediately thrown away. In the same direction, you should wash the floors and get rid of the rag.
• The table or bench where the coffin with the body stood must be turned upside down and left like that for a day - to avoid the appearance of another coffin with a dead person. If it is not possible to turn over the furniture, you need to put an ax on it.
• When a dead person is being carried, you cannot turn back and look out the windows of your own house, so as not to attract death into it.
• Forgetting to close the gate in the yard after removing the coffin will lead to another death. If the doors of the house are closed before the procession returns from the funeral, there will soon be a quarrel in the family.
• If a coffin or a dead person falls, this is a very bad sign, foreshadowing another funeral within 3 months. To avoid this, family members need to bake pancakes, go to the cemetery to three graves with the same name as theirs, and read the “Our Father” prayer at each one. Then distribute pancakes at the church along with alms. The ritual must be performed in silence.
• The gravediggers, digging a hole, came across an old grave with preserved bones - the deceased enters the afterlife safely and will lie quietly, without disturbing the living.
• Before lowering the coffin into the grave, a coin should be thrown in so that the deceased buys his place.
• If the coffin does not fit into the hole and it has to be expanded, it means that the earth does not accept the sinner. The grave is too large - a relative will soon follow the deceased.
• If the grave collapses, another death in the family should be expected. In this case, a collapse on the south side foreshadows the departure of a man, from the north - a woman, from the east - the eldest in the house, from the west - a child.
• The relatives of the deceased should throw a handful of earth on the lid of the coffin when it goes into the grave - then the deceased will not appear and frighten the living. As soon as the first handful of earth lands on the coffin, the soul finally parts with the body.

You can put a glass of vodka on the grave for the peace of your soul. It is also believed that people's souls turn into birds - they need to be fed by crumbling or leaving a piece of bread.

• If it turns out that extra items were purchased for the funeral, they should be taken to the cemetery and not left in the house.
• Some souls are attached to things and may disturb living relatives. If it was not possible to place an object dear to the deceased in the coffin, it can be left in the cemetery. It is advisable to distribute the clothes of the deceased to the poor.
• It is better to remove the bed on which the person died from the house along with the bedding. It is advisable to burn them without getting exposed to smoke.
• After the funeral, the image that stood in front of the deceased must be taken to the river and floated on the water - this is the only way to get rid of the icon without negative consequences. If there is no river nearby, the image must be given to the church; it cannot be stored or thrown away.
• If there is a mistake in the first or last name of the deceased on the death certificate, there will be another funeral in the family.
• If death has overtaken the owner of the house, in the coming year it is necessary to plant a hen so that the farm does not fall into decay.
• A widow or widower should not wear a wedding ring, otherwise they may attract a serious illness.
• If there is a funeral in one of the houses on the street, there is no wedding on that day.

Behavior rules

At the funeral and after it, it is very important to behave correctly:

• You cannot swear, argue or make noise in the cemetery.
• For a funeral, you should wear dark-colored clothing (preferably black). It is believed that this color does not attract the attention of death.

Pregnant women and small children should not be present in the funeral procession. The birth of a new life and death are diametrically opposed phenomena. In addition, the aura of children is not yet strong enough and may not cope with the negative impact of death.

• During the ceremony, the deceased must be remembered only with kind words.
• You cannot cry a lot at a funeral - the tears of relatives hold the soul of the deceased, it drowns in tears and cannot fly away.
• Bouquets carried to funerals should contain a pair of flowers - this is a wish for the deceased to prosper in the afterlife.
• You need to leave the cemetery without looking back, wiping your feet as you leave, so as not to take death with you. Also, you should not take anything from the cemetery.
• After the funeral, you cannot visit anyone without remembering the deceased, otherwise you can bring death with you.
• After visiting the house of the deceased, a cemetery or meeting a funeral procession, you need to light a wax candle with matches and hold your fingers and palms as close to the flame as possible. Then the fire should be extinguished with your fingers without blowing it out. This will help you avoid dragging illness and death onto yourself and your family. You can touch the stove - it symbolizes the element of Fire. It is also good to wash yourself under running water - take a shower or swim in the river.

Weather

• If the weather is clear on the day of the funeral, then the deceased was a kind and bright person.
• Rain at a funeral, especially when the sky was previously clear, is a good sign; it means that nature itself is crying about the passing of a wonderful person. The prayers of the relatives are heard, and the soul of the deceased will soon calm down.
• If thunder rumbles in the cemetery during a funeral, there will be another death in the coming year.

Up to 40 days

For 40 days after death, the soul of the deceased is still on earth. In order for her to be easily transported to another world, her relatives must adhere to certain traditions:

• After the burial, at the wake and in the house of the deceased, they place his photo, and next to him - a glass of water and a piece of bread. If the water from the glass evaporates, it should be added. Anyone who eats the food of the deceased will suffer illness and death. These products should not even be given to animals.

• While the deceased is in the house, you need to put a bowl of water on the window or table to wash the soul, and also hang out a towel and leave it for 40 days - during this time the soul flies above the ground, is cleansed and wiped off.
• Relatives should organize a wake - see off the deceased with a meal. The first time a funeral feast is held immediately after the funeral - at this time the soul leaves the body. The second time they gather on the ninth day after death - during the period when the soul has enjoyed the beauties of heaven and is shown the torment of hell. Then - on the fortieth day, when the soul finally leaves the world of the living to take its place in heaven or hell.

There are a number of rules for funeral meals:

• If you borrow furniture from other houses for a wake, death can be transferred there.
• Before starting the meal, it is necessary to pray for the deceased - prayers help his soul to more easily endure the ordeal and enter the Kingdom of God.

The table does not have to be with an abundance of dishes, the main thing is to prepare ritual dishes - kutya, funeral pancakes, pies, compote or jelly.

• The first thing served at a wake is pancakes. The first pancake and cup of jelly are always given to the deceased.
• During a funeral feast, you should not clink glasses, so as not to transfer trouble from one house to another.
• Whoever sings, laughs and has fun at the wake will soon want to howl like a wolf in grief.
• If a person drinks too many strong drinks, his children will become alcoholics.
• The ninth day is called uninvited - a large number of people are not invited to the wake, but gather in a close circle of relatives and friends of the deceased.
• On the fortieth day, a set of cutlery for the deceased must be placed on the funeral table - on this day his soul finally leaves our world and says goodbye to his family.
• On the fortieth day, ladders are baked from dough, symbolizing the ascension of the soul to heaven, alms are distributed, and a prayer service is ordered.
• After the wake, food from the table (sweets, cookies, pies) is distributed to loved ones and even strangers, so that as many people as possible wish the soul of the deceased to find peace.