Procession with the Coffin to the Grave and Burial #
The hour is coming when all who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Gospel of John, Reading 16 (5:28)
The burial service in the church concludes with the farewell kiss. Today, it is not always possible for the priest to accompany the coffin to the grave, so the ritual of “burial in the earth” is symbolically performed inside the church.
The priest places a leaf with a prayer for the deceased in the deceased’s hand, then cuts the cord that holds the head covering of the shroud and lowers the head covering onto the face of the deceased. The priest removes the covering and arranges the cloth underneath it, folding it in two, covering the body from head to toe.
The priest sprinkles a small amount of dry earth or sand onto the body lying in the coffin, covered with the cloth, just as he would pour oil. While doing so, he says: “All from the earth, and to the earth Thou sendest, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant, whom Thou hast received, with the saints grant peace.” In other words, “All that is taken from the earth, that is, all that is corruptible and mortal, Thou sendest to the earth, O Lord. And the immortal soul, which Thou hast taken, grant peace with the saints.”
Now, standing to the right of the deceased, the priest crosses himself and pours oil on the deceased, beginning from the head. If the deceased had been anointed with oil during the sacrament of anointing, the remaining oil is poured here.
St. Dionysius the Areopagite explains this rite as follows: “At Baptism, the anointing with oil called the baptized to sacred deeds, and now the pouring of oil signifies that the deceased labored in those deeds and attained perfection.”
After this, the coffin is carried out of the church and taken to the burial site. It is customary to carry the Holy Cross or an icon in front of the coffin. In some places, as recorded in the “History of the Vetkovsk Church,” blessed kutya is also carried alongside the icon to be eaten after the burial.
In ancient times, when the lid and coffin were made from a split log and were not decorated, the coffin was carried behind the procession. Now, when a Holy Cross is sewn onto the coffin lid, the custom of carrying it ahead of the coffin is understandable.
According to an ancient tradition, the priest accompanies the coffin, and there are three stops along the way: in the churchyard, in the middle of the journey, and at the cemetery itself. The coffin is placed on prepared stools at each stop; the icon carried at the head of the procession is turned towards the mourners. The priest, with incense, proclaims a special litany, again asking for prayers for the repose and forgiveness of the deceased’s sins. After his exclamation, “Amen” is sung, the coffin is lifted, and the procession continues with the singing of the Trisagion.
At the grave, the priest pours oil on the deceased and, after the coffin has been closed, he pronounces a blessing and reads the prayer of release. Then the closed coffin is lowered into the grave, and the priest, taking a shovel, crosses himself and sprinkles it with earth, saying: “All from the earth, and to the earth Thou sendest, O Lord…”
There is an unwritten local custom to sing the litany over the grave before or after burying the deceased.
If the burial concludes inside the church and the deceased is already covered with a shroud and sprinkled with earth, the family should not open the face of the deceased. However, if for any unforeseen reason this is done, there is no need to despair. Some uninformed people believe that if the deceased’s face is uncovered after being sprinkled with earth, they should be re-buried. The purpose of the church burial is not so much to return the body to the earth as it is to repose the immortal soul.
After the burial, those accompanying the deceased recite the troparion: “Repose, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant…” with 15 bows. After performing the final bows (seven bows), they bid farewell to the deceased and disperse.
In ancient times, the return of the funeral procession was a solemn and soul-beneficial, comforting ritual. The people walked together again, carrying the icon, with the long singing of the dogmatic hymns, such as: “Grant comfort to Thy servants, O Ever-Virgin, calming the fierce troubles that beset us. For we have Thee alone as our firm and well-known foundation, and we have gained Thy intercession, that we may not be ashamed, O Lady, calling upon Thee. Help us, O Lady, who art the helper of all, the joy and refuge of our souls.”