On Bringing the Departed into the Church #
“Blessed is the way, wherein thou shalt walk, O soul, for there hath been prepared for thee a place of rest.”
— Prokeimenon at the burial
On the third day after death, the body of the Christian is committed to the earth. If the church is nearby and other circumstances allow, the clergy come to the house to accompany the coffin. In some editions of the Trebnik (Book of Needs), there is a prescribed order for bringing the body to the church.
After the customary entrance bows, the priest makes the exclamation: “Blessed is our God,” to which the reader responds: “Amen,” followed by the usual beginning. Then the troparia “With the spirits of the righteous” are sung. This is followed by a memorial ektenia (litany), at the end of which the priest, as is customary, silently says the prayer: “O God of spirits and of all flesh…,” then gives the dismissal and proclaims: “Memory eternal.”
The coffin is borne to the church with the chanting of the prayer “Holy God.” If the route is not very short, three stops may be made: two along the way and the final one in the church courtyard. At each such stop, the priest or deacon censes the coffin, and a litany is sung.
The singing of “Holy God” signifies that the departed reposed in the right confession of the Most Holy Trinity and is now counted among the angels, who unceasingly sing the Thrice-Holy Hymn (thus called the Angelic Hymn). If the burial takes place during Bright Week (the week after Pascha), the Troparion of Pascha is sung instead of Trisagion: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” At the head of the procession is carried a lit candle, followed by the holy cross or an icon.
If, upon bringing the deceased into the church, the burial service begins immediately, the coffin is placed in the center of the church. If the burial is scheduled for the following day, the coffin of a layperson is usually placed either in a designated chamber—the “tomb room”—or on the porch (narthex). In either case, it is desirable to place lit lamps on both sides of the coffin. According to custom, four lamps are set, symbolizing the divine, unceasing light into which all who truly love God enter after death.
If the Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated in the church on the day of burial, the coffin is brought into the church at the beginning of the service. Communion with the faithful in the mystery of the Eucharist is never broken for our departed; and on the day of burial, the presence of the departed brother in the church stands as a living testimony to this holy union.