Where is a person buried? Where to bury a person? Seeing the last journey

WASTE

"In what I find, in that I judge." These words were spoken by the Savior about the Second Coming and the Last Judgment. But since the state at the time of death is almost predetermining the future state of a person on the day of the Last Judgment, the Mother Church especially cares about the Christian death of the dying person and strengthens him in the last minutes of his life with special prayers, pronounced as if from the person of the departing: at the bed of the dying person, the canon is read and prayer for the separation of the soul - the so-called waste. The canon is placed in the Small Trebnik and is titled as follows: "A canon of prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Pure Mother of God at the separation of the soul from the body of every true believer."

The priest, having come to the dying person, gives him the cross to kiss and places this instrument of the Savior's redemptive death or another image before the eyes of the dying person in order to incline him to hope in God's mercy and salvation, which is bestowed through the saving sufferings and death of the Lord.

The rank itself consists of the usual beginning; according to "Our Father" - "Come, let us worship" and the 50th psalm; then the reading of the canon itself. After the canon “It is worthy to eat” and a prayer (read by a priest) for the exodus of the soul.

In the canon on the exodus of the soul, the Church, on behalf of the dying person, calls on neighbors to the deathbed to weep over his soul being separated from the body, and to offer the most fervent prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and all the saints for the protection and protection of the suffering soul of the dying from all the horrors of the hour of death, especially from crafty demons holding the writing of sins, and about deliverance from the ordeals of all the evil ones. In these prayers for the exodus of the soul, the Church prays to the Lord that He would release the soul of the dying from all earthly bonds in peace, free him from any oath, forgive all sins and rest him in eternal monasteries with the saints.

The canon admonishing the believer to his transition to future life, is based on the words of the Lord Himself, Who, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, says that poor Lazarus, after his death, was carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:22). If the soul of the righteous Angels carried to the bosom of Abraham, then the soul of the sinner is subjected by evil spirits to ordeals in hell (the Word of Cyril of Alexandria on the outcome of the soul - in the following Psalter; the life of St. Theodora).

In the Great Ribbon (ch. 75), in the Trebnik in 2 parts (ch. 16) and in the Priestly Prayer Book there is also a special rite for the separation of the soul from the body, when a person suffers for a long time before death. The following of this rank is similar to the above-mentioned following of the canon when the soul is separated from the body.

BURNING OF THE DEAD

The hour of death and burial, as the last duty of the living to the deceased, were accompanied by special religious rites among all peoples. These rites among some peoples of the pre-Christian world had a highly poetic, gratifying character, while others, on the contrary, were more gloomy, which depended on the basic religious beliefs and various ideas about death and death. afterlife.

Funeral rites among Christians have their origin, on the one hand, in the burial rites of the ancient Jews and in the burial rites of Jesus Christ, and on the other hand, they arose in Christianity itself and served as an expression of the Christian doctrine of earthly life, death and the future life. The Jews closed the eyes of the deceased and kissed his corpse (Gen. 50:1), washed him, wrapped him in linen, and covered his face with a separate piece of linen (Matt. 27:59; Jn.

11:44), they put them in a coffin, anointed them with precious oil and covered them with fragrant herbs (John 19:34), and buried them in the ground. According to Jewish customs, the most pure body of the Savior, taken down from the Cross, was entwined with a pure white shroud, and the head was tied with a scarf, anointed with fragrances, and was laid in a coffin.

In addition, the development of funeral rites in Christianity was influenced by Christian views on life and death. According to Christian teaching, our earthly life is wandering and the path to the Heavenly Fatherland; death is a sleep after which the dead will rise for eternal life in a renewed spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:51-52); the day of death is the day of birth for a new, better, blissful and eternal life. The body of a deceased brother is a temple of the Holy Spirit and a vessel immortal soul who, like a seed, although it returns to the earth, will, after the resurrection, be clothed with incorruption and immortality (1 Cor. 15:53).

In accordance with such encouraging Christian views, the burial of the dead in the very first times of Christianity acquired a special, proper Christian character. As can be seen from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, Christians regarding the burial of the dead followed the generally accepted Jewish customs, changing some of them according to the spirit Church of Christ(Acts 5:6-10; 8:2; 9:37-41). They also prepared the deceased for burial, closing his eyes, washing his body, wrapping him in funeral shrouds, and weeping over the deceased. However, Christians, contrary to Jewish custom, did not consider the bodies of the dead and everything that touched them to be unclean, and therefore did not try to bury the deceased as soon as possible, mostly on the same day. On the contrary, as can be seen from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, disciples or saints gather near the body of the deceased Tabitha, that is, Christians, especially widows, place the body of the deceased not on the eve of the house, as was usual in the pre-Christian world, but in the upper room, i.e. in the upper and most important part of the house, intended for offering prayers, because they meant to offer prayers here for her repose.

Further and more detailed information regarding Christian burial in ancient times of Christianity is found in the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite (“On the Church Hierarchy”), Dionysius of Alexandria, Tertullian, John Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, and others. In the essay “On the Church Hierarchy”, the burial is described as follows:

“The neighbors, raising songs of thanksgiving to God for the dead, brought the deceased to the temple and set them before the altar. The rector offered up songs of praise and thanksgiving to God for the fact that the Lord vouchsafed the deceased to remain even until death in the knowledge of Him and Christian militancy. After this, the deacon read the promises of the resurrection from the Divine Scriptures and sang the corresponding songs from the psalms. After that, the archdeacon remembered the departed saints, asked God to include the newly reposed in their ranks, and urged everyone to ask for a blessed death. Finally, the rector again read a prayer over the deceased, asking God to forgive the newly reposed all the sins committed by him due to human weakness, and to instill him in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, sickness, sorrow and sighing would escape from nowhere. At the end of this prayer, the abbot gave the deceased the kiss of peace, which everyone present did, poured oil on him and then betrayed the body to the ground.

Dionysius of Alexandria, speaking of the concern of Christians for the dead during the pestilence raging in Egypt, notes that “Christians took the dead brothers in their arms, closed their eyes and closed their mouths, wore them on their shoulders and composed, washed and dressed and accompanied them with a solemn procession ".

The bodies of the dead were clothed in funeral clothes, sometimes precious and shiny. So, according to the church historian Eusebius, the famous Roman senator Asturius buried the body of the martyr Marina in white precious clothes.

According to church writers, Christians, instead of wreaths of flowers and other worldly decorations used by pagans, placed crosses and scrolls in the coffin of the dead. sacred books. So, according to Dorotheus of Tire, the Gospel of Matthew, written during his lifetime by Barnabas himself, was laid in the tomb of the apostle Barnabas, which was later found when the relics of the apostle were opened (478).

PREPARATION OF THE BODY OF THE DEAD FOR BURNING CURRENTLY

The dead are usually cared for by relatives. In the early days of Christianity, among the clergy there were special persons for the burial of the dead under the name of "workers" (they are still commemorated in the special litany).

The body, or, according to the Trebnik, the “relics” of the deceased, according to ancient custom, is washed to appear at the judgment of the face of God in purity and integrity, “puts on new clean clothes according to his calling or service”, as evidence of our faith in the resurrection of the dead and the future Judgment, at which each of us will give God an answer in how he stayed in the rank in which he was called.

The custom of washing the body and covering it with new clean clothes dates back to the time of Jesus Christ Himself, whose most pure body, after being taken down from the cross, was washed and wrapped in a clean linen, or shroud.

The body of the deceased, washed and clothed, is sprinkled with holy water and placed in a coffin, also sprinkled with holy water before it. The deceased is supposed to be in the tomb, according to the ancient apostolic tradition, “face of grief”, “with eyes closed, as if sleeping, with lips closed, as if silent, and with hands crossed on the chest folded”, as a sign that the deceased believes in Christ crucified, risen, ascended into heaven and resurrects the dead. The deceased is covered with a new white veil, or "shroud", indicating the baptismal clothes in which he put on, being washed in the sacrament of Baptism from sins, and signifying that the deceased kept these clothes clean during his earthly life and that his body, betrayed to the grave will rise at the Second Coming renewed and incorruptible. The entire coffin is covered with a sacred veil (church brocade) as a sign that the deceased is under the protection of Christ.

The body of the deceased is crowned with a “chaplet” with the image of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and the Forerunner, and with the inscription “Trice Saint”, honoring the deceased as a winner, who ended his earthly life, who preserved the faith and hoped to receive from the Lord Jesus the crown of heaven, prepared for the faithful by the mercy of the Triune God and through the prayerful intercession of the Mother of God and Forerunner (2 Tim. 4:7-8; Apoc. 4:4, 10). An icon or a cross is placed in the hands as a sign of faith in Christ.

The body of the deceased is delivered in the house with the head towards the icons. Lamps are lit at the coffin, and candles are also lit by those present at the memorial service, when it is performed for the deceased. These lamps mean that he passed from this perishable life to the true non-evening light (Simeon of Thessalonica). (The coffin of a bishop is overshadowed by trikirii, dikirii, and ripids.)

Until the very removal for burial, a reading of the Psalter is performed over the body of the deceased. This reading of the Psalter for the deceased is also performed on the ninth, twentieth and fortieth day after death and annually on the days of repose and "name day" of the deceased. Prayers for the deceased, according to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bring great benefit to the souls of the dead, especially when they are combined with the offering of a bloodless Sacrifice. If these prayers are always necessary for the salvation of the soul of the deceased, then the intercession of the Church is especially necessary immediately after his death, when the soul is in a state of transition from earthly life to the afterlife and determines its fate in accordance with the life lived on earth. These prayers are also needed for edification and reinforcement of those around and mourning the departure of the deceased. Sorrow is usually silent, and the more silent, the deeper. The Holy Church interrupts this silence, which settles despondency, with a comforting and most edifying conversation - reading the psalms of the Psalms near the deceased before his burial, which powerfully turn those who mourn to prayer and thereby console them.

Note.

The reading of the Psalter is usually performed while standing (the position of the person praying). The very reading of the Psalter for the dead is performed in the following order.

Beginning: Through the prayers of our saints, our fathers… Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee. Heavenly King… the Trisagion according to Our Father. Lord have mercy (12 times). Come, let us bow (three times). And the first "Glory" of the 1st kathisma is read.

After each "Glory" - a prayer: "Remember, Lord our God", remembering, where it follows, the name of the deceased (the prayer is placed in the "Following the Exodus of the Soul", - in the followed Psalter and at the end of the small Psalter).

After the end of the kathisma, the Trisagion is read according to the Our Father, the penitential troparia and the prayer laid down after each kathisma (see on the row in the Psalter after each kathisma).

The new kathisma begins with "Come, let us worship."

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BURNING THE DEAD

IN Orthodox Church There are four types or rites of burial, namely: the burial of lay people, monks, priests, and infants. It is also necessary to include here the rite of burial performed in Bright Week.

All burial rites are similar in composition to the funeral matins or the all-night vigil. But each rank separately has its own characteristics.

The following of the funeral service is called in the liturgical books "initial" in the sense that the death of a Christian is a procession, or a transition from one life to another, like the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land.

The funeral is usually performed after the liturgy.

Burial is not performed on the first day of Easter and on the day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ until Vespers.

THE RITE OF THE BURNING OF PEACELY PEOPLE ("SUCCESSION OF THE DEADLY PEOPLE'S BODIES")

Under the name of Christian burial is understood both the funeral service and the burial of the body of the deceased to the earth (and not one burial to the earth). The funeral service is usually performed in the temple and, as an exception, at home or in the cemetery.

Before the body of the deceased is taken to the temple for a funeral service, a brief funeral litia is performed over him at home (lithia - from the Greek. “intensified popular prayer”).

The priest, having come to the house where the "relics of the deceased" are located, puts on himself an epitrachelion and, putting incense into the censer, censes the body of the dead and those who are coming, and usually begins:

Blessed be our God...

singers: Amen. Trisagion.

Reader: Holy Trinity. Our Father. By exclamation -

singers: With the spirits of the righteous deceased ...

In thy rest, Lord, and so on. troparia.

Deacon(or priest) litany: Have mercy on us, O God...

Exclamation: God of spirits and all flesh...

Deacon: Wisdom.

singers: Most Honorable Cherub... and so on.

And the priest makes a dismissal:

“Christ has possession of the living and the dead true god ours, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother, our reverend and God-bearing fathers, and all the saints, the soul of His reposed servant from us ( Name), in the villages of the saints he will instill and count with the righteous, and he will have mercy on us, like a Good and Humanitarian.

After that priest proclaims eternal memory: "In the blessed sleep of eternal rest ...". The singers sing: "Eternal memory" (three times).

When everything is ready for removal, the priest again creates the beginning (of the rite of the funeral itself): "Blessed is our God."

The singers begin to sing "Holy God," and as the Trisagion sings, the body of the deceased is transferred to the temple. Ahead of the entire procession is a cross, followed by choristers. A priest in vestments with a candle in his left hand and a cross in his right, and a deacon with a censer walk in front of the coffin. The priest goes ahead of the tomb because, as noted in the Treasury of Peter the Grave, he serves as a "leader" - the spiritual leader of Christian life and is a prayer book before God both for the living and for the dead. The laity, as if weeping and sick for the dead, follow the coffin. The procession is accompanied by the singing of “Holy God” to the glory of the Holy Trinity, in whose name the deceased was baptized, whom he served, whom he confessed, in whom he died, and after death may he be vouchsafed to whom, together with the inhabitants of heaven, to sing the Trisagion hymn.

In the temple, the body of the deceased is delivered either in the vestibule or in the middle of the temple against the royal doors, facing east (head to the west) - in the likeness of Christians praying that not only the living, but also the dead, spiritually participate in the offering of a mysterious sacrifice at the liturgy, so that the departed soul prayed together with the brothers who still remained on earth. After the celebration of the liturgy, during which the body of the deceased stands in the temple, his funeral is usually held.

"Burial of worldly people" is part of the all-night vigil, or a complete memorial service.

The funeral service consists of three parts:

1) from the usual beginning, the 90th psalm, the 118th psalm (“blameless”) and funeral troparia for the blameless;

2) from the singing of the canon, the stichera, the Gospel beatitudes with troparia, the reading of the Apostle and the Gospel, the litany, the reading of the prayer of absolution, and, finally, the stichera at the last kiss.

3) The funeral rite ends with a funeral litia.

After that, they take them out to the grave for burial with the singing of “Holy God” and a short litia while lowering the body into the grave.

First part. After the usual exclamation "Blessed is our God," "Holy God" is sung (three times) and the 90th psalm is read, after which the blameless (118th psalm) are sung, divided into three articles. The beginning of each article is sung by the choir, the rest of the verses are read by the priest. (According to the Charter, the singing of all verses of the 118th psalm is supposed.) In the first and third articles, each verse is accompanied by the refrain: "Alleluia", and the second article - "Have mercy on Thy servant" ( or your servant).

At the end of each article "Glory" and "And now" with a chorus.

After the 1st and 2nd statutes there is a small litany for the dead, pronounced with incense. Censing is supposed to be done during the entire funeral. At burial litanies, instead of the word “deceased,” it is customary to say “newly reposed” servant of God.

After the immaculate, immediately (without litany) they sing troparia for the immaculate (creation Reverend John Damascus - VIII century): "Blessed are you, Lord ... You will find the source of life with holy faces." Then small litany and “sedal rest”: “Peace, our Savior.” After the sedal, the Theotokos is sung: "He who shone forth from the Virgin to the world."

After that follows The second part funeral service.

After the 50th psalm, the canon of the 6th tone is sung - the creation of Theophanes the Inscribed, written in the 8th century. on the death of his brother - Theodore the Inscribed. Irmos 1st: "Like Israel walking on dry land." This canon is also placed in the Octoechos in the Sabbath service of the 6th tone.

On the canon, they usually sing or read the refrain to the first troparion: “Wonderful is God in His saints, the God of Israel,” and to the second: “Rest, O Lord, to the soul of Your departed servant.” In this canon, the Church calls especially the martyrs as intercession to the deceased, as the first-born of Christian death, who have reached eternal bliss, and prays to the Lord, Who is “by nature Good and Graceful and the Ruler of mercy, and the Abyss of goodness” - to give rest to the deceased “in the lands of the meek”, with the saints, in the sweetness of paradise, in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is no longer any sorrow or sighing, but endless life in joyful communion with God.

According to the 3rd ode of the canon, a small litany is pronounced and a sedal is sung: "Verily, all vanity."

According to the 6th song, there is also a small funeral litany, kontakion: "With the saints, rest in peace" and ikos: "Thou art alone the Immortal."

According to the 9th ode, a small litany for the dead is pronounced and eight self-voiced stichera written by John of Damascus on the death of one ascetic, in consolation to his grieving brother, are sung in 8 tones. In these verses, strong and touching features depict the transience of earthly life, the perishability of the body and beauty, helplessness in the death of wealth and fame, worldly connections and advantages.

But behind this image of the transience of earthly life, the inevitable destruction and corruption of the body, the Church pronounces consolingly “Blessed”: In Your Kingdom, when you come, remember us, Lord! Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the mourners, the meek ... - the sayings of the Savior about the eternal bliss of the ascetics of piety and virtue; the deceased is asked that Christ the Lord rest him in the land of the living, open the gates of paradise for him, show him a resident of the Kingdom, forgiving all sins.

This is followed by the singing of the prokimen and the reading of the Apostle and the Gospel.

With the words of the apostolic reading, the Church transfers our thoughts and hopes to the future general resurrection of the dead. “For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also God will bring those who died in Jesus with Him” (1 Thess. 4:13-18). The same hopes the Church awakens in us with the words of the Gospel about the general resurrection (John 5:24-31).

After the Gospel, the litany is pronounced: "Have mercy on us, O God," and at the end of the prayer "God of spirits" with the exclamation "For Thou art the resurrection, life and peace."

Usually, after reading the Gospel and the litany “Have mercy on us, God,” the priest, standing at the tomb at the feet of the deceased, facing the deceased, reads a permissive prayer, which he then puts into the hand of the deceased (and in this case, the farewell prayer, placed at the end of the funeral rite , is not readable, because it is the same in content as the first, only more concise).

In this prayer, the Lord is asked to forgive the deceased for sins of voluntary and involuntary, in which he "repents with a contrite heart and betrayed oblivion for the infirmity of nature." Thus, the permissive prayer is a priest's prayer for the deceased to be granted forgiveness from the Lord for all sins open to the confessor, as well as those in which the deceased did not repent, either due to the oblivion of sins characteristic of a person, or because he did not have time to repent of them, overtaken by death. It is also permissive in the proper sense, since it resolves the deceased from the church prohibition (“oath”, or penance), if for some reason he was not allowed during his lifetime.

As a sign that the deceased died in communion with the Church, a permissive prayer is placed in his hands.

The Church, by reading the Prayer of Permissiveness, also sheds high consolation into the hearts of those who mourn and mourn.

Permissive prayer is pronounced over the dead from ancient times (IV-V century). The content of this prayer was borrowed from the propitiatory prayer found at the end of the ancient Liturgy of the Apostle James. It was brought into its present composition (in the Trebnik) in the 13th century by Herman, Bishop of Amaphunte. Even the righteous people did not shy away from this permit. So, for example, the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, at his burial, accepted a permit, straightening right hand like alive. The custom of putting a prayer of permissiveness into the hands of the deceased has been observed in the Russian Church since the time of St. Theodosius of the Caves, who, at the request of the Varangian prince Simon, to bless him in this life and after death, wrote a permissive prayer and handed it to Simon, and Simon bequeathed to put this prayer in his hands after death.

After the permissive and conciliatory prayer, touching stichera are sung at the last kiss:

"Come, let's give the last kiss, brethren, to the dead."

When singing them, there is a farewell to the deceased as an expression of his separation from this life, our unceasing love and spiritual communion with him in Christ Jesus and in the afterlife. The people make the last kiss by kissing the cross in the hand of the deceased.

The third part. The funeral rite is concluded with a funeral litia. After the stichera, the Trisagion is read according to the Our Father.

choir sings: “From the spirits of the righteous who have died ...” and so on. troparia.

Then the litany: "Have mercy on us, O God," and so on. (See the beginning of "The rite of burial of worldly people").

And creates priest dismissed with a cross: “He is risen from the dead, Christ our true God” (see the Book of Treasuries).

Deacon proclaims: "In blessed sleep, eternal rest ...".

choir: Eternal memory (three times).

Priest: “Your eternal memory, our blessed and ever-memorable brother” (three times).

After the funeral, a burial takes place.

The coffin of the deceased is accompanied to the grave in the same way as to the temple, with the singing of the Trisagion and the procession in front of the tomb of the priest.

In the cemetery, before the body is lowered into the grave, a litiya is performed for the deceased. After closing the coffin and lowering it into the grave, the priest pours crosswise on the coffin the oil left after the unction (if this sacrament was performed before death over the deceased); according to custom, both grains of wheat, used during the consecration of oil, and a vessel from oil are thrown into the grave.

In the grave, the deceased is usually placed facing the east as a sign of expectation of the morning of eternity, or the Second Coming of Christ, and as a sign that the deceased goes from the west of life to the east of eternity. This custom was inherited by the Orthodox Church from ancient times. Already St. John Chrysostom speaks of him as having existed from former times (Archbishop Benjamin. The New Tablet).

The priest also pours ashes from the censer on the coffin lowered into the grave. The ashes signify the same thing as the unlit oil - life extinguished on earth, but pleasing to God, like censer incense.

Then the priest sprinkles the coffin lowered into the grave crosswise with earth, taking it with a shovel from all four sides of the grave (colloquially called "printing the coffin"). At the same time, he pronounces the words: “The Lord’s earth and the fulfillment of it (are made up of it) the universe and all who live on it.

And all those present on the coffin, lowered into the grave, “sweep (throw) dust”, as a sign of obedience to the Divine command: “Thou art the earth, and to the earth thou shalt depart.” The committing of the body to the earth also expresses our resurrection hope. That's why Christian church adopted and keeps the custom not to burn, but to bury the body in the ground, like a grain that should come to life (1 Cor. 15, 36).

According to the accepted custom, a tomb cross is placed over the grave at the head of the grave as a sign of confession by the dead of faith in Jesus Christ, who conquered death with the Cross and called us to follow His path.

CHARACTER OF BURIAL OF INFANTS

Infants are called children under the age of seven, who are not yet able to clearly distinguish between good and evil. If they do something evil out of foolishness, then this is not imputed to them as a sin. A special funeral service is performed for infants who died after holy Baptism, as over the immaculate and those who received cleansing from original sin in holy Baptism, in which the Holy Church does not pray for the remission of the sins of the dead, but only asks to vouchsafe them the Kingdom of Heaven, according to the unfalse promise of Christ (Mk. 10, 14).

The rank of the infant burial is shorter than the rank of the burial of worldly people (age) and differs from the latter in the following:

The rite of the funeral of babies also begins with the reading of the 90th psalm, but neither kathisma (blameless) nor troparia for the blameless are sung in it.

The canon is sung with the refrain: "Lord, rest the baby."

The small litany for the repose of the infant (placed after the 3rd ode of the canon) differs from the litany for those who have died at an age: in it the deceased infant is called blessed and contains a prayer to the Lord for the repose of the infant, so that He “according to His unfalse promise (cf. Mk. 10 14) He vouchsafed this to His Heavenly Kingdom.” In the litany there is no prayer for the forgiveness of sins; the prayer, read by the priest secretly before the exclamation after the litany, is different from that during the litany for the dead of age. This small litany is pronounced after the 3rd, 6th and 9th odes and at the end of the rite of the funeral service before the dismissal.

After the 6th ode of the canon, the kontakion “God rest with the saints” is sung, and together with the ikos “Thou art alone the Immortal,” 3 more ikos are sung, depicting the grief of parents for the dead baby.

After the canon, the Apostle and the Gospel are read other than at the funeral of worldly people: the Apostle - about the different state of the bodies after the resurrection (1 Cor. 15, 39-46), and the Gospel - about the resurrection of the dead by the power of the risen Lord (John 6, 35-39 ).

Instead of the permissive prayer laid down at the funeral of the age, the prayer is read: “Keep the babies”, in which the priest prays to the Lord to take the soul of the deceased baby to angelic radiant places. The priest reads the permissive prayer over the buried baby, standing at the head of the deceased, facing the altar.

At the last kiss, other stichera are sung than at the burial of "worldly people." They express the sorrow of the parents for the deceased baby and offer them consolation that he has moved into the faces of the saints.

Seeing off to the grave and burial in the earth is done according to the order of burial of “worldly people”.

Litiya, which is performed for an infant at home, as well as at the end of the funeral service during burial in a cemetery, differs from the usual litiya rite at the funeral of adults only in a litany: instead of “Have mercy on us, God”, a small funeral litany for an infant is pronounced, placed after the 3rd song the canon of the infant funeral.

Funeral services are not performed for unbaptized babies.

The burial rite of the monks is placed in the Great Treasury.

The funeral service for monks differs from the funeral service for lay people in the following ways:

1. Kathisma 17 (immaculate) is divided not into three articles, but into two, while the refrains are different, namely: to the verses of the 1st article “Blessed be Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy justification.”

To the verses of the 2nd article (up to verse 132) - the refrain: "Your am, save me."

And from verse 132 (“Look at me and have mercy on me”) - the refrain: “In Thy Kingdom, Lord, remember Thy servant” or “Thy servant.”

2. Instead of the canon about the deceased, Sunday antiphons are sung from the Octoechos of all 8 tones, and after each antiphon, four stichera, in which the Lord’s death on the cross is sung as a victory over our death and a prayer is raised for the deceased.

3. When singing “Blessed,” special troparia are sung, adapted to the vows of monastics.

4. At the last kiss, from among the stichera: “Come, let us give the last kiss, brethren, to the dead,” some stichera (5-10) are not sung, but special stichera are added.

5. When the body of a deceased monk is taken out for burial, it is not “Holy God” that is sung, but the stichera are sung self-voiced: “What worldly sweetness is not involved in sorrow.”

6. On the way to the cemetery, the procession stops three times, and there is a litany for the dead and a prayer.

7. At the time when the earth is thrown on the tomb, the troparia is sung: “To the earth, yawning, receive from you the one created by the hand of God before.”

In these troparia, the Church cries out: “Raise up Thy servant from hell, O Lover of mankind.” And the deceased, as it were, addresses the brethren: “My spiritual brethren and companions, do not forget me when you pray ... and pray to Christ, that my spirit will do with the righteous.” And the brethren at the same time make 12 bows for the deceased, who has ended his temporary life, which in its own way has 12 hours of day and night.

PECULIARITIES OF THE PRIESTLY BURNING

When transferring the body of the deceased priest from the house to the temple and from the temple to the cemetery, the procession is the same as during procession. The coffin is carried by the clergy. In front of the coffin - they carry the Gospel, church banners and a cross (when carrying the body of the laity - only the cross is in front). In every temple, past which the procession is made, there is a funeral knell. When carrying the body of the bishop - a chime in all the churches of the city; the coffin in front of each temple, past which the procession passes, stops, and a funeral litiya is performed. So from ancient times the burial of sacred persons was performed (see the historian Sozomen, book 7, ch. 10). When the body of the bishop is taken from the church to the grave, they carry it around the church, and when it is carried on each side of the church, a short litia is performed.

The priestly burial is distinguished by its spaciousness and solemnity. In its composition, it resembles Great Saturday Matins, when funeral songs are sung to the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Such similarity in burial corresponds to the ministry of the priest, which is the image of the eternal priesthood of Christ. The burial service of priests differs from the burial of lay people in the following ways:

After the 17th kathisma, performed as at the burial of worldly people, and after the troparia, five Apostles and five Gospels are read over the immaculate. When reading the first Gospel, they usually strike the bell once, while reading the 2nd gospel twice, etc.

The reading of each Apostle is preceded by the singing of the prokeimenon. Before the prokeimenon, sedate antiphons are sung or read, sometimes together with the troparia and with the psalm (the “Alleluia” is sung to the verses of the psalm). The antiphons depict the mysterious action of the Spirit of God, strengthening the weakness of man and delighting (tearing) him from the earthly to the heavenly. Before the fifth Apostle, “Blessed” are sung with other troparia than at the funeral of worldly people.

After reading the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gospels, prayers are read for the repose of the deceased. Usually, each Gospel and the prayer after it is read by a special priest, and the prokimen and the Apostle are read by a special deacon, if there are many of them at the funeral.

The canon is sung with the irmos of the canon of Great Saturday "The wave of the sea", except for the 3rd and 6th odes, which are related only to Christ God and are replaced: the 3rd ode - with the usual irmos "To be holy", and the 6th ode - with the irmos from the canon Vel. Thursday "The abyss of the last sins of everyday life." According to the 6th song, the kontakion “With the saints rest in peace” is sung and 24 ikos are read; each ikos ends with the singing of "Alleluia".

After the canon, they sing: laudatory stichera, “Glory in God on high” and at the end of the doxology, stichera are sung in all 8 voices: “What worldly sweetness”, but for each voice not one sticheron, as at the funeral of worldly people, but three. After the great doxology or after the verse stichera, a permissive prayer is read and put into the hand of the deceased.

When accompanying the deceased from the temple to the grave, they sing not “Holy God”, but the irmos of the canon “Help and Patron be to my salvation”.

In accordance with the bright and solemn meaning of the event of the Resurrection of Christ, the burial performed in Bright Week puts aside all the sadness of its service: the Resurrection of Christ is victory over death. Before this event, the very thought of death seems to disappear, and therefore the service itself has more to do with the risen Lord than with a deceased brother in faith.

The funeral service on the week of Easter is performed as follows: before the removal of the body of the deceased to the temple, a lithium is performed. The priest makes a cry and sings: "Christ is risen" with verses: "Let God rise again." Then, after singing “From the spirits of the righteous who have died,” there is the usual litany about the deceased, and after the usual exclamation, the song: “I saw the Resurrection of Christ.” During the transfer of the body, the canon of Easter is sung: "Resurrection day."

The funeral service begins in the same way as the lithia mentioned above, that is, after the exclamation: "Christ is risen" with the verses "May God rise again." Then the usual litany for the repose at the funeral, and after it the canon of Pascha: "Resurrection day."

According to the 3rd and 6th odes - a litany for the dead. After the 3rd ode and the litany, it is sung: "Having anticipated the morning."

According to the 6th song, after singing the kontakion “Repose with the saints” and the ikos “You alone are immortal”, the Apostle, laid that day at the liturgy, and the Gospel are read Sunday first. Before the reading of the Apostle, “They were baptized into Christ” is sung. Before reading the Gospel, "Alleluia" is sung (three times).

After the Gospel: “Let us pray to the Lord” and a permissive prayer.

After clergy or choir sings: “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ” (once) and “Jesus is Risen from the Tomb” (once).

After the 9th ode - a small litany for the dead and an exapostilary: "Flesh asleep" (twice) and then: "Blessed be the Lord ... the Cathedral of Angels was surprised."

Instead of stichera for the last kiss, Easter stichera are sung: “Let God rise again,” and there is a farewell to the dead, during which the singing of the Pascha troparion continues: “Christ is risen from the dead.”

At the end of the kiss, a litany for the dead is pronounced: “Have mercy on us, O God,” and a prayer (out loud): “God of spirits,” and an exclamation.

Deacon: "Wisdom".

singers: "Christ is risen from the dead" (three times), and the priest creates the Easter leave, after which:

Deacon: "In blissful sleep ...".

singers: "Eternal memory" (three times).

The coffin is accompanied to the grave with the singing of the troparion: "Christ is risen from the dead." There is a lithium at the grave, and after the "Eternal Memory" they sing: "To the Earth, zinuvshi, accept what has been created from you," - a troparion laid in the rite of the burial of monks.

In order to have a clear idea of ​​the changes in the ordinary funeral rite in the case of burial of the dead laymen, priests, monks and infants during the Paschal week, one must take into account the fact that two sides are clearly distinguished in the funeral rites of the Orthodox Church. Some prayers, readings and hymns refer to the dead themselves and consist in petitions for the forgiveness of sins and for the blessed repose of the dead. Other hymns are addressed to the living, relatives, acquaintances and, in general, neighbors of the dead and are intended to express the Church's participation in grief for the dead and at the same time arouse in the living a joyful feeling of hope for the future blissful life of the deceased.

As for the dead, for them, both in the event of death during the days of Bright Week, and at other times of the year, the prayer of the Church is necessary so that the Lord forgives their sins and grants them a blessed life. Therefore, in the Paschal rite of the funeral, these prayers for the forgiveness of sins and the repose of the dead are left. As for the relatives and neighbors of the deceased, on the days of Holy Pascha they should be free from excessive sorrow and lamentation, as on the days of the brightest and most solemn feast of Christ's victory over death in the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, the Church, during burial on Easter, excludes from the usual funeral service those prayers and hymns that reflect sorrow and condolences for the dead (“Holy faces”, “What lifely sweetness”, “Come the last kiss”, etc.) and determines to sing and read instead of them, only Paschal hymns, arousing one bright and joyful feeling of hope for the resurrection and eternal life of those who die in the Lord The bodies of the deceased bishops, priests, deacons and monks are not washed with water, but only with a sponge soaked in oil, wiped crosswise: face, chest, arms, legs, and this is done not by ordinary laymen, but by persons from monastics or clergymen. The clergy are dressed in appropriate clothes. A cross is placed in the right hand of the deceased bishop or priest, and the Gospel is placed on the chest, in the announcement to the people of which their very service consisted. The deacon is put into the hands of the censer. The face of the deceased bishop and priest is covered with air as a sign that they were performers of the mysteries of God, and especially the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ (the air is not removed during burial).

A mantle is placed on the coffin of a bishop, and a sacred (church) cover is placed on top.

The monks put on monastic clothes and wrap themselves in a mantle; for this, the lower part of the mantle is cut off in the form of a strip, and with this cut-off strip on top of the mantle, the deceased monk is wrapped crosswise (in three crosses), and the face is covered with a crepe (basting) as a sign that the deceased during his earthly life was removed from the world.

Instead of the Psalter, the Gospel is read over the deceased bishop and priest, as if in continuation of their service and in the propitiation of God. The gospel word, according to the explanation of Simeon of Thessalonica, is higher than any following, and it is fitting to read it over the priests.

Litiya for the deceased is performed before taking the body to church, on the way and before lowering the body of the deceased into the grave, at home upon returning after burial and at liturgies after the ambon prayer, as well as in the church after the dismissal of Vespers, Matins and the 1st hour (see ch. Typicon, chapter 9). Lithium is part of the burial and memorial service. The memorial service ends with a litia after the 9th ode. The burial also ends with a litia - after the stichera for kissing.

After the liturgy for the departed:

When the lithium is performed according to the prayer behind the ambo (see the Missal), then there is no dismissal and the “Eternal Memory” is not proclaimed, but before singing “Be the name of the Lord,” the choir immediately sings: “From the spirits of the righteous ... In Thy rest, Lord ... Glory: Thou art God ... And now: One Pure ... ".

Deacon(litany): Have mercy on us, O God; and so on.

choir: Lord, have mercy (thrice), etc.

Priest: God of spirits... Like you are the resurrection:

choir: Amen. Be the name of the Lord: (thrice) and other liturgy.

Each article begins in the Ribbon: 1st st. - "Blessed are the undefiled on the way"; 2nd st. - "Thy commandments"; 3rd st. - "Your name. Alleluia."

These words, which belong to the beginning of each article, should be sung by the canonarch (in a special chant in a special voice), after which the singers begin to sing the entire first verse of each article with the indicated refrain in the same chant, for example: “Blessed are the blameless on the way, walking in the law of the Lord. Alleluia” etc.

Prayer of permissiveness, from the priest over the deceased, praying:

Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His Divine grace, by the gift and authority given by His holy disciple and apostle, to bind and solve the sins of people, If you bind and loose the tree on earth, they will be bound and loosed in heaven). From one of them to us, who has come to receive each other, may he create through me a humble, forgiven and this child in spirit ( Name) from everyone, as if a person sinned against God in word or deed, or thought, and with all their feelings, willy or not, knowledge or ignorance. If you were under an oath or excommunication by a bishop, or if you took an oath from your father or your mother, or if you fell under your curse, or transgressed an oath, or some other sins, as if a person was in contact: but repent of all these with a contrite heart, and from all those guilt and yuzi let him (yu); the fir-tree, for the infirmity of nature, betrayed oblivion, and may she forgive him (her) all, for the sake of philanthropy

His own, through the prayers of the Most Holy and Blessed Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary, glorious and all-praised apostles, and all the saints. Amen.

According to Kyiv liturgical practice, during the pouring of St. oil on the body of the deceased, over which the unction was performed, the priest takes a vessel with oil, opening it, says over the deceased: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, having strengthened you in faith and the ascetic labors of the Christian life, may He now graciously accept this and with the oil of His bounty, may He forgive all sinned by human infirmity and accept a bribe, let it vouchsafe you with His saints who sing to Him: alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

The choir repeats: “Alleluia,” and the priest pours oil from a vessel crosswise on the body of the deceased.

Where this custom exists, the priest, taking a censer, pours the ashes into the grave on the coffin, saying: “Thou art earth, dust and ashes, O man, and return to the earth” (Trebnik. Przemysl, 1876).

According to the custom existing in Ukraine, when “sealing” the coffin, the priest says: “This coffin is being printed until the future Judgment and the general resurrection, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen,” and also crosswisely sprinkling the coffin with earth (with a shovel), pronounces the words of the Treasury : "The land of the Lord, and the fulfillment of the universe, and all who dwell in it."

If the priest does not escort the body of the deceased to the cemetery and is not present when it is lowered into the grave, but only performs a funeral service in the temple, then he sprinkles the body of the deceased with earth after the funeral service in the temple with the pronunciation of the indicated words. To do this, they bring a little earth (sand) in a vessel, then cover the face and the entire deceased with a shroud, after which the priest crosswise sprinkles the body of the deceased with earth, saying: "The Lord's land and its fulfillment."

Deacons are buried with the burial of lay people, and only with the permission of the bishops - with a priestly burial.

This rank is translated from Greek in Slavonic by Gabriel, archpriest of Mt.

The funeral ikos speaks with sorrow of the perishability of the human earthly body, and the sorrow of separation from the dead is expressed in funeral sobbing and the singing of “alleluia”.

In connection with the content of this ikos, when buried during the Paschal week, it should be replaced either by the Paschal kontakion: “If only you descended into the grave,” or by the Paschal ikos: “Even before the sun, the Sun sometimes set into the grave.”

The rite of burial for Easter is placed in the Treasury, as well as in a separate book - "Holy Easter Service".

On the commission of the rite of burial on Easter for the dead priests, monks and babies, see the instructions in the book. Bulgakov "Handbook for the clergy" and in the book by K. Nikolsky "A guide to the study of the Charter."

On the burial of deceased priests on Holy Pascha, see also: Collection of Solutions to Perplexed Questions from Pastoral Practice. Kyiv, 1904. Issue. 2.C. 107-108.

Death loved one always takes you by surprise, even if he was ill for a long time, and it was clear what was going on. People, having plunged headlong into great grief, as a rule, are lost and do not know where the organization of the funeral begins. At such moments, you need to try to collect all the will and restrain emotions.

How to start organizing a funeral: the first thing after discovering the death of a person is to call the police at "02" and an ambulance at "03" and report the incident. Further actions depend on where and for what reason the death occurred.

If a loved one was ill with a serious, incurable disease, regardless of whether he was observed in a hospital or not, you should contact a local therapist in your clinic during his lifetime and report the diagnosis. The patient's medical record must contain appropriate entries.

If such a patient died at home, and his card contains records of the disease, then, in addition to calling an ambulance, it is worth calling the local doctor at the clinic. As a rule, in such cases, district doctors give their personal phone number and ask them to call back and inform immediately if the patient dies. In this case, the ambulance doctor and the local policeman will come and draw up their documents.

The emergency doctor will give the first advice, such as:

• close mirrors;
• if necessary, tightly close the windows.

Since when death occurs due to certain diagnoses, for example, cancer, the deceased instantly become covered with black spots. To prevent this from happening, you should block the access of fresh air.

A doctor and a policeman can give a ready plan on how to organize a funeral for a loved one with the right phones. Then the district therapist will invite you to come and pick up a death certificate. Everything will take a few hours. In this case, a pathological examination is not carried out.

Contacting the ambulance and the police will greatly facilitate the funeral.

Carrying out the necessary rituals

If the family does not deny the existence of God and wants to carry out the prescribed religious rites, in the presence of an incurable disease that may soon lead to death, it is better to contact the temple in advance and inform the clergyman about this in order to avoid possible unpleasant surprises during the funeral.

As a rule, in this case, a priest is assigned to the patient, who goes to the patient’s house for free and conducts all the rites and sacraments necessary for such patients.

Priest duties may include:

1. Confession of the sick.
2. If necessary, the baptism of the dying.
3. Funeral.

These actions are carried out by the minister of the church at the request of the relatives of the deceased.

If you do not notify the temple in advance about the diagnosis of an incurable disease, then they may refuse to conduct religious funeral rites. After calling the ambulance and the police, you need to report the incident to the priest. He will introduce his plan of further action. The organization of the funeral at the cemetery can be fully or partially on his shoulders.

What to do if the doctor did not know about the disease

If a person was ill with a serious incurable disease, died at home, but during his lifetime they did not report this to the local doctor at the clinic, the corresponding entries were not made on the card, even if there are all conclusions about the course of the disease from the hospital, the police will open a case regarding the death of the deceased.

A post-mortem examination of the causes of death will be mandatory. In this case, the ambulance doctor, who will officially record the death, will call a car and, after working out the place of death by the police, will send the body for examination.

In the event of death in the hospital, an examination will also be carried out. If the death is criminal, the following actions will be taken:

• a task force will leave for the place of discovery of the deceased;
• a criminal case will be opened on the fact of death;
• an examination will be carried out to establish its causes.

These actions are necessary in order to quickly find the culprit in the event of a violent death.

Already at this stage, it is worth considering in which cemetery the burial will be carried out and how. So far, two options have become widespread in the country:

• cremation;
• burial in a coffin in the ground.

In this case, it is worth listening to the request of the deceased.

If the deceased and his relatives live in the countryside and the question of where to bury does not arise, since there is only one cemetery, there will be no problems. If the family lives in a big city, the issue can be very difficult to resolve.

If a relative was terminally ill, it is better to prepare in advance for the question of where and how to bury. Call several cemeteries and find out the cost of cremation and burial without cremation. Find documents for the burial of your relatives who died a long time ago and where you will bury the deceased.

The family has every right to refuse the help of officials who will offer you to use ready-made phones of companies involved in preparing the deceased for the funeral.

If relatives decide to do everything on their own, then after the police and doctors leave, you can turn off the phone for a couple of hours so that the intrusive agents of ritual services do not injure.

The delivery of the body of the deceased for an autopsy will be organized by the police and the ambulance, relatives do not have to pay for this. If an examination is not necessary, the body can not be taken to the morgue.

How to organize a funeral and where to start filling out documents is difficult to navigate right away. A document about the cause of death is obtained at the polyclinic from the local therapist in the case when a person died at home from a serious illness and there are records about this in his medical card.

To receive it, you need to take with you:

1. Passport of the deceased.
2. Medical card.
3. Medical insurance policy.
4. Passport of a relative who came to apply for a certificate.

For all other causes of death, the body of the deceased is sent for examination to the morgue, where they issue a conclusion on the cause of death.

To obtain a certificate in a hospital morgue, you will need the same set of documents as for a polyclinic.

If the cause of death was of a criminal nature and the examination was carried out in a judicial morgue, it is enough to have the passport of the deceased with you, if it cannot be found, you need an extract from the house register. As well as the passport of the person who came to draw up a medical certificate of the causes of death.

The resulting evidence must be read carefully. It should not contain corrections and abbreviations.

Having in hand a medical report on the cause of death, it is necessary to go to draw up a stamped death certificate, which is issued by the registry office. You can apply to the registry office at the place of death, registration of residence, location of the morgue that issued the conclusion on the causes of death, as well as to the central registry office in a big city.

To obtain a stamp certificate, on the basis of which you can then carry out a burial, draw up an inheritance, receive financial assistance, special leave at work to participate in the ceremony, you must have with you:

• the passport of the deceased, in his absence, an extract from the house book is submitted at the address of the last residence of the deceased,
• death certificate issued by doctors with a conclusion on the causes of death,
• the passport of the person who arrived to receive the stamp death certificate.

In addition to the stamp certificate, employees of the ritual service are required to issue a certificate for obtaining financial assistance for the burial of form No. 33.

Before leaving, you need to find out the working hours of the registry office and the time that will have to be spent on getting to the morgue for a document on the cause of death, and from there to get to the registry office.

It is worth starting these trips as early as possible. It will take you almost the whole day to register and queue at the registry office. You can just plan a trip to the registry office for the next day. If desired, the ritual agency can take over the execution of certificates.

If the family intends to carry out the sanitation of the corpse, dressing it on their own or inviting neighbors to help, it must be remembered that a few hours after the person has died, cadaveric ossification occurs. After his onset, it will be extremely difficult to dress the deceased and give him the necessary position in the coffin, it is almost impossible.

The corresponding office in the complex of services can offer sanitation, embalming, dressing, putting in order the face (tinting). Please note that clothing for preparing the deceased must be transferred at least 1 day before the day of burial.

Many firms have a service in which the company provides clothing to prepare the deceased for the farewell ceremony, the kit may include:

• only underwear;
• all necessary clothing.

These are new, inexpensive, decent clothes, tailor-made for burial. Shoes are desirable to be a little big.

How to bury a person - knowledge that I would like to never have. The next course of action includes choosing a cemetery and determining the day of the funeral. The order of their holding, the choice of the method of burial. In order to make a burial without cremation, you must first go to the cemetery, cremation can be ordered by phone, and then pay for it directly before or after the ceremony.

Day selection

When choosing the day of the funeral, you must consider that:

1. It will take 1 day to issue death certificates.
2. Mortuaries do not work on weekends and holidays, and corpse storage facilities are open all the time.
3. If you have to personally go to the cemetery to negotiate the provision of a place and conduct a burial, this may take another whole day.

For this reason, it is better not to organize the farewell process alone. This should be done by a few more relatives or friends, or you need to turn to the services of professionals.

If you contact the funeral services office located at the cemetery where the deceased is planned to be buried, they can provide a full range of services, from preparing the deceased to conducting a mourning ceremony in compliance with all Russian traditions.

Funeral companies can tell you what you need for a funeral. The coffin, wreaths, shroud can be purchased at a ritual or online store. All these purchases can be made by a company that will prepare a farewell ceremony if you decide on a pricing policy for these purchases.

The coffin must be selected based on the addition to the height of 20 or 25 cm. Depending on the completeness, there are special models. The cover is selected according to the religion and traditions of the family of the deceased.

If the family buys a coffin, wreaths on their own, you need to think about delivery to the location of the deceased. You can use your own transport. You can pay extra, and the store will deliver itself. When using personal transport, you need to clarify where you have to pick them up from, this may be an address on the other side of the city.

It is worthwhile to find out in advance the time of receiving the coffin by the mortuary. In different institutions different rules. In some places they accept in advance, and in others shortly before issuance. All these conditions must be agreed upon, and a consistent plan of action drawn up.

It is necessary to decide whether it is planned to bring the coffin to the last place of residence or from the morgue immediately to the cemetery. Recently, they almost do not carry to the house. It is necessary to call relatives, friends, acquaintances who will be present at the farewell ceremony.

If the coffin is not brought to the house, then you need to ask those who came to gather immediately at the cemetery. In this case, you can not pay for transport for the transportation of those who say goodbye. Pay only transport for the transportation of the coffin with the deceased.

It is also necessary to order people who will dig a hole, move the coffin wherever it needs to be moved. The grave should be dug by the workers who dug it.

The order of actions ends with the organization of a commemoration. A funeral dinner can be prepared at home, you can order it in a ritual or ordinary cafe.

The ritual cafe is more convenient because:

• the room will be appropriately furnished;
• there they will offer a list of dishes that are prepared specifically for the commemoration;
• the post will be taken into account if the commemoration coincided with it;
• their prices are affordable.

Given these advantages, it is still worth choosing a ritual cafe.

What to do if a loved one dies and you need to deal with the funeral? We offer a step-by-step action plan

Before the funeral

The first thing to do is complete all the necessary paperwork. Immediately after the death of a person, it is necessary to issue death certificate form. This is done by the doctor.

If a person died during the day at home, you need to call the local doctor from the clinic, if at night - an ambulance (103 from the city and mobile; 130 for MTS and Megafon subscribers). The doctor will issue a death certificate.

In parallel, you need to issue body examination report deceased. For this, a police officer is called (102 from the city; from mobile 102 for Beeline subscribers; 120 for MTS and Megafon subscribers). If the person died outside the home, the police officer will also issue a referral for a forensic autopsy).

Then you need to get medical certificate of death.

For this you need to take:

death certificate issued by a doctor,
protocol of examination of the body of the deceased, which was issued by a police officer,
medical insurance policy of the deceased,
his outpatient card (if it is on hand),
passport,
passport of the person who will be engaged in registration,

and contact the clinic at the reception.

In the absence of suspicions of a violent death or non-natural death (accident, suicide, car accident, fall from a height, murder, and so on) and there is a medical card of an outpatient in the district clinic, the district police officer writes out a certificate of non-violent nature of death addressed to the head physician district clinic to obtain a "Medical death certificate". Relatives or other legal representatives of the deceased must take into account and take into account in advance the possibility of obtaining a “Medical death certificate” at the district clinic.

The district polyclinic has the basis for issuing a "Medical death certificate" in the case of an outpatient medical card, which reflects the dynamic observation of the patient, the established clinical diagnosis, which in itself could cause death. But if a long time has passed since the last observation of the patient, the district clinic may refuse to issue a “Medical Death Certificate”.

If the district polyclinic has no grounds for issuing a “Medical Certificate of Death”, the head physician of the polyclinic may send the body of the deceased for pathoanatomical examination to the city or district mortuary of a medical institution attached to the polyclinic according to the administrative-territorial principle.

An autopsy may not be required (unless the relatives themselves ask for it), for example, if an old grandmother who was ill for a long time died, or if a person was registered in an oncology clinic, and in many other cases when the natural cause of death is obvious.

If, for some reason, it became necessary, a death certificate is given after an autopsy already in the morgue. Relatives need to call a specialized car to transport the deceased to the morgue (medical workers should know the telephone number of the service), and then contact the morgue with the passports of the deceased and the applicant in order to issue a medical certificate of death.

If a person died at night, the body can be transported to the morgue immediately. In this case, relatives or the police call a specialized car to transport the body of the deceased, and give the employees of this service a death declaration form and a protocol for examining the body of the deceased, and in return they receive a referral form to the clinic, by which you can get an outpatient card of the deceased if it is not on hand. After receiving an outpatient card with a post-mortem epicrisis, you must go to the morgue with the passports of the deceased and the applicant to obtain a medical certificate of death.

If a person died not at home, it is necessary to call a specialized car to transport the body to the morgue at the place of death. Employees of this service will take away the death declaration form, the body examination protocol and the referral for a forensic autopsy. The death certificate will be issued at the morgue.

If a person dies in a hospital, hospital doctors ascertain the death and place the body of the deceased in the hospital morgue, they do an autopsy there, they also issue a death certificate.

Having received the certificate, you need to contact the registry office and obtain a death certificate (form 33) and a stamp death certificate.

After that, if necessary, you can organize a car to transport the body to the morgue at the place of residence, if the body was originally sent to the morgue at the place of death. Without a stamped death certificate, the body cannot be transported to another morgue.

Having received all of the above documents, you need to contact the funeral service and place an order for the provision of funeral services and organization of the funeral. You can place an order in person by contacting the service bureau directly, or you can call an agent to place an order.

For what a resident of Moscow is entitled to for free, see.

If the deceased is at home before the funeral

Today, very few people leave the dead at home, as a rule, the body is transported to the morgue. If the body will remain at home until the funeral, a freezing specialist can be called to the house and embalming (a process that slows down the decomposition of the body) at home can be carried out.

If the body of the deceased remains at home before the funeral, after embalming it is customary to wash it with warm water, (if the deceased is a baptized Orthodox) they read "Trisagion" or "Lord, have mercy."

After washing, the deceased is dressed in clean, if possible, new clothes. If the deceased is a baptized Orthodox, he must be put on pectoral cross ik.
The washed and cleaned (dressed) body of the deceased is placed on the table and covered with a shroud (white veil). The eyes of the deceased must be closed, the mouth closed (for which, in the very first hours after death, the jaw is tied up, and the bandage is removed before being placed in the coffin). The arms and legs of the deceased are also tied up to give them the proper position during the funeral (arms folded on the chest, and legs stretched out and pressed against each other). If this is not done, in rigor mortis, the muscles and tendons are compressed, and the human body can assume an unnatural posture. Before the funeral, they are usually untied.

When the body of the deceased is washed and removed, they immediately begin to read the canon, called "Following the Exodus of the Soul from the Body". If it is not possible to invite a priest to the house, then relatives and friends can read the Follow-up.

Before the position of the deceased in the coffin, the body and the coffin (outside and inside) are sprinkled with holy water.
In the coffin, a small pillow is placed under the head of the deceased, covered up to the waist with a special consecrated cover (funeral coverlet) depicting a cross, images of saints and prayer inscriptions (sold in a church shop), or simply with a white sheet.

IN left hand a funeral cross is placed on the deceased, a holy icon is placed on the chest: according to tradition, for men - the image of the Savior, for women - the image of the Mother of God (it is better to buy in a church shop, where everything is already consecrated). Immediately before burial, the icon should be removed - it cannot be buried. You can pick it up and leave it at home, or you can take it to the temple and put it on the canon - a square candlestick in front of the crucifixion, where they put candles for the dead (ask the temple employees), and after 40 days from the date of death of a loved one, pick it up and take it home.

A chaplet is placed on the forehead of the deceased - a symbol of the observance of the faith by the deceased Christian and his accomplishment of the Christian life feat. The crown is placed in the hope that the deceased in the faith will receive the crown of incorruption from God after the resurrection. The rim traditionally depicts the Savior, mother of God and the prophet John the Baptist. The whisk is sold in the church shop.

The coffin with the removed dead is usually placed in the middle of the room in front of domestic icons, with the head towards the icons.

They also light a lamp or a candle, which should burn as long as the deceased is in the house.

How to dress the deceased, putting in a coffin

It used to be customary to dress the deceased in all white, and the funeral clothes were prepared in advance. A man's head was covered with a shroud - a thin scarf with a sharp top and a cloth descending on the back, a woman with a light scarf. Today, it is customary to dress the deceased in everything new, clean. Clothing should be closed, with long sleeves, a small cutout at the neck (without a neckline), the length of the skirt for women should not be higher than the knees.
According to Christian tradition, before burial, the body of the deceased is often dressed in bright clothes - a kind of sign that dormition is not only the sorrow of parting with others, but also the joy of meeting with God.

Clothing should fit well. If a person during his lifetime has prepared for himself a suit or dress for a funeral, it is important to fulfill his desire. On the hand of the deceased, if he was married, you can, if desired, leave a wedding ring.

The deceased should be buried in shoes. It is not necessary to buy “white slippers”, just shoes should be.

Military people are usually buried in dress uniform, with awards.

There is a tradition to put books, money, jewelry, food, photographs in the coffin. From an Orthodox point of view, this is a relic of paganism, when it was believed that things would continue to matter, they could “be useful” to the deceased in the next world. However, Christians are also convinced that there are “things” necessary for the deceased: the love and prayers of his loved ones for him, their alms and good deeds in his memory.

Deceased in the morgue

If the body of the deceased was taken to the morgue, clean and, if possible, new clothes should be taken there. If the deceased was baptized Orthodox, also everything necessary for the position of the deceased in the coffin: a pectoral cross, a funeral cross in hand, an icon, a funeral shroud, aureole.

For women(according to the general civil customs of the funeral) they bring:
underwear;
stockings (or tights);
long sleeve dress;
headscarf (not black);
shoes (or slippers);
toilet water, soap, comb, towel (they tie the face of the deceased)

For men:
underwear;
socks;
razor;
T-shirt, white shirt;
black/grey pantsuit
shoes/slippers
toilet water, soap, comb, towel.

If your deceased is a believer, you can ask the morgue workers to prepare the body for burial, taking into account Orthodox traditions(usually morgue workers know them very well).
At home, they read the canon “Following after the departure of the soul from the body” about the deceased Orthodox, and then the Psalter.

If death has come within eight days from Easter to Tuesday of St. Thomas week (Radonitsa), then in addition to, "Following the Exodus of the Soul" read Easter canon
In the Orthodox Church, there is a pious custom of continuous reading of the Psalter for the deceased until his burial. The Psalter is also read in the future on the days of commemoration, and especially in the first 40 days after death. During the Easter week (eight days from Easter to Radonitsa) in the Church, the reading of the Psalter is replaced by the reading of the Easter Canon. At home, reading the Psalter over the deceased can also be replaced by the Paschal canon. But if this is not possible, then you can read the Psalter.

Deceased in the temple

Previously, it was customary to leave the body of the deceased in the church, so that as many relatives as possible could take part in the funeral prayer, which continued over the coffin all night and ended in the morning with the funeral Liturgy and the funeral service.
If we are not talking about the all-night prayer and the Liturgy, then there is no point in keeping the body in the temple.

If you left your deceased in the temple overnight and were asked to cover the coffin with a lid, there is nothing wrong with that. At the funeral, the lid will be opened, and you will be able to say goodbye to the deceased.

Mourning at home

It is customary to clean the house in which a person died in a special way. The most common custom is to hang mirrors, sometimes decorate chandeliers with black crepe. All this is nothing more than a tribute to tradition. Like even number flowers brought to the funeral. Such things have no significance for the posthumous fate of the deceased or the life of his relatives.

funeral service

On the third day after the death of the deceased, the deceased is buried (the first day is considered to be the day of death), although due to various circumstances, the day of the funeral can be shifted. If the deceased is a person baptized in Orthodox faith, before burial over him performs the rite of burial.
This service is not performed only on the day of Pascha and on the day of the Nativity of Christ.
funeral service Orthodox Christian is performed only once, in contrast to memorial services and lithium - funeral services that can be performed many times.

It is better to agree on the funeral in advance: come to the temple and contact the church shop or directly to the priest. They will also tell you what to prepare for this. The shop can name the approximate amount of the donation for the funeral service. If there is no such amount, you can leave the money at your own discretion.

For the funeral, the coffin with the body of the deceased is brought into the temple with their feet forward and placed facing the altar, i.e. feet to the east, head to the west.

When performing the funeral service, relatives and friends stand at the coffin with lit candles and pray together with the priest for the soul of the deceased. Candlelight is a symbol of joy, light is also a symbol of life, victory over darkness, an expression of bright love for the deceased and a warm prayer for him. Candles are also reminiscent of those candles that we hold on Easter night, testifying to the Resurrection of Christ.

After the proclamation of "Eternal Memory" or after reading the Gospel, the priest reads a prayer of absolution over the deceased. In this prayer, we ask God for the forgiveness of sins for which the deceased did not have time to repent at confession (or forgot to repent, or out of ignorance). But this does not apply to those sins for which he did not intentionally repent (or did not repent at all at confession). The text of the permissive prayer is placed by the priest in the hands of the deceased.

After that, the mourners, having extinguished the candles, approach the coffin with the body, ask the deceased for forgiveness, kiss the halo on the forehead and the icon on the chest. The body is completely covered with a veil, the priest crosswise sprinkles it with earth. After that, the coffin is covered with a lid and no longer opens. (If relatives want to say goodbye to the deceased at the cemetery, they should tell the priest about it and the priest will give them land with him. At the cemetery, before closing the coffin, the relatives should sprinkle the body covered with a veil with earth crosswise and cover it with a lid).

If the funeral service takes place with the coffin closed, they kiss the cross on the lid of the coffin.
The closed coffin with the singing of the Trisagion is taken out of the temple facing the exit (feet forward).
Perhaps the funeral of two or more people at a time.

According to church canons, the priest performs the funeral in white robes, as in the rite of baptism of a person. It has symbolic meaning. If baptism is a birth in Christ, then a funeral is the birth of a soul into Eternal Life. Both of these events are the most important stages of a person's life.

There are no restrictions on participation in the funeral service for children or, as the "popular opinion" claims, pregnant women - no! Any person, if he wants, can come and pray for the deceased.

Whom the Church does not bury

The Church does not bury the dead, who during their lifetime consciously renounced Christian faith, and suicides, unless the suicide was committed in a state of mental disorder. In this case, a petition is submitted addressed to the ruling bishop and a certificate from the psychiatric dispensary, drawn up in the prescribed manner, signed by the head physician, on a special form with a stamp; the bishop, upon consideration, may issue a blessing for an absentee funeral.

You should also contact the bishop if there is any doubt that the deceased committed suicide himself (for example, it could be an accident, death by negligence, etc.).

If it is known for certain that a person committed suicide in the absence of factors that the Church recognizes as mitigating, then you should not try to get the blessing of the bishop by deceit and manipulation. Although it follows from love, nevertheless, deceit will not bring benefit to the soul of the deceased. In this case, it is better to pray intensely at home, to do works of mercy for the sake of the suicide, to give alms for him, that is, to do everything that can bring comfort to his soul.

absentee funeral

If it is not possible to bring the body of the deceased to the temple, and it is also not possible to invite a priest to the house, then an absentee funeral may be performed in the temple. This method of funeral service appeared in Soviet times, when people did not have the opportunity to find or invite a priest for an in-person funeral service.

To perform the funeral, you need to invite a priest from Orthodox church and not use the services of unknown persons offering them.

After completing the funeral service in absentia, relatives are given earth (sand) from the funeral table. The body of the deceased is sprinkled crosswise with this earth. If by this time the deceased is already buried (an absentee funeral can also be performed once, but at any time, regardless of the "statute of limitations" of death), then his grave is sprinkled with earth from the funeral table crosswise.

If the urn is buried in a columbarium (urn storage with ashes after cremation), then in this case the consecrated earth is poured onto any grave of an Orthodox Christian.

Funeral

Contrary to existing superstition, the coffin with the body of the deceased is supposed to be carried, if possible, to his close relatives and friends. If for some reason (for example, there are no relatives and close men or they are old and not strong enough), you can ask other people to help with the removal of the coffin.

An exception exists only for priests, who should not carry the coffin of a layman, no matter who he is. If a priest is present at the funeral, then he goes ahead of the tomb as a spiritual shepherd.

If the funeral begins from the house, then an hour and a half before the removal of the coffin from the house, the “Following the Exodus of the Soul” is read again over the body of the deceased. If the body of the deceased is in the morgue, then you can read "The Follow-up to the Exodus of the Soul" before the funeral begins anywhere (at home, at the morgue).

The coffin is taken out, turning the face of the deceased towards the exit, i.e. feet forward. Believers sing the Trisagion.

There are a number of superstitions associated with a meeting with a funeral procession: there is an opinion among the people that this is " bad sign". According to church ideas, such a meeting does not have any negative meanings, perhaps for someone a meeting with a procession is an opportunity to pray for a deceased person. The notion that a funeral procession should not cross the road is more related to an expression of respect for the deceased.

Burial can take place at any time of the day, not just in the morning.

In the grave of the deceased, they are placed facing east. As the coffin is lowered, the faithful again sing the Trisagion. All the mourners throw a handful of earth into the grave.

A cross is placed on the grave of a Christian. The grave cross is set at the feet of the deceased, turning it with its face to the west, so that the face of the deceased was directed to the holy cross.

If relatives want to install a monument or tombstone on the grave, the choice of its shape, type, size and decor (even if it contains sacred images) is not regulated in any way church tradition. It can be chosen at your discretion.

By Orthodox canons, the burial of the deceased Christian should not be performed on the day of Holy Easter and on the day of the Nativity of Christ.

Cremation

Cremation is not traditional way burial for Orthodox Christians, the most preferred is the burial of the body in the ground. If this is not possible, cremation is acceptable. For the posthumous fate of the deceased, the type of burial does not play any role.

commemoration

After the funeral service in the church and the burial of the body in the cemetery, the relatives of the deceased arrange a memorial meal. This tradition dates back to early Christian times, when alms were distributed to the needy and hungry in memory of the deceased.

A commemoration can be arranged on the third day after death (day of the funeral), on the ninth, fortieth days, six months and a year after death, on the birthday and day of the angel of the deceased (name day).

On the weekdays of Great Lent, commemorations are not performed, but are postponed to the next (forward) Saturday and Sunday. This is done because only on Saturday and Sunday the Divine Liturgies of John Chrysostom and Basil the Great are performed, where the dead are commemorated, as well as memorial services are performed.

Memorial days that fall on the first week after Easter (Bright Week) and on Monday of the second (Thomas) week after Easter are transferred to Radonitsa - the 9th day after Easter, which falls on Tuesday of the second week after Easter. This is a day of commemoration of the dead, specially established by the Church, so that believers can share the joy of Easter with the souls of relatives and friends who died in the hope of the Resurrection and Eternal life.

On Radonitsa, unlike the days of the Bright Week, it is customary to visit cemeteries, clean up the graves (but not have a meal in the cemetery) and pray.

There are no other restrictions on the organization of commemoration on certain days! All sorts of ideas that, for example, only suicides are commemorated on Monday, and so on, have nothing to do with church tradition and mean absolutely nothing.

memorial table

For the funeral table, traditional dishes are kutia and funeral pancakes. They are used to start the meal. However, this is just a custom. If you can't cook them, don't worry.

Traditional kutya is made from wheat grains, which are washed and soaked for several hours (or overnight), then boiled until tender. Boiled grains are mixed with honey, raisins, poppy seeds to taste. Honey can first be diluted in water in a ratio of 1/2 and boil wheat grains in the solution, then drain the solution. Rice kutya is prepared in the same way. Loose rice is boiled, then diluted honey or sugar and raisins (washed, scalded and dried) are added to it.

Alcohol is allowed on the memorial table; one of the relatives can make sure that its quantity corresponds to the spirit of the memorial meal, and not to a noisy feast.

For believers, if the commemoration is held in fast days(when it is not customary to eat food of animal origin), then the dishes prepared for the memorial meal should be lenten. The rest of the dishes are prepared at the discretion of those who arrange the meal.

The Christian memorial meal begins and ends with a general prayer for the deceased.

Should the deceased have a glass of vodka with bread?

There are many customs associated with the memorial table that have absolutely nothing to do with the church's understanding of the afterlife. For example, there is a custom at the wake to put a glass of vodka and a piece of bread, which, as it were, are intended for the person being commemorated (or to drink for the commemoration of the soul of the deceased in the cemetery immediately after the funeral). Often a glass of bread is placed in front of a photograph of the deceased. If it is easier for relatives, no one will forbid them to do it. However, this custom does not reflect any Christian meanings. Whether a glass of vodka with bread will be delivered or not will not affect the posthumous fate of the deceased.

One of the most common customs is not to clink glasses, commemorating the dead, also only “folk”, it does not carry any Christian meanings. When a person's body is buried, the Church invites loved ones and relatives to express their love and good memory for the deceased by praying for his soul.

Church commemoration

According to the faith of the Church, the soul, having separated from the body, goes through ordeals for 40 days - special trials, a test of its earthly life. How the soul passes its posthumous "exam" depends on its fate and residence until the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment.

The soul of a deceased person, when separated from his body at death, retains his mind and will, can regret something, repent, but can no longer change anything in his afterlife, cannot act, because he is separated from the body. As a person dies, so he appears before God. But relatives are able, through their prayers, combined with the prayers of the entire Church, to help their deceased. And first of all - to pass the test in these first 40 days.

About a deceased person on the very first day they read "The Canon of Prayer to Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Pure Mother of God, the Mother of the Lord, when the soul is separated from the body of every true believer." It is in the prayer book, you can find the text on the Internet.

Previously, when it was not customary to take the body of the deceased to the mortuary, it was at home, the Psalter was read over it, and the invited priest performed litia. The meaning of this commemoration was that the deceased was constant prayer. Today, when the body of the deceased, as a rule, is in the morgue before the funeral, you can read the Psalter about him at home, as well as order the reading of the Psalter in the monastery.

It is important immediately after the death of a person, before the funeral and burial, to order in a temple or monastery Sorokoust- in this case, the deceased will be remembered for Divine Liturgy within 40 days (when the soul will go through ordeals). It is only necessary to clarify whether the Liturgy is served every day in the church, and if not every day, find one where the Liturgy is served daily - as a rule, these are large city parishes or any monasteries.

Third, ninth, fortieth day

days special commemoration the deceased - the third, ninth and fortieth after death.
The first day is the day of death itself, even if the person died late in the evening (before midnight). For example, if a person died on March 1, then the ninth day is March 9.

Why are these days so important? We know the revelation given by an angel to Saint Macarius of Alexandria (395): “when on the third day there is an offering in the Church, then the soul of the deceased receives relief from her angel in grief, which she feels from separation from the body; receives because the doxology and offering in the Church of God has been completed for her, which is why hope is born in her. On the third day, He Who rose from the dead on the third day - the God of all - commands, in imitation of His Resurrection, to ascend to heaven for every Christian soul to worship God. Therefore, on the third day, the Church makes an offering and a prayer for the soul.”

“From the third to the ninth day, the soul is shown Paradise, the abodes of the saints. If the soul is guilty of sins, then at the sight of the joy of the saints, it begins to regret its life and reproach itself. On ninth day the soul is again ascended by angels to worship God.

After the second worship, the Lord “commands to take the soul to hell and show it the places of torment that are there. The soul abides here for thirty days, trembling, lest it itself be condemned to imprisonment in them. IN fortieth day again she ascends to worship God and her future fate is decided: a place is appointed in which she will stay until the Last Judgment", - writes Saint Macarius. Therefore, on this day it is so important to pray for the soul of the deceased.

You can order a memorial service for the deceased - a memorial service established by the Church, which consists of prayers in which those praying rely on God's mercy, asking for the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased and granting him blessed eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. During the service of memorial services, the assembled relatives and friends of the deceased stand with lighted candles as a sign that they also believe in a bright future life; at the end of the memorial service (when reading the Lord's Prayer), these candles are extinguished as a sign that earthly life ours, burning like a candle, should go out, most often not burning down to the end we presume.

It is customary to perform memorial services both before the burial of the deceased, and after - on the 3rd, 9th, 40th day after death, on the days of his birth, namesake (name day), on the anniversary of death. But it is very good to pray at a memorial service, as well as submit notes for remembrance on other days.

You can also ask the priest, having previously agreed, to make a lithium - a different type of church commemoration of the deceased. Litiya can be read not only by priests, but also by laity. It is very good to read the lithium in the cemetery.

Commemoration on Radonitsa

Radonitsa - Tuesday of the second week after Easter - a day of special remembrance for the dead.
According to St. John Chrysostom (4th century), this holiday was already celebrated in Christian cemeteries in antiquity. A special place of Radonitsa in the annual circle church holidays- immediately after the Bright Easter Week - helps Christians not to go deep into feelings about the death of loved ones, but, on the contrary, to rejoice at their birth into another life - eternal life. The victory over death, won by the death and resurrection of Christ, supplants the sadness of temporary separation from relatives, and therefore, in the words of Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh, “with faith, hope and Paschal confidence we stand at the tomb of the departed.”

The basis for this commemoration is, on the one hand, the memory of the descent of Jesus Christ into hell, connected with St. Thomas Sunday (the first after Easter), and on the other hand, the permission of the Church Charter to perform the usual commemoration of the dead, starting with St. Thomas Monday. By this permission, believers come to the graves of their neighbors with the joyful news of the Resurrection of Christ, hence the very day of commemoration is called Radonitsa.

Usually, on the eve of the day of Radonitsa (the church day begins in the evening), after the evening service or after the Liturgy on the day of Radonitsa, a full memorial service is performed, which also includes Easter hymns.

Litiya (strengthened prayer) is usually performed at the cemetery. To do this, it is better to invite a priest, if it is not possible, it is possible to perform lithium on your own by reading the Chin of lithium performed by a layman at home and in a cemetery. But you can simply read the troparion "Christ is risen from the dead", as well as "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ."

Situations in life are different. The young believe bad omen think about death. Elderly people have been collecting their mortal bundle for a long time. In any case, the development of events suggests only one of the options at the end life path each of us.

1. Relatives and friends can always worthily spend on their last journey.
2. A man dies alone and there is practically no one to bury him.

There is also third option which many have not heard of. He takes care of the burial from loved ones and will not allow the lonely to be left without a worthy funeral. Exactly lonely is the most difficult. For them it is would be ideal. About this innovation in funeral services a little later.

Often compassionate neighbors themselves have to bury singles. Due to various life circumstances, it can be difficult for them to collect the necessary amount of money. This is in the event that the deceased did not leave them his savings for this very purpose. Nevertheless, such neighbors are lonely for reasons of their difficult nature or if they lead an antisocial lifestyle. Such people usually do not leave money for their funeral.

In any case, it is better to show humanity in an individual funeral than to be buried at the expense of the state. Suppose that there is no one or nothing to bury the deceased. Of course, no one is left unburied. There is an alternative option to the social benefit for burial - this is free funeral.

If within a certain time the body is not taken from the morgue, or no one comes for a death certificate, then the documents are handed over to the police. If the police find relatives of the deceased, see point 1. about relatives. They may not be found. It happens that relatives refuse funerals. Therefore point 2. What will happen in this case?

The maximum that the municipalities provide is a cheap coffin with a sign in a specially designated place in the cemetery. In reality, several bodies wrapped in a plastic bag were buried in a mass grave. For the burial of unclaimed bodies and the burial of the homeless, funds are allocated that are not particularly controlled. Everything depends on the consciousness of specialized funeral services and the municipality.

Do you think that if no one needed such people during their lifetime, then after death they will show a modicum of sympathy and respect for them? Hardly.

Free funeral provided only for unemployed persons. Pensioners are also included in this category. Of course, the attitude towards unclaimed corpses in the morgue is appropriate. No one will do an autopsy to verify the causes of death for persons without a fixed place of residence.

If the body was in demand, but an application was submitted for a free funeral, then it is possible to count on the worst coffin and not the best car for transporting the body to the cemetery. They won't take you back. And everything you want in excess of this minimum will be paid at your expense.

The fence and the sign with the cross are again at the discretion of the ritual service. Cost constraints may also be due to insufficient funding. Often, an amount of money is allocated from the budget, which is simply catastrophically small for a large amount. free funeral.

In order to meet the last minutes on earth with dignity and not create problems with their funerals, modern grandparents have recently acquired a ritual insurance policy. Or as it is also called

BURY OF THE DEAD, sanitary and hygienic aspects(syn.: burial, funeral), - removal of the corpses or ashes of the dead in the places intended for this (cemetery). Unburied or improperly buried corpses of the dead are dangerous because they pollute the air, water and soil with gaseous, liquid and solid decomposition products, as well as pathogenic microbes (in case of death from certain infectious diseases).

At different times at different peoples existed various ways 3. at. The corpses were left on the surface of the earth away from populated areas (“valleys of the dead”), placed in crypts, buried in the ground, and burned. The last two methods are the most common.

When buried in the ground, the body of the deceased must be placed in a coffin made of light wood. Transportation of the corpse to the burial place of the railway. or air transport is allowed only in a galvanized, hermetically sealed coffin filled with a substance that absorbs moisture. The metal coffin is placed in a wooden, tightly nailed box and transported in the luggage compartment. For transportation, you need a special permit from the local SES (at the place of death) and the relevant transport department. Corpses of the died from especially dangerous infections demand special disinfection (see). The order of burial of the dead from especially dangerous infections is determined by special rules M3 of the USSR.

3. at. carried out on specially designated land plots - cemeteries. San. the rules provide for the placement of cemeteries at a distance of at least 300 m from residential buildings. For the cemetery, an area not flooded by floods is selected with dry, loose soil, with a slope in the opposite direction from the settlement and the reservoir, with good ventilation, insolation and a groundwater level of at least 0.5 m below the bottom of the grave (at a higher level of groundwater, the site is drained) . The cemetery should have convenient access roads, be fenced and planned into separate sections with driveways and roads. The well-organized cemetery has a special room with a mortuary and a mourning hall, an office, a gatehouse, a water supply system, a flower shop, and public toilets. Green plantings (strips, group and single tree plantings, green hedges) should occupy at least 20% of the cemetery area and be located in such a way as to ensure sufficient ventilation and insolation of the territory. The correctly arranged cemetery does not represent danger in epidemiol. relation. The territory of the cemetery, its landscaping must meet aesthetic requirements.

The use of the territory of the former cemetery for the construction of facilities with deep disturbance of the land cover may be allowed by the SES. At the same time, after the last burial, the so-called legally established in our country must be maintained. cemetery period lasting 20 years. However, even before the expiration of this period, the territory of the closed cemetery after the removal of grave mounds and tombstones can be used for the construction of parks, squares, green areas.

The burning of the corpses of the dead (cremation) is carried out in specially equipped buildings - crematoria. Such way is preferable in a gigabyte. and epidemiol, the relation since at the same time pathogenic (including spore) bacteria quickly and completely perish, and also further pollution of the soil and water is excluded. In cremation ovens, the corpse is burned in a stream of hot gases or air at t ° up to 1000 °. Within 1 - 1.5 hours. there is a complete destruction of the organic mass and the transformation of the cremated body into ashes. During the operation of cremation ovens, the protection of atmospheric air from pollution and odors must be ensured. After burning the corpse, the ashes (usually 2-2.5 kg) are placed in a capsule (urn). The urns are either buried in the ground in the cemetery, or immured in special niches in columbariums (a place for storing urns).

The burial of the dead in mass graves is allowed, as a rule, in wartime on the battlefields and sometimes during natural disasters. For mass graves, sites are selected that meet the general requirements for places 3. at. The graves of the soldiers who fell for the Motherland are arranged, as a rule, in a picturesque, convenient area for access. After the war, they become places to visit and give civil honors.

The area of ​​the grave is calculated taking into account the fact that at least 1.2 m2 (0.6 X 2 m) is required for each corpse, when they are placed in 2 tiers and no more than 100 corpses are buried in one grave. The depth of the grave and the groundwater level should be the same as for a single burial. When placing corpses in two tiers, the height of the ground layer between the tiers must be at least 0.5 m, and the distance from the upper tier to the ground must be at least 1 m. A board (stone, etc.) with the inscription of the number of the grave is installed on the grave mound.

To speed up the process of mineralization of corpses at the bottom of the grave, drainage is arranged in the form of a circular groove 30 cm wide and deep with a slope towards the filtration well, which is made up to 1 m3 in size in such a way as to ensure the flow of liquid into it. The grooves in the well are filled with drainage material (rubble, stones, gravel, brushwood, etc.). The process of mineralization is also facilitated by the aeration of the grave, which is provided by two ventilation pipes made of boards or connected poles, brought to a height of 1-1.5 m above the grave mound. The bottom of the grave is lined with branches, straw, reeds and other materials. In order to avoid the difficulty of mineralization, disinfection of the grave and corpses, except for special cases, is not recommended. The experience of using and researching the soil of cemeteries showed that, despite some soil overload with organic substances, group burial does not pose a danger to the population of a dignity. The burial is carried out by special teams. Senior teams are required to find out and register in a special book the identity of the dead and accurately indicate the coordinates of the grave in it. Before burial, the corpses are freed from overcoats, short fur coats and other warm clothes and, if possible, placed in thick paper bags.

Maintaining order and decorating mass graves is the responsibility of local Soviets of People's Deputies and public organizations of nearby settlements.

Bibliography: Beniamovsky D.N. New crematorium, Moscow Municipal Economy, No. 11, p. 41, 1966; Benyamovskiy D.N. and Grigorieva T.V. Purification of waste gases after cremation, Nauch. works of Acad. com. economy them. K. D. Pamfilova, v. 67, p. 109, Moscow, 1970; The experience of Soviet medicine in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, vol. 33, p. 266, M., 1955; Guide to communal hygiene, ed. F. G. Krotkova, vol. 1, p. 591, M., 1961; T and in r about fi-sky y AL About some questions of the organization of funeral service, Zdravookhr. Ros. Federation, No. 4, p. 36, 1974.

M. G. Shandala; N. F. Koshelev (military).