Old Believer funeral. How to bury a person according to the old custom

We offer our readers the comments of Deacon Georgiy Maksimov on the draft document.

Among the documents prepared by the commissions of the Inter-Council Presence is the text "On Further Measures to Heal the Consequences of the Church Division of the 17th Century." I would like to make a few comments about it.

Paragraph 3 says: “To recall that, according to the judgment of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, supported by many years of practice of fellow-faith parishes, Old Believers who have reunited with the Russian Orthodox Church are allowed to commemorate in prayer their relatives who died outside communion with her.”

It is not clear what is meant by those prayers in which "it is allowed to commemorate their relatives who died out of communion with the Church." If we are talking about private prayers, then they are allowed for all Orthodox Christians, and not just "Old Believers who have reunited with the Russian Orthodox Church." This, apparently, is about a church commemoration at the proskomedia, since a reference is made to St. Philaret of Moscow, who, not only for the Old Believers, but also for the heterodox, "allowed a prayer for them that was not open in the Church, with which they did not openly unite in life, but a commemoration at proskomedia and memorial services in the house." However, firstly, the saint wrote this not about all the dead, but about those who “had respect and faith in Orthodox Church”, which is hardly possible to automatically attribute to all those who died in the Old Believers, and secondly, the opinion of St. Filaret remained his personal opinion and was never approved as a general church.

Here are the statements about this issue of other saints of the same era.

Rev. Ambrose Optinsky writes: “At all times, when serving in the Orthodox Church, the repose of the souls of the departed only Orthodox Christians has always been remembered,” and regarding those who died outside it, he notes that “the Church can no longer commemorate them, since they did not have communion with her during their lifetime » .

Saint Macarius of Optina also writes: “Lutherans and Catholics who have died in their faith cannot be commemorated at the proskomedia: since they did not have living communion with our Church, then how, after death, will we dare to join them to the Church?” . Since the reason for the impossibility of commemoration is indicated by the lack of communion with the Orthodox Church, this should also be attributed not only to the heterodox, but also to everyone who did not have communion with the Church during their lifetime, including schismatics, who, unlike the majority of the heterodox who did not know about Orthodoxy, about canonical Church knew, and consciously opposed themselves to it.

Speaking of the Old Believers, Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky wrote: “For those who died without repentance and in opposition to the Holy Church, one should not make a church commemoration in any way. The one who dares to make a commemoration of such will reward for this a terrible answer before Christ God on the day of His Last Judgment.

The same St. Filaret of Moscow in 1860 refused the petition to bury the maiden in the Orthodox way, although she was baptized in the Church, but brought up and died in the Old Believers: “The girl from the exit from infancy did not receive the sacraments of the Church, she died like that, and was buried in a schismatic manner. It is too late to stand up for the rights of Orthodoxy.”

Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), citing an excerpt from canon 5 VII Ecumenical Council, notes: "Those who die in mortal sins, in impenitence and outside communion with the Church are not honored with her prayers, according to this apostolic commandment."

The same doctrine was expressed in the 20th century, both before the revolution and after, both in foreign diaspora and in the Church in the homeland:

“The performance of a commemoration according to the Orthodox rite (especially the performance of a funeral service) is an open recognition and witness by the Church of its unity in faith with a deceased member of it, and the right to this attention of the Church and its especially intensified intercession before God for the deceased belongs only to persons who died in unity with the Church according to faith and life. This right cannot and should not be exercised by people who violated this unity of faith and died outside of communion with the Church, outside of her prayers and grace-filled Sacraments.

“Being outside the Church during life, heretics and schismatics are even further away from it after death, for then the very possibility of repentance and turning to the light of truth is closed to them. It is quite natural, therefore, that the Church cannot offer a propitiatory bloodless sacrifice for them, and no cleansing prayer in general: the latter is clearly forbidden by the Apostolic word (1 Jn 5.16). Following the Apostolic and patristic testaments, the Church prays only for the repose of Orthodox Christians who have died in faith and repentance as living organic members of the Body of Christ. This may include those who were previously among those who fell away, but then repented and again united with her (Petra Alex., II). Without this last condition, they remain alien to the Church and, as members who have fallen away from Her Body, they are deprived of the nourishing juices of the latter, i.e. sacraments of grace and church prayers.

“In general, in diptychs, i.e. only those who die in the bowels of the Orthodox Church and in peace with Her are allowed to be commemorated at the liturgy.

Even the clergyman Athanasius (Sakharov), who at first agreed with the opinion of St. Philaret, later abandoned it, as can be seen from a letter dated December 12, 1954: “Regarding the commemoration at the proskomedia, one should argue like this. The commemoration at the proskomedia is combined with the removal of parts from the prosphora. These parts symbolically depict those who are commemorated. They are transferred to the Holy See, they sink into the Divine Blood, as if they partake of it ... But still, if, say, your parents were alive and agreed to go with you to pray in Orthodox church, after all, you yourself, approaching Holy Communion, undoubtedly, would not even allow the thought of bringing your parents to the Holy Chalice. Therefore, I advise you to have a special commemoration book for the Proskomedia, only with the names of the Orthodox deceased ... earlier, I also commemorated the non-Orthodox at the Proskomedia, and then I came to the conclusion that it is better not to do that.

If church commemoration of persons who died in schism is allowed, then this will not only be a violation of the ancient practice and teaching of the Church, but will also damage the goals declared by the drafters of the document. Allowing church commemoration of a person who died in schism will inspire religious indifference among those who make such commemorations, since it will mean that if the Church prays for such a deceased as for a “faithful child of the Church”, takes out particles on the proskomedia and sings “rest with the saints” on memorial service, then, therefore, it does not matter whether you are in the Orthodox Church, or in a community that has separated from it. Such an approach will become an obstacle to the healing of the schism of the 17th century, depriving the Old Believers of the incentive to join the Church, and making fellow believers easily inclined to fall into the Old Believers.

As for the reference of the authors of the project to the “long-term practice of parishes of the same faith”, it can hardly be recognized as a source authoritative enough to make general church decisions. No one has ever approved or regulated this practice, and, in addition, according to the opinions of many saints, fellow believers for a long time had something in their practice that they should not have had at all.

So, according to St. Filaret of Moscow, "none of the fellow believers takes blessings from the bishop", and in another of his reviews for 1848. the saint wrote that “in the Saratov diocese, those who insincerely joined the common faith secretly used the rite of correction on their priest.” St. Innocent of Moscow said that fellow believers are “the same schismatic priests, only less hostile to the Orthodox Church. — And then not with the aim of joining Her, but in order to have properly ordained priests, that is, out of necessity. Otherwise, why would they not allow their priests, who are received from us, to come under the blessing of even the bishop who ordained them. Why would they do something like “correct” to their priests! And why do they themselves approach their priests for blessing, even bypassing the bishop?”

Some elements of the established "practice" of the parishes of the same faith should be corrected. In particular, the veneration of schism teachers as saints is unacceptable.

Paragraph 5 prescribes: “To confirm that, in accordance with the general meaning of the determination of the Holy Synod of April 25, 1729, when married couples who married in Old Believer consents join the Russian Orthodox Church, it is not mandatory to perform a wedding ceremony over them.”

In the absence of a quotation from the definition of the Holy Synod of April 25, 1729, the question arises of how correctly the authors of the draft interpreted it, given that in the 19th century there was no uniformity on this issue and in some areas the Synod allowed to set as a condition for conversion to co-religionism for the Old Believers, the dissolution of previously concluded marriages. Also St. Filaret of Moscow did not recognize such marriages. Even when both spouses returned from schism, they could refuse to legalize their marriage, and the saint allowed both to enter into new marriages.

On the whole, the current position of the project is rather strange, according to which it turns out that even the priestless scribes have the grace to perform the sacrament of marriage. Meanwhile, in relation to the so-called "Belokrinnitskaya hierarchy", the traditional position of the Russian Orthodox Church, as is known, has always implied non-recognition of it. The same St. Filaret of Moscow called the priests of this jurisdiction "false priests".

In general, there is no serious analysis of both pre-revolutionary and modern church policy towards the Old Believers. As you know, purposeful missionary efforts were made in the past, there was a direct polemic with the Old Believers, in modern times this was abandoned in favor of a kind of “solar policy”, when the polemic was stopped, and on our part we demonstrate a desire to avoid everything in speeches that might seem to the Old Believers offensive and strongly emphasize friendliness. The draft document under discussion simply continues that direction. However, it is not clear that it has brought any noticeable result in overcoming the split in recent decades.

One gets the impression that a significant part of the former Old Believers who joined the Church in recent times, did it on their own as a result of the weakening of communal ties during the Soviet era and the destruction of the traditional way of life of the Old Believer communities, and not as a result of church actions aimed at “overcoming division”.

The document assumes the development of common faith. However, is it really effective in the missionary sense? It is no secret that both before the revolution and in modern times co-religionists sometimes even fell into schism as whole communities. And for some people from "New Believer" families, common faith became an intermediate step before leaving for the Old Believers.

In the topic to which the document under discussion is devoted, there are a lot of questions that have not yet been answered. There is a lack of honest, objective and comprehensive consideration of the effectiveness of those measures that have already been taken in the past to overcome the Old Believer schism. Without this, the appearance of such a document seems premature.

“The time has come for the beginning of spiritual feats” - we, brothers and sisters, hear these words on the eve of the holy Great Lent. The Holy Apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the Romans, read today, writes: “The night has passed, and the day has drawn near. Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” On the eve of Great Lent, the Church calls us with spiritual joy to begin the path from sinful darkness to the light of renewal and purification of our souls. Brethren, let us look attentively at ourselves, let us carefully test our soul, whether there are “deeds of darkness” in it, that is, hardness or impenitence, unbelief or superstition, laziness or stinginess - all those deeds that are afraid of the light of reproof, the light of God, our light. conscience. The apostle Paul calls to "put aside" these things and do them no more. With the onset bright days fasting, we are called to renew our soul, to be reconciled with our neighbors, in order to worthily and joyfully meet bright Sunday Christ. Last Sunday, the Holy Church reminded us of the Last Judgment Christ, to fill our souls with trepidation and horror from the created sins and lead to repentance. This resurrection remembers the fall of the forefather Adam and all the troubles that followed for us, his descendants. As our common misfortune, we mourn the day and hour in which the human race became a transgressor before God of His commandment, having angered Him with their intemperance. Let us also remember, brethren, the day and hour in which, by God's justice, humanity was condemned to death and corruption, expelled from paradise, sent to a deplorable vale, where in sweat and torment we are doomed to abide in sorrow and sighing. Our forefather Adam, vomited out of paradise, without departing from its limits, “sitting right in paradise” wept, remembering the lost “most beautiful goodness” of the image of God for almost nine hundred years. He suffered this punishment by committing only one sin of disobedience. How then should we weep and repent at the memory of our many sins, having angered God with our intemperance and impiety? "Merciful Lord, have mercy on me who has fallen!" - this is the prayer that came with weeping from the contrite and humble heart of Adam. Our mournful earthly life. With screams and tears, we appear in the world, as if anticipating the sorrows, illnesses and losses, hatred and slander that await us. All this and much more is sent to us by the Lord for the disobedience of the progenitor Adam instead of the lost bliss in paradise. These days, during divine services, we hear the touching mournful song "On the River of Babylon" - the song of the Israelites, who yearned for their lost homeland in Babylonian captivity. This chant is intended to awaken in us a similar cry for our lost paradise homeland. We are also in a heavy captivity of moral decline and separation from the Lord. And we can return to the fatherland and free ourselves from captivity in no other way than by mourning our sins with abundant and sincere tears. Let us exhaust our sinful inclinations and pernicious passions to the ground, breaking the “babies” of Babylonian fornication and filth against the stone of faith and temperance. The memory of the lost Jerusalem encouraged the spirit of the Israelites in the midst of the calamities and sorrows of captivity, prompted them to earn God's mercy and return to their homeland. But we, brethren, will keep like them Orthodox faith fathers and piety in the midst of unbelief and impiety, to love our mountainous fatherland, to constantly remember throughout our sinful captivity on earth about our heavenly homeland - mountainous Jerusalem, where there are no calamities, no sorrows, no sighing, but there is joy and eternal life with the Lord. Coming to repentance, let us pray to the Lord: “Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me! Do not reject me, the accursed one, from Your face, open the doors of repentance and Your mercy to me, revive me, mortified by sins and decayed in iniquities! But are these doors so tight that we ourselves cannot open them? Indeed, they are tight and difficult to open. Sometimes it is very difficult for us to decide to repent of sins, it is a shame to remember them, to cry with sin-washing tears. It is difficult for us to come to confession, it is difficult to repent with all our heart. That is why the doors of repentance are tight, because, like all doors, if you do not open them for a long time and do not enter them for a long time, then they rust and it is not easy to open them. This is what happens with the doors of repentance: if you do not repent of sins for a long time, if you do not go to confession for a long time, then it will be hard to force yourself to go, it is difficult to repent. Everything is good when done in due time. And the stain on the clothes, if you don’t wash it off soon, is not easy to remove, and the garden, if you don’t cultivate it for a long time, will overgrow with grass and you won’t clean it soon, and the disease, if it gets old, is difficult to cure. Therefore, let us not let mental illness grow old in us, let us not put off our repentance. Let us try in the coming Lent by contrition for sins, by weeping, by grief of our souls, to receive forgiveness and permission from the Lord for our sins. “Open the doors of repentance for us, Giver of Life!” Beloved brothers and sisters! Today is called forgiveness resurrection, because there is an Orthodox pious custom before fasting to ask each other for forgiveness. This custom entered church life according to the word of the Savior, who commanded us in the Gospel, which was read today at the Divine Liturgy, to forgive each other's sins, if we wish that our Heavenly Father, Whom we grieve without number with our sins, forgives our sins. Let us remember the words of the Gospel: “If you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matt. 6, 14). The Lord speaks clearly: if you are angry with someone, if you hold a grudge against someone and do not ask for his forgiveness, then the Lord will not forgive you either. Not because He is vindictive, but because your heart does not know how to forgive and, therefore, cannot contain the grace of God, which grants us forgiveness. As long as there is malice in the heart, the grace of God cannot enter there, which means that we cannot be cleansed from sin. And cleansing from sin is the forgiveness of God! Sometimes how hard it is to say to the offender: “Forgive Christ for Christ's sake” when we heard an offensive or rude word that offended us. How you want to take revenge on the offender with the same rude word, reciprocal insult. With some stubbornness, we sometimes cherish and cherish an insult within ourselves, despite all its bitterness and suffering of the soul! Keeping resentment in our hearts, we try to repay evil for evil, sometimes not realizing that they will also want to take revenge on us. And then we will again burn with the desire for revenge, and so on without end ... When offended, we try to restore “justice” and we ourselves administer judgment on the offender. But this is distrust in God, in that Judge, Who sees everything, knows everything, and rewards everyone according to their deeds. The apostle says: “Who are you that condemns another's servant? Before his master he stands or falls. And he will be restored, for God is able to restore him” (Rom. 14:4). Do not condemn the offender, that is, someone else's slave, this is not your slave, but God's. Look after yourself, and do not judge others, because they are not yours, but God's, and the Lord himself knows how to manage everyone. The Apostle Paul admonishes us: “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God; for it is written: Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). We must trust that the truth will prevail. And if the Lord does not immediately punish our offender, then perhaps He gives him the opportunity to change his mind. We are all sinners, and, therefore, not only our offender can be condemned by the Heavenly Judge, but also ourselves, because we may have offended someone and have not forgiven. The Lord, the Advocate of good, calls us to say with all our hearts: “Forgive Christ for the sake of it,” and then you can rejoice, for it heals short word the wound of resentment, you will see that your enemy is ashamed of your generosity, disarmed and already wants to repay you with the same forgiveness, although, perhaps, he is not ready to do it right away. “What I will repay the Lord about all, he will repay them to me” (Ps. 115), - says the prophet David. Tomorrow we enter great post in which we can throw off the heavy burden of sins. The Lord teaches that in order for our sins to be forgiven, we ourselves must learn to forgive. He requires us to forget insults, friendliness, love for the small and great annoying. "God! How many times shall I forgive my brother who has sinned against me? Up to seven times? - asks the Apostle Peter, to which Christ answers him: “I do not tell you until seven, but up to seventy times seven,” that is, almost infinitely. Christ Himself, when He was being crucified, driving nails into His hands and feet, prayed for the crucifiers: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). And the First Martyr Archdeacon Stephen, dying stoned, prayed: “Lord, do not make this a sin for them” (Acts 7, 60). Archpriest Avvakum, who suffered for the faith, after numerous harassments and tortures, writes with generosity: "People are all kind to me - it's the evil one who torments them." Let us recall how the holy martyr Archpriest Avvakum knew how to forgive, who in his Life wrote that the voivode raised a “storm”: “enraged, he ran to my house, beating me, and bit off the fingers from my hand, like a dog, with his teeth.” And then the governor ran into him with a weapon when Avvakum was going to the church, and wanted to shoot him, but the pistol did not fire. Further, Avvakum writes: “But, walking diligently, I pray to God, with one hand I overshadowed him and bowed to him. He barks me, and I told him: "Grace in your mouth, Ivan Rodionovich, let it be." Therefore, the yard was taken away from me, and knocked me out, robbing everything, and did not give bread for the road. And in the Petition, addressing the tsar, Avvakum, exiled to Pustozersk and planted in an earthen pit, in permafrost, “like in a coffin,” writes to the tsar: “And how much you insult us more and torment and torment; so much we love you, the king, more, and we pray to God for you and all those who slander us: save the Lord, and turn to His truth. Here is an example of humility and forgiveness: his king is in an ice pit, and then on a fire, and Avvakum writes to him: “The more you torment us, the more we love you and pray to God for you.” In the ability to forgive those who hate and offend, the saints fulfilled the covenant of the Gospel: “Love your enemies, bless those who slander you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who attack you and drive you out” (Matthew 5:44). And entering Great Lent, the first thing we must do is forgive: forgive all those who offend, forgive with all my heart, forget all insults and debts, so that the first prayer of a Christian: “And forgive us our debts, as we leave our debtors ”- did not rebuke us at the Last Judgment. Now let's turn to the next one in today's gospel. The Lord teaches us: “When you fast, do not be despondent like the hypocrites, for they take on gloomy faces in order to appear to people who are fasting. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you will appear fasting not before people, but before your Father who is in secret: and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:18). These words of the gospel also prepare us for fasting. Both mutual forgiveness and abstinence without exaltation contribute to the acquisition of humility and willpower in the fight against sins. The Lord teaches us that we must fast in secret before God, for the sake of pleasing Him, and not people. By fasting secretly from people, we are carrying out a clear work before God. Secret fasting delivers us from the vanity that mingles with every good deed. It is no coincidence that the saints even mourned their good deeds, exalting them above people. Every feat, every good deed, when they are done for show, does not bring benefit to the soul, but only harm. Such a case is described in the lives of holy ascetics. Travelers came to one monastery, sat down to a common meal, and there, knowing that guests would come, they prepared boiled vegetables. One of the guests said: "We will not eat it, we only eat uncooked." They brought another meal. When the meal was over, the elder said to the one who refused the meal: “It would be better for you to eat raw meat than to talk like that.” Therefore, the elder said this because the guest flaunted his feat and offended the brethren with a refusal, thus canceling out his entire post. When we condemn a brother for the measure of fasting, exalting ourselves above him, we forget that we can only see external deeds, not seeing spiritual, internal ones. Perhaps his prayer of repentance is much more pleasing to God than ours. Of course, these words do not justify those who break fasts, but we must be indulgent towards our neighbors and strict towards ourselves. Perhaps it is necessary to show indulgence to those who have recently come to church, to those who have lived most of their lives without fasting and prayer. For them, strict fasting is sometimes unbearable, as long-term habit and misunderstood concern for health keeps them captive. Such people should not be condemned, but should be supported by personal example and a word of edification, admonishing: now you live in hope for God's help, for a brighter future. eternal life , you voluntarily left the empty and unreliable worldly joys and successes. We, Christians, have God Himself as our Father and, keeping the fasts, we will be obedient children to Him, whom He brings up in work and abstinence, strictly and at the same time mercifully. Therefore, I urge you to boldly start fasting: old and young, weak and strong, and especially those who have grave sins and want to repent of them. Fasting is abstinence and elimination not only from fast food, but also abstinence from eating fast food in excess, otherwise it can be a mockery of fasting, when satiety from meat and dairy is replaced by other, albeit lenten, dishes, which also pushes to sin, strengthening the activity of the flesh. I would especially like to say that during fasting it is necessary to exclude alcoholic beverages, which, although they are made from lean products, but wine contributes to inciting lust and pushes to the sin of fornication, that is, to breaking the fast. Fasting is needed as abstention from gross sensuality, from disorderly thoughts and reckless actions that lead us to confusion and violation of prohibitions, and as a result, to sin. Fasting teaches us abstinence, starting with the simplest - with food. Let there be this small step, but it is a step towards humility and humility. Abstinence in food strengthens our will, and then this effort extends to something else. For example, we are too lazy to pray, but having learned to control our will, we still get up for prayer even at night; we want, as usual, to quickly skim through the text of the prayer without going into the meaning, but we make an effort on ourselves, try to concentrate and pray earnestly. It all starts small: to refrain from irritation or from a tidbit, to give way in transport or to help the weak. This applies especially to the young, who are sometimes weak and self-willed, and therefore unable to move away from sin. In childhood, many were not instilled, unfortunately, the habit of obedience and patience. And having matured, such a weak-willed person is not able to save a family, since he cannot control his will. Why are prisons overcrowded today, although the times of repression are over? Mostly those who could not give up drinking, cigarettes, when everyone around was drinking and smoking, go to prison. These are mostly not hardened criminals, but, as they say, who have sat down out of stupidity. They hit him, and he hit, a fight broke out, and now he ended up in prison. Instead of being patient, trying to settle the world, keeping silent - he responds to the insult in the same way, because he cannot endure. But patience is brought up precisely by fasting. The Lord calls us to fast, because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," says the apostle (1 Cor. 15:20), and because "the kingdom of God is not food and drink" (Rom. 14:17). Flesh and blood, food and drink, as gross, earthly things, must undergo a common fate - corruption. But the Kingdom of God, where life is spiritual, luminous, where only “truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17), lives separately from the lusts of the earthly world. A bodily fast has been established to make it easier for our soul to enter eternity, and this can be done by pacifying our sinful whimsical flesh, freeing the soul from under its weight, as if giving it wings for free soaring to heaven, to eternal life with God. The fruits of true fasting are silence and enlightenment of our soul; purity and chastity of thoughts; the desire to refrain from irritation and anger, from evil deeds and impure thoughts; awareness of their sins and contrition for them; the joy of purification in repentance and the building in the soul and body of the temple of the Holy Spirit. “You don’t know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit living in you, do you have Him from God and carry your own? Bought for a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are not our own, but God's, because we were bought at a high price - the blood of the Son of God. The Savior teaches us in today's Gospel: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break through and do not steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The Lord teaches us to strive, first of all, for spiritual benefit, sometimes to the detriment of material. After all, what is our life? Steam rising from the earth, a spark flying up into the sky from a flame, as the holy sages say. That is why the Lord says, "Lay up treasures in heaven." Heaven is the Kingdom of God, which, according to the Gospel, must be within us. Therefore, the Lord wants imperishable virtues to flourish in our souls and hearts: patience, temperance, mercy, meekness, humility, prayer, goodness, and love as the crown of all virtues. But for this you need to work hard, constantly struggling with sin, condemning your irritability, despondency, love of money, shedding tears of repentance for your imperfection. A lot of this main work in life requires time and effort. And if we go shopping all our lives, watch TV, build dachas, calculate pensions, that is, live in worldly fuss, then we simply will not have enough strength for spiritual life. Who will we choose in this brief life ? God or mammon? The bright gospel path or the power of the womb and lust of this crazy world? St. John Chrysostom testifies: “It is a great harm to you if you cling to the earthly, if you become a slave instead of free, you fall away from the heavenly, you will not be able to think about the things above, but only about money, debts, profits. What could be worse than this?! Such a person falls into slavery, the gravest slavery of any slave, and what is most destructive of all, arbitrarily rejects the nobility and freedom inherent in man. Let us collect treasure in Heaven, giving the aspirations of the soul to heavenly things: constant prayer, visiting the sick, almsgiving, comforting the mourners, reconciliation of the warring. Let's start acquiring these eternal treasures during Great Lent, and then let's not leave these saving deeds all the days of our earthly life. In the coming Lent, let us try to become like the monks in abstinence, that is, to lead a different life, different from our sinful life. Let us pray diligently, reject vanity, try not to get irritated, not angry, read more soulful books, not verbose, not condemn, not appropriate someone else's, not be proud. By the end of the fast, I hope that the life of abstinence will become habitual for us, and I think we will be sorry to leave the fast. But there is no need to part, one must always try to live such a spiritual life. So, brethren, on this forgiven day, let us forgive all the sins of our neighbors, forgive sincerely, from the bottom of our hearts. Let us fast without hypocrisy, as the Holy Church has established. Let us think about our heavenly fatherland and pray to the All-good God to marry, that is, drive away, reject, separate from us, the spirit of despondency, negligence, love of money and idle talk, and grant us chastity, humility, patience and love for those who love or hate us. Let us learn not to condemn, but to have mercy and pity on our neighbors, so that the Lord sends His grace to us, so that we are cleansed from sins by contrition of heart and by repentance we become worthy to partake of the Holy Mysteries, and thereby become partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven by the mercy and bounty of our Lord Jesus Christ. In conclusion, let us recall the words of the Great Lenten hymn: “Open the doors of repentance to me, Giver of Life, for my spirit will wake up to the Church of Your Saints. I carry a bodily church, all defiled, but as if generously cleanse, with compassionate mercy. And now, brothers and sisters, I earnestly ask all of you who are present here, and all those who are not here, to forgive me for my sins, committed in word, or deed, or thought. Forgive my sins, which I have committed voluntarily or involuntarily, through distraction and forgetfulness, through laziness and weakness, through intemperance or lack of faith. Forgive me for Christ's sake, and God will forgive you. And by this mutual forgiveness, we will open the way to receiving forgiveness from God. Let us ask forgiveness from God for our violation of His commandments, for our lack of faith and intemperance, for our offending the Lord with sins. Let us forgive each other, brothers and sisters, as we embark on the path of the holy Great Lent, leading to renewal and Resurrection, to a new life with our Lord Jesus Christ! Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus' Kornily

STUDYING THE OLD BELIEVER CULTURAL PHENOMENON IN MOLDOVA

Features of the funeral and memorial rite

Remember your death and you will not sin forever...
Prepare for the outcome of your affairs
(Sir. 7, 39)

The Old Believers believe that on the day of the general resurrection, the dead, having come to life, will find their bodies in a new quality - not subject to corruption and destruction. All will appear before God's judgment having only one seal of their lifetime deeds. The Old Believer burial in all its rites expresses what they believe in and what they expect after death.
During the funeral, the deceased is supposed to face east, as a sign of his faith in the Resurrection of Christ and, as it were, in anticipation of a general resurrection of the dead. Above the grave, at the feet of the deceased, a symbol of salvation is delivered - the Honest and Life-Giving Cross.
Ritual and ritual culture mainly serves three main transitional moments in the life of each member of the Old Believer parish: (birth \ wedding \ death, burial and transition to another world). Among birth, baptism, wedding, and funeral rites, the latter are the most conservative rituals in any culture. In its structure, in its sequence, it reflects and preserves the features of religious and mythological ideas and death, about afterlife. Its features have been preserved for thousands of years and in them it is possible to identify elements of rituals that existed in the pre-Christian archaic. Despite the impact of Christian influences, the basic structure of the funeral rite as a whole has not changed.
In the Old Believer communities, the strict observance of the funeral rite is monitored by "begging" and reading rooms.
During the funeral and memorial rite, the following are performed: prayers (for the dead, memorial), blessings (for ablution and dressing; for a memorial meal; for reading prayers after a memorial meal); the Psalms are read (for the consolation of living grieving relatives); Trisagion (or lamentations on behalf of the deceased, but without mentioning the name of the deceased) ...
Among the funeral services, Panikhidas and Litii for the dead stand out. Memorial service (vessel) - a common long prayer (with a candle and fumigation with incense) for the dead to support the departed soul of the deceased, who must stand before the Lord. It is performed (in the house, in the Temple \ on the grave). Litiya is an intensified popular prayer, the final part of the Panikhida.
Like any rite of passage, the funeral and memorial rite contains both rituals (cleansing, protective) performed in two different worlds, as well as rituals of the passage itself. The general structure of the rite of passage is tripartite and includes: (alienation\death\rebirth).
In some Old Believer concords (bespriests), in the funeral and memorial rites, which are performed under the supervision of mentors, they mainly distinguish (washing and dressing, funeral service, burial, commemoration). It is believed that strict observance of these rituals ensures the safe passage of the soul of the deceased to the ancestors and his further patronage of the family. On the other hand, they were a talisman for the participants in the ritual from the negative effects of death.
In many ways, the general structure of funeral and memorial rites among the Old Believers of all consents is similar. Thus, researchers emphasize the stability of the funeral-ritual voice (crying with sentences both at parting in the house and at the grave) throughout the 20th century among the Old Believers. But if before the first For three days they prayed continuously, celebrated tretinas, nineties, half-forties, forties, half-years, years, but now the number of commemorations has decreased.
In the general structure of the ceremony, there are three main parts (preparation \ funeral procession \ burial and commemoration). This structure is characteristic of all Indo-European rites of this kind, including the Orthodox burial ritual that was formed to replace the ancient rituals. It includes three main groups of rituals: (before death, at the time of death, before funeral \ funeral \ burial, after burial, remembrance) ...
Many researchers, including V. Stepanov, N.I. Sazonova, P. Lyubich, studied the peculiarities of the funeral rite among the Old Believers. prayers), who strictly observe the conduct of funeral rituals, and also describes the very structure of the funeral and memorial rite. They distinguished 6 main rituals: 1) actions before and during the exodus; 2) washing, dressing the deceased and placing him in the coffin; 3) the gathering of the community, the removal from the house and the funeral procession; 4) funeral service (in the church); 5) burial; 6) wake.
In general, rank and metaphysics (a system of mythological and religious beliefs) rituals should prepare the soul of the deceased (purify the soul, ensure safe movement to the place of transition, help during the long journey in the other world itself) for the journey from this world (home, Temple, city) to another world.
The dead girls are dressed as brides: if before marriage, then with a veil, and already married - in a wedding dress. That. the funeral and funeral ritual largely retained the structure of the wedding ritual.

Preparation:

Among the Old Believers, the most favorable moment (the grace of heaven) for the "exodus" is death on Easter.
Preparation includes: preparation of the body for burial, washing, dressing, positioning in the coffin, night vigils at the coffin.
The preparation begins long before the end with the preparation of fresh linen and hand-made funeral clothes (linen or canvas row): an embroidered shirt (sarafan), trousers (stockings), a shroud with a hood, a belt, cloth slippers without heels, a samshura cap (two scarves) . Canvases, from which clothes were sewn, were thoroughly rinsed in running river water. Sometimes these clothes (collars, sleeves, hem) were decorated with a simple red ornament. While sewing clothes, the ends of the threads were not tied.
Further, they prepare a whisk with three crosses (a symbol of the Holy Trinity), Scripture, a handkerchief, candles, an eight-part cross (made of juniper) and ladders, a coffin (a deck, a domino, a coffin without using iron nails), ribbons for twisting the body, kichka, a rug , bedding and a tire (or a veil of 3-4 meters), gaitans (canvas braids with crosses on the ears).
Then comes cleansing through unction and fasting, confession and the Prayer of Permissiveness, which ended with the imposition of penance. This is a ritual for the health of the body and the forgiveness of sins. After confession, the dying man said goodbye to his relatives, signed off property to heirs, distributed debts and apologized to those whom he had offended: “God will forgive you, and you forgive me,” and in response, “You will appear before God, pray for me a sinner” ... Ideally, it all ended with unction by 3 priests (among the New Believers it was also communion) and conversations with the confessor...
The basic structure of the preparation for the exodus contains: (repentance, confession of sins, communion).
At the moment of the exodus, the dying person is placed in the “red corner” (the place of connection, connection of this and the “other” worlds) at home. The exodus itself is preceded by a prayer - “The Canon of Prayer for the Exodus of the Soul” (a prayer for departure). This Canon of repentance, supplication for mercy, hope is read by the priest or the laity. By lighting a fire (4 candles on the coffin, a candle on the table in a glass, a lamp in front of the icon), burning incense and singing psalms, they drive away evil spirits, facilitate the arrival of the Angel and the exodus of the soul. At the end of the soul, “Following the Exodus of the Soul” is read, mirrors in the house of the deceased are curtained, windows on both sides of the goddess, the clock is stopped, the stove is extinguished.
Cleansing. Immediately after death, new candles are lit, bells ring. 2 hours after death, the body is washed (starting from the head and ending with the washing of the feet) with holy water (consecrated for Baptism) in a special basin, three times, with the singing of the protective prayer “Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortals, have mercy on us.”, wipes ( first, the face, head, chest, etc.), then put on new clothes and lay on the bench (or in the coffin) with their feet to the icons (so that the soul of the deceased could see the fire of the lamp in front of the icon). The fire lit in the place of origin must burn for 40 days.
Washers (not relatives) are usually assigned to the 3 oldest widower (widows) from pious (no longer “knowing sin”) parishioners (one washes, the other holds dishes with water, the third holds the body): this is due to the fact that they personify "the world of ancestors", with whom the deceased will soon meet (from 10 to 40 days). During washing, a protective (from evil spirits) prayer was read " Holy God,…". The main parts of the body and joints were washed three times with movements from top to bottom.
For washing, special ones were used: an earthen vessel with holy water (or soap), a spoon, rags (sponge), a comb. After washing the body, the water was called "dead" and they got rid of it ... The vessel broke in a secret place. The hair was combed with a special comb, which was then placed in the coffin during burial.
The places where the objects of purification of the dead man were hidden (or burned), the wet sheet, his old clothes, were called “terrible” (damn, forbidden), and the objects themselves (if they did not have time to hide) were used by “sorcerers” when directing damage to relatives, in magical rituals...
The coffin is also prepared: a triple incense is performed, covered with birch leaves and thyme "Bogorodskaya grass" (or straw), on top of them is a white sheet and a pillow stuffed with leaves and thyme (straw).
Some participants in the funeral ritual collect water, old clothes, candles and are taken out of the house in a basin and buried in a secret place for everyone. The washers are given soap, a towel, and a new undershirt.
Litiya is read before the position in the coffin. Then the participants in the ritual lay (suppose) with the singing of the Angelic song a disguised body and wrapped in a white shroud (the cover of Christ, a symbol that the deceased is under the protection of Christ and the Church) with a hood (open face and chest) in a coffin (or on a bench), covered with a towel, a scallop, a towel, an icon, a cross with a gaidan, a whisk (a symbol of victory on the vital battlefield) on the forehead and a cap for a man next to the head are placed next to the deceased.
Putting on a belt, it was not tied. The shroud was also sometimes bandaged in three places: chest, abdomen, knees.
It should be noted that washing the body of the deceased with warm water by three washers, dressing in white clothes, reading the Psalms, a memorial prayer is an echo of the Old Testament antiquity.
An icon of the Mother of God (or St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) is placed (placed) on the chest over the shroud. AT left hand the deceased is put in a ladder (rosary). They put on it right hand with duplicity. Sometimes they also put a “manuscript” (a prayer for the leave). They dress in two clothes: underwear (for women it is underwear and a sundress, for men - a shirt, trousers) and a shroud, which was tied crosswise three times with a ribbon. The shrouds of the Old Believers were made immediately after death, stitched together with a light seam. On the feet - white socks and leather (rag) slippers. A warrior is put on the head of women and a scarf is put on top. The third protective layer is the bedding (from below, at the bottom of the coffin) and the tire (over the shroud). Thus, a three-layer structure can be clearly seen in the dressing of the deceased.
A rug is also placed under the coffin itself, and a cross brought from the Temple, a homemade cross, a candlestick from the church, a tray for offerings, a plate with grain (flour) are placed near the feet. Banners and a candlestick were also brought from the Temple. The priest served a prayer service, keeping the candles burning all night long.
All the time, the Psalter (and spiritual verses) is read in a singsong voice. Previously, the Psalter was read alternately by several readers all three days (from the end to the morning of the day of the funeral). Now they often limit themselves to reading the Psalter three times a day. As St. John Chrysostom, continuous reading of the Psalter replaces archaic lamentations and heartbreaking voices over the dead.
The third group of helpers made 80 rolls for gifts, prepared treats for the meal...
The visiting relatives say goodbye to the deceased and ask for his forgiveness in the following way: having put three simple bows and the sign of the cross in front of the icon, they went around the coffin “salting”, reached the right to the face of the deceased with the words: “Forgive me for Christ's sake and bless. God will forgive and bless you" and, turning to the icons, made two more signs of the cross and waist bows. Then, having kissed the cross on the chest of the deceased and the crown on the forehead (relatives), they went to their side in the room (men on the right half, women on the left). Sometimes, with three strokes of a handkerchief over the head of the deceased, they “wiped away tears” to him.
The funeral service for the deceased, the rite of the funeral itself, is handled by the senior assistant priest.
In the evening, before the first memorial service, relatives have a meal near the coffin with the deceased - the last meal together with the deceased - and the first funeral ...
If the body is transferred to the temple, then this is done just after that, so that the body would be in the temple (or in the belfry) for the night. Often, they are carried to the church for the funeral during the procession itself.
The indispensable elements of this part of the rite are: a night vigil near the deceased, lighting a candle at the place of death, inviting relatives to say goodbye to the deceased. On the other hand, since the Old Believers had to go to bed with a cross and a belt, then during the preparation of the deceased, they also had to gird him and put a cross on him.

funeral procession

The funeral procession includes: the gathering of the community and relatives, the removal of the body, the funeral service in the church, the procession to the cemetery, the farewell to the deceased at the grave, the burial of the coffin in the grave, the return to the house of the deceased.

The first memorial service is read in the evening before the burial.
In the morning, on the day of the burial, a second requiem is read in front of the cathedral of the community,
Then (or the night before) they send a team (friends of the deceased) to dig a grave (deep to the shoulders: so that the soul of the deceased and the resurrected body can get out of the grave at the second coming). Diggers (diggers) were given a shirt, material, and a towel for digging.
In the old days, the body lay on a bench, and the body was placed in a coffin only before being taken out of the house.
Two hours before the removal of the coffin, 4 salting candles are lit from one fire: (at the crown of the head, at the heart, at the feet, at the right chest) and sing the Trisagion (Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us!).
Before the removal of the body, on the table where the deceased lay and the coffin stood, they were sure to leave it for 40 days (kalachi, kolevo, water and candles) ... Half an hour before the removal of the body, only relatives remain in the room - for the last conversation and farewell to the deceased ...
The formation of the procession begins after the second memorial service and with the removal of the coffin from the house. The burial was to be carried out before noon, before the top of the day.
Before the removal of the deceased (if he was lying on a bench), he is placed in a coffin. The coffin is fumigated from four sides, while reading the Trisagion prayer. The third memorial service is read. After that, they fumigate the four corners of the house and the door, take out the cross, make a preliminary circle with the lid of the coffin in the room in the direction of the sun, and take it out. Then, the same is done with the coffin (also having made a circle in the course of the sun) feet forward.
In the Middle Ages, during the removal of the coffin, it was supposed to lament loudly ...
Immediately after the removal of the body (coffin), the house is fumigated with incense smoke and the floor is washed in it.
The coffin in the yard is placed on stools (in rare cases, they are simply placed on poles (stretchers) on the ground, having previously spread birch leaves (straw), covering them with a rug). Here the first Litiya for the dead is performed. This is the moment of farewell of the deceased with the house. A funeral service is being performed (read from the Psalter Canon "For the One Who Died"). Then all relatives and relatives alternately with a triple bow, crosshair and kiss (icon of the Savior \ icon of the Virgin with a baby \ halo on the forehead of the deceased) say goodbye to the deceased.
In some agreements, it is after this last farewell that the priest puts a farewell letter with the names of the deceased and the priest into the right hand of the deceased.
Under the funeral ringing (busting), the coffin, accompanied by a procession, is sent to the cemetery. The procession accompanying the coffin to the place of burial, with all the local features, is also generally subject to a certain law.
In front of the coffin, children walked ahead of the procession and scattered spruce branches (flowers). Then the temple and home crosses are taken out, then kutya and banners. Behind them was a man carrying an icon framed with a towel (sometimes a consecrated kutya was carried next to it). The choristers follow (sometimes the choristers go right behind the coffin). Then follows the priests (a candle in the left, a cross in the right hand) and a deacon with a censer. Then two carry the lid of the coffin (with the Holy Cross on it), and six men (not relatives!) On towels (or on three poles, or on a stretcher) carry the coffin with the deceased feet first. They are followed by close relatives with candles (or torches: to bring the near-death fire to the place of burial) and by seniority, then distant relatives, psalm-readers, friends, neighbors and guests.
During the procession to the temple, the Old Believers-priests solemnly sing the funeral prayer "Holy God, ...", which replaces the lamentations and voices of archaic times. In some places they walk in silence and the singers sing only during the stops of the procession at the crossroads of the streets. Among the Old Believers (unlike the New Believers), in front of the icon (cross) they also carry a candle lit from the posthumous fire. If the path is long, then three stops are made (the last one is at the temple), at each of which a coffin is burned (a protective and cleansing ritual) and a litany is sung. In some concords, mourners are invited, who walk on the sides of the procession and in front of it (their main task is protective, to drive away the unclean from the procession with crying, barking and exclamations). On the other hand, in their lamentations/weeping they created a positive image of the deceased and a positive legend about his life.
During the procession, the procession stops several times (especially near the places where the deceased often visited) and during the stops psalms were sung and gifts (kalachi, mugs of water or wine, towels) were presented to the ceremony participants and the guests they met. Usually they stop 3 times: in the middle of the village (or at the Temple), at the exit from the village (the second funeral Litiya is performed here), at the grave in the cemetery (the entrance to the city of the dead). During the procession, the Trisagion is sung and the assistants present the first people they meet with rolls and scarves. During the stops, the priest with a censer proclaims a special litany, calling to pray for peace and forgiveness of the sins of the deceased. After his exclamation Yako you are the resurrection… they sing Amen, they lift the coffin and carry it further with the singing of the Trisagion.
If the coffin is first brought to the temple (usually before Divine Liturgy- for the complicity of the deceased in common prayer, in uniting the living and the deceased), then he is placed in the middle of the church and 4 lamps are immediately lit.
burial

The most archaic element of the funeral rite is the burial of the king (leader) on the fortieth day after death. All forty days all over the country panikhidas were served in churches and people were treated to kutya.
The funeral procession was led by the patriarch (and the higher clergy), then came the royal dignitaries, then the boyars and the military, then royal family and completed the procession of the noblewoman. Then they carried the coffin, followed by the army, townspeople and people. Relatives dressed in blue or black.
The day of the burial of the king (magnitude, cleansing day, day of removal of mourning) was also a day of remembrance. A memorial service for the deceased and a meal were served both in the house of the deceased and at the grave. A cabbage roll covered with matting was placed on the grave (hence the Rogozhskoye cemetery in Moscow?), An icon was placed in it, near which the monk read the psalter.
The burial of an ordinary Old Believer, both in ancient times and now, is accompanied by the singing of psalms, prayers, and the triple burning of the grave and coffin. The pit is sprinkled with opus. The coffin is placed on stools (on poles) parallel to the pit. The coffin is fumigated with incense smoke from four sides. The Trisagion is read. Relatives again say goodbye to the deceased three times under the lamentations of mourners.
The coffin is then placed on poles directly above the pit.
A cross is taken from the right hand of the deceased (the holy cross cannot be buried) and a letter of absolution is inserted in its place. A rug is laid in the grave.
At this time, a cast image is removed from the chest of the deceased, legs and arms are untied, a handkerchief is removed from the face of the deceased, nettles, eggs, and all this is thrown to the bottom of the grave pit. The face of the deceased is covered with a shroud and a veil. Priest getting up right side the tomb, reads Psalm 23 “Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord, or who will become His holy place? ..” and sprinkles the deceased with oil (the remnant of unction or from the seven-candlestick) in the form of an eight-pointed cross and put a coffin lid on top of the coffin. For some Old Believers, the coffin lid is tied with bast ropes (and not hammered with nails) ...
The coffin is placed with its feet and facing east (the midday sun to the right of the deceased: symbolizes the departure of the deceased from the west of life to the east of eternity) ...
Read the permissive prayer. The coffin is lowered into the grave pit on towels. One of the cuts is tied to a cross or to a nearby tree. Small copper coins are thrown onto the coffin in the pit. Then the Priest with the words “You send everything from the earth and everything to the earth, Lord ...” and the relatives pour a pinch of earth crosswise on the coffin.
In some localities, this element of the burial ritual on the third day follows a different order: the priest (son) reads a memorial prayer (or Litiya). The priest (or mentor) throws earth with a shovel at the head of the coffin, at the feet and on both sides, while reading the prayer "All from the earth ...".
After that, the grave pit is filled up, a domestic eight-pointed wooden cross with a roof (stuffed cabbage) is placed at the feet, and an embankment is made. A stone is necessarily placed on the grave hill (under which sometimes money is hidden for children) - a resting place for the angels and the soul of the deceased ... On the other hand, so that the soul does not immediately get out of the grave and go after relatives ...
After the burial, they kiss the image three times and turn to the deceased: “Remember me in the kingdom of heaven when you stand before the throne of God!” At the same time, everyone is also treated three times (feast, funeral feast) with kutya, wine, sweets ... Kutya is placed in the left hand. Before this, the mourners read the Troparion “Peace, Lord, the soul of His departed servant ...” and each makes several (from 3 to 15) bows (or saying “Bow, Lord ...). After eating kutia, bows are also made (7 bows). Gravediggers are given and treated with kutya separately. Everyone participating in the funeral procession was also given kalachi (or specially baked bread), cakes, gingerbread, and sweets for children. The remains of food are scattered on the grave for the birds (for the souls of the dead).
Sometimes the grave mound is covered with spruce branches (the souls of dead ancestors rest on spruce branches). Therefore, among the New Believers, wreaths are most often made from spruce branches ...
On a wooden cross, inscriptions are made similar to the inscriptions on the front side. pectoral cross: "King of Glory, Jesus Christ, Son of God." According to tradition, the eight-pointed crosses, which were installed over the graves of the Old Believers, were fastened not with iron nails, but with wooden dowels. Copper icons were placed on the grave cross until the 40th day.
In ancient times, people returned from the cemetery in the same order as during the procession, carrying the icon in front and singing the dogmatists. In some areas, returning home, spruce branches were scattered (to hide the way home for the soul of the deceased and for the unclean, spruce is the Tree of Ancestors).
Now they just leave the cemetery without looking back (so that the unclean or the dead do not follow). Upon returning, a memorial table is laid in the house of the deceased.
Before the first memorial meal, they often take a bath (heated by neighbors) and change clothes.
When they come to the table, they first pray, sometimes even lithium. They put kutya on the table - honey diluted with warm water, to which lightly boiled wheat is added, then cabbage soup is served, depending on whether it is a fast day or not, they can be with or without meat. After the soup, they rise to pray. All dishes are necessarily eaten with wooden spoons from common bowls, one bowl for several people. Then two porridges are served in turn: buckwheat and rice (or peas). Then compote is served, also in a common bowl, which is also taken with spoons. The compote is followed by jelly, thick, like jelly, on honey. Bread is dipped in it. Honey must be present at the memorial dinner. The memorial dinner ends with a common prayer and everyone leaves the table ...
In other places they serve kutya, pies, kissel three times…
Before going to bed, relatives went around the estate, praying and, having received a blessing, closed all the shutters and doors so that the deceased could not return home from the cemetery.
In ancient times, until the 9th day, dominoins (log houses, blocks) were installed over the graves, where they brought coals and gruel (for the soul) on (9th day, 40th and annually).
The graves of the Old Believers are oriented along the west-east axis (“head to the west, feet to the east”), so that in the morning the soul of the deceased sees the cross (Christ) against the background of the rising sun (Father).

Commemorations were performed by the Old Believers: on the third, ninth, (twentieth), fortieth days, the anniversary after death, when they ordered memorial services in the church, organized meals and home prayers for the dead. On the forties, after a memorial meal, a wooden cross was erected on the grave.
According to Byzantine sources, the day of death, the day of departure from this world, is also the birthday of the deceased into a new, eternal life, departure into new world. Hence the multi-level symbolism of the commemoration ritual itself. It reflects both the element of farewell (requiem) in this world, and the greetings of angels and ancestors (Lithia) and the acquisition of protective properties in the other world. And also a transitional, temporary element - a joint cathedral (during a meal) of both the living and the dead, and angels ...
In general, according to the stable ideas that have developed among the Old Believers, the soul of the deceased meets the Lord three times in 40 days after the exodus.
Tretiny - are celebrated in honor of the Holy Trinity, the transition to eternal life to the Trinitarian Divinity and in honor of the 3-day resurrection of Jesus Christ ... This is the first meeting with the Lord. After her, the soul, accompanied by an angel, returns to earth and the angels point out to her her good and evil deeds. An event image of the deceased is created to present it to the Court.
Nine - associated with the communication of the deceased with nine angelic ranks and joining the souls of all the saints ... The second meeting with the Lord. After that, the Image of the soul gets acquainted with Heaven and Hell, where the ancestors who died there before, determining the degree of good or sin in each event of his life, pass their verdict to the Image ...
Forties - on the fortieth day after the resurrection was the ascension of the Lord into heaven. So the souls of Christians on the 40th day ascend to the Lord for the final judgment ...
In ancient times, there was a special memorial (navy) day at the end of October, which now coincides with Dmitr's Saturday. On this day, they organized a bath and refreshments for the dead ancestors.
Commemoration should ensure the safe journey of the soul of the deceased to the country of the ancestors, for judgment and a preliminary decision on its fate. The main thing here is the idea that the soul itself is still partially material and some nourishment is required for it. This is ensured by a system of (3\9\40)-day commemorations (Requiems) and evening parties, as well as annual commemorations (and Requiems) on the day of death and on the day of the patron saint, whose name he received at baptism. Among the Old Believers, in addition to reading the usual magpie for 40 days (daily commemoration of the deceased at the Liturgy), on one of these days, “spiritual” or relatives also read a special magpie (40-fold reading of the Psalter for the soul of the deceased). These days, the remains of a common meal, consecrated in the temple, are necessarily placed on the grave, which includes: (kalach, kutya \ kvass, water, wine \ candles).
The Psalter is read daily.
In the evening (from 7 to 9 o’clock), on the eve of the memorial days, they light a memorial lamp (the fire burns until the end of the memorial day), arrange a home supper with prayers, spiritual verses, and on the memorial days themselves they also read the Psalter, arrange a memorial dinner (in two parts: in the morning for relatives; at noon - a joint meal with the deceased at the grave; in the evening, before sunset, memorial meal for the cathedral, during which the Panikhida and Litiya are read). At sunset, after the evening, everyone went out to say goodbye to the sun (with the soul of an ancestor). Sometimes, in the morning, before visiting the graves, they first go to the temple for service and distribute cookies and money in memory of the deceased. Then, visiting the grave, they also distribute alms. The rest is scattered to the birds. It is forbidden to bring anything home from the cemetery (so that the dead could not find their way back on the trail of the thing).
During the meal, it is forbidden to drink alcohol (except for the forties, which were celebrated according to the order of the wedding meal - the “wedding” of the deceased with the Lord!), Meat, potatoes, tea ... It is also forbidden to sing spiritual verses at the wake.
Previously, in some places on the fortieth day, a rite of seeing off the soul was held: the towel that was hung on the icon in the house of the deceased was removed from the icon and taken out of the village, where it was shaken three times with bows towards the cemetery.
For 40 days, male relatives did not shave, and women wore black headscarves.
It was believed that the triple commemoration is determined by the fact that on the third day the image changes and the Angel leads the soul to bow to the Lord. On the ninth day, the body and soul disintegrate, after traveling with the Angels through hell and paradise, it returns to the house and to the grave for the last meeting with relatives. On the 40th day, the heart and soul decays. Angels again lead to the Lord for the final judgment.
According to archaic ideas, at this time the soul can simultaneously reside both in the house (where the death candle burns), in the Temple (where the funeral banners and the Temple Cross stand), and in the burial place of the body. It is to these three sacred points that memorial objects are brought, memorial services are performed near them and prayers are said.
Among the Old Believers, the commemoration of the dead is held on Radonitsa, as well as on the days of the "ecumenical parent Saturdays": Meat-fare Saturday (eight days before Lent), Trinity Saturday (the day before Trinity) and Dmitrievskaya Saturday(Saturday before the day of memory of St. Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica).
They sit down at the common table in the same way as they walked in the procession: next to the icon and lampada, the holy fathers, relatives (the parents of the deceased, older relatives / relatives, family), laity, children ... Dishes are served in the same order.
In the old days, memorial meals were delivered primarily for relatives, friends, the poor and orphans. Funeral food is prepared in special dishes intended only for this ceremony. Fragrant kutya was the main treat at the wake. It was believed that souls and angels do not feed on gruel, but on the smell and fragrance: “the saints do not eat, they do not drink, but the stench and fragrance of that are full of essence” ...
According to the Old Believer "Requisite", the general 3-part structure of such an Old Believer memorial meal includes (blessing \ meal \ thanksgiving). Or in a truncated version (requiem \ meal \ Litiya).

Structure
Old Believer
"Funeral Meal"

The blessing for the meal includes: lighting a fire, Panikhida for the deceased (or Canon), then a pre-dinner prayer. Further, after the sign of the cross, the actual meal begins: they eat consecrated kutya three times (wheat, honey \ raisins \ poppy seeds, holy water), preceding this with a prayer (Peace, Lord, the soul of your deceased servant ...), then they drink honey and berry broth (jelly on St. water). The meal is accompanied by a loud reading (by one of those present) of teachings from the holy books. The memorial meal ends with thanksgiving: a prayer for food and for the health of the hosts (and a stichera), a funeral Litiya, 15 bows in memory of the deceased.
The rite of the meal also reflects the general dual symbolism of the commemoration. So, if sweets are served (full in holy water) before the start of the meal - a symbol of the sweet life in this world, and at the end of the meal - as a symbol of the sweet life in another world. In general, by this the organizers of the ritual can indicate their attitude towards the fate of those who are commemorated.
The kutya also contains a deep symbolism of the transition. Grains of wheat \ buckwheat (rice) - symbolism of rebirth in a new life, raisins \ poppy \ (sesame) - symbols of future immortality (an echo of the ancient Egyptian tradition) ... If sesame seeds (sim-sim) were added, then they indicated the possible high status of the departed among the dead ancestors, on the special fertile power inherent in him ...
In the New Rite, before a meal, after lighting a fire on candles and in an icon lamp in front of the icon, either Litiya is served or the Psalter is read (17 kathisma out of 20), and then read Lord's Prayer.
During the meal, the good deeds of the deceased are remembered.
After the sign of the cross, they begin the meal. Before each change of dishes is read short prayer. First, sweetened full (holy water with honey) is served, then kutya with raisins, pancakes, cereals, and the meal ends with kissel.
After the meal, everyone reads thanksgiving prayer… When leaving, everyone expresses sympathy for their relatives…

***
The funeral rite of the Old Believers is distinguished by many essential details: the manufacture of a coffin (in the past) without nails, the transfer of the coffin on a pole, the movement “according to the salt” during the funeral, the construction of a domina over the grave.
During the confession before the exodus, the Old Believers do not take communion, as the New Believers; if without repentance, then they did not bury, but simply read a prayer for the departure of the soul ...
Three Panikhidas are necessarily read (in the evening, with the first commemoration, on the eve of the day of burial \ in the morning on the day of burial \ before the removal of the body) ... Three Litiyas are sung near the house (after the removal of the body), in front of the cemetery (temple or grave) and after burial.
Among the Old Believers, a candle (lamp) is carried ahead of the funeral procession, then an icon (cross), etc. In some agreements, the coffin lid or icons are carried behind the coffin.
During burial, the Old Believers do not hammer the lid of the coffin with nails ... After the last farewell, a farewell letter is placed in the coffin ... After burial, a stone is left on the grave ...
Until the forties, a special Sorokoust (40-fold reading of the Psalter) is read for the deceased,

***
The need for the reform of the Old Russian language, its simplification, which arose at the beginning of the 17th century, during the period of mixing of the Central Russian population with the southwestern (joining Little Russia) and Turkic (Kazan, Astrakhan), had a fatal effect on the unity of Orthodoxy in Muscovite Rus'. Under Nikon, the ranks of Confession, Consecration of the Unction, Unction, Baptism, and the burial itself were significantly reduced. As N.I. wrote Sazonov (2008), these abbreviations were mainly associated with the replacement of the ancient aorist form of the verb of the just completed action (which began to fall into disuse) with the past perfect form of the long completed action. Those. evangelical events that used to include events that had just happened and thus making the Resurrection of Christ a just-occurred event (during the liturgy), suddenly, with the introduction of the reform, they became events long ago, symbolic, thereby relieving internal tension during worship, weakening a feeling of direct presence at the Resurrection of the Lord. In the pre-Nikon edition, God was, as it were, next to man, perceived more acutely, more objectively. In the liturgy, a person seemed to be present at the Resurrection, at the descent of the Holy Spirit ... Therefore, the Holy History for the Old Believers was not a symbolic description of what once happened ...
At the same time, in the new, Nikon edition, it is proposed to perceive the miracle of the Birth, the Resurrection of Christ with the mind, mentally, as if it had happened long ago, with some symbols, and not really happening “here and now” ...
This affected not only Sacred history, but also daily practice, for example, the burial rite in the Treasury, where the texts became more generalized, abstract, devoid of a concrete, personal beginning ... Dies or repents not this person and, in general, a "Christian". The priest no longer possesses his concreteness and sinfulness, but acts as a priest in general, devoid of such, simply possessing grace, a representative of the priesthood... With the reform, the space-time of the human ecumene was desacralized, their securialization from events that happen every minute in accordance with Holy Scripture.
Thus, about 30 troparia and stichera were removed, detailing the description of death; stichera and troparia sung on behalf of the deceased;

On the structure of memorial services

We already wrote above that the main liturgical services during the funeral and commemoration of the Old Believers are Panikhida, Litiya and Funeral Service. Let us dwell on a more detailed analysis of these services and compare them with similar services of the New Believers.
The memorial service contains 2 ektinyas (great and small), two prayers (Lord's and priestly), two troparions (large and small), psalm (90) and Canon (for the departed), 3 Trisagion,
The rite of Panikhida includes: (Beginning, Psalm 90 (Alive in the help of the Most High ...), Great Litany (Let us pray to the Lord in peace ... \ petition \ Hallelujah ...), troparion (tone 8 \ voice 5 \ prayer: God of spirits and all flesh ...) and the Canon (for the dead, tone 8), the Lord's Prayer and the 3 Trisagion, troparion (tone 4), Small Litany (Have mercy on us, God ...), Priestly prayer (In blessed sleep ...), Let go.)
In general, the text of the Panikhida has a pronounced 3-part form: ((Beginning \\ (Psalm \ Great Ektinya \ Bol. Troparion) (Canon \ Lord's Prayer \ 3 Trisagion) (troparion \ Mal. Ektinya \ Priestly Prayer) \ \Vacation)). In the center of this text structure is the Lord's Prayer, relative to which the rest of the text is quite symmetrical.
The general 3-part structure of Lithium is quite simple. It includes: the beginning, three appeals (to Jesus Christ, to Mother of God, to the Heavenly Father - the Lord's prayer), three Trisagion, bows and dismissal.
Litiya begins with a prayer (Lord, Jesus Christ.... King of Heaven, Comforter, Soul of Truth...). Next came the three Trisagion with bows and the sign of the cross. (Glory...), pleading prayer (Holy Trinity, have mercy...), three times (Lord, have mercy!)... (Glory...), Lord's prayer, 12 times (Lord, have mercy!). The litia ends with three prostrations, accompanied by the words (Come, let us bow down and fall down to Christ Himself (the messenger), the Tsar (the king of the earth) and our God) ...
As in the text of the Panikhida, in the center of the Litiya is the Lord's Prayer, which forms the entire structure of the text of the Litiya. The entire content of the text is in its first half, and after the Lord's Prayer, there are mainly bows and requests for mercy. In fact, this is a truncated, simplified version of the Panikhida itself.
If most funeral texts and rituals are repeated many times, then the funeral service is performed only once (at home or in the Temple). And before closing the coffin with a lid. It symbolizes the joy of the coming meeting with the Lord, joining the host of the holy souls of the ancestors, it contains faith, hope and love - therefore it is performed by a priest in light clothes. The funeral service includes reading texts from (Psalter\Apostle\Gospel). The dismissal prayer written on paper (letter of departure, dismissal), at the end of the funeral, is put into the right hand of the deceased and, after the last farewell of everyone to the deceased, the coffin is closed.
According to the Potrebnik (section "Following the Deadly Worldly Bodies"), the funeral service is performed after the Liturgy in the temple. Before being taken out of the house, a funeral Litiya is performed over the deceased. During the transfer of the coffin to the temple, the Trisagion is sung.
The structure of the funeral service is also 3-part. The funeral service for laymen, monks and deacons includes:
I. ((The Trisagion and Psalm 90 (a picture of a joyful transition to another world), 3 articles of the execution of Psalm 118 “Immaculate” (about bliss in another world); troparia for the repose (Remember, Lord, as Good ... about the fate of a man who was created in the image of God, but transgressed the commandments, was brought down to earth for redemption, and now he prays to the Lord to return back),
The Old Believers have a slightly different rank of the first part: (Trisagion and Psalm 90 (picture of a joyful transition to another world); Great ektinya; Hallelujah with stichera) (troparion (Deep wisdom ...); 2 articles 17 kathisma (about bliss in another world): after the first was the Small Litany, after the second troparion for the repose (Remember, Lord, how Good ... and Bless, Lord ... about the fate of a man who was created in the image of God, but transgressed the commandments, was brought down to earth for the sake of redemption. And now he prays to the Lord about returning back); ...)
II. Psalm 50 (God rest the soul of your departed servant...), (Canon, the Church's appeal to the martyrs about intercession for the deceased, ikos, kontakion); small ectinya; candles are extinguished, 8 stichera of John of Damascus (a song about worldly vanity), “Glory” and a stichera about the Trinity, the Apostle (the message of St. Paul to the Thessalians about the coming transfiguration), the Gospel (commandments about the resurrection and eternal blessedness); litanies (for the repose), a memorial prayer (God have mercy on us ...) and a prayer (God, spirits ...). After the final exclamation (Like You are the Resurrection and the stomach ...) there is a farewell to the deceased under the singing of 3 stichera (Come, we will give the last kiss, brethren, to the deceased ...). In this part of the rite, during parting, the prayer of the deceased to the living is announced in stichera (… What is our life? Color, smoke and morning dew… Where is youth? me to the Lord, so that I again merge into the light of life ...),
The Old Believers in the second part: there is no Canon (it appeared at the beginning of the 17th century), after the troparions followed the ektiny of the saddles (Peace, our Savior ...), psalm 50, the stichera are self-voiced (Like worldly wisdom ... there are more of them than the Nikonians), stichera on blessed, prokeimenon, the Apostle, the Gospel, farewell to the deceased and stichera “for kissing” (the Old Believers have 3 more stichera) ...

III. Then comes the Litiya for the departed (the Lord's Prayer, the Trisagion, the small ektinya (Have mercy on us, God ...), here is the appeal of the living to the Trinity and angels for the deceased, bows), Let go (the name of the deceased), 3 "Your eternal memory, ...), Permissive prayer (a petition from the Lord for the forgiveness of sins, for the reconciliation of the deceased and the Church in the forgiveness of sins and a letter in the hand of the deceased, as a witness to the Lord of reconciliation in this world), the Trisagion for the removal of the body of the deceased ...
The Old Believers in the third part: Permissive prayer is read secretly.
If we talk about the general structure of the modern rite of the funeral of the worldly, then it has the following form:
1. “Blessed be our God...” \Psalm 90 \Psalm 118 (three articles, the first two end with a litany. According to the third article: troparia on the Immaculate) \ Litany: “Paki and paki ...” \ Troparia: “Peace, Save ours ... "," Radiant from the Virgin ... " \ Psalm 50
2. (Canon “Like dry land ...”, tone 6; The stichera are self-voiced by St. John of Damascus: “What lifely sweetness ...”; The stichera are blessed with troparia) (Prokeimenon; Apostle; Gospel) (Prayer of Permissiveness; Stichera at the last kiss; ....)
3. (Lithia \ Removal of the body from the temple and procession under the Trisagion \ Lithia and lowering the body into the grave)
When lowering the coffin into the grave, the Trisagion and a short Litiya for the dead are also read.

***
It is noteworthy that most of the structures of memorial prayers are also 3-part. For example, a 3-part memorial prayer repeated three times in structure: (Remember, Lord, the souls of your departed servants (their names), and all my relatives, and forgive them all sins, voluntary and involuntary, grant them the Kingdom and communion of Your eternal blessings, and create an eternal memory for them.) also ends with a 3rd private prayer: (Lord, have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord, have mercy.\\Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,\\now and ever and forever and ever) , amen. (Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, \\ now and forever, and forever and ever, amen \\ Aliluyah, Aliluyah, Aliluyah)... Etc.

The villages of Zhukovo and Belonogovo have always been considered Old Believers. I tried to restore the distinctive features of the funeral rites of the Old Believers of the chapels of these villages. To do this, he used such forms of research as questioning and observation. Unfortunately, residents those who know the rites, there are units; they acted as a source of information.
The Old Believers are preparing for death in advance. Before death, they try to make sure to confess according to the “skete repentance” to the mentor. They prepare special funeral clothes, which are called "row" or "mortal". It is prepared in advance. “I have been lying for more than twenty years, my mother sewed for herself and cooked for me. Saw on hand.
The shroud and clothes are necessarily linen or satin, hand-sewn, not “hacked” (i.e., the seams are not hemmed). The shroud is a sewn cloth with a hood. Men's clothing consists of a shirt to the knees, underpants and a belt, and women's clothing from a shirt to the heels, a scarf (usually two scarves) and a belt. Men wear white socks and slippers on their feet, while women wear stockings and slippers. In addition, a veil was being prepared - a narrow strip of white fabric about five meters long, as well as a cover - a piece of white matter.
Be sure to prepare a ladder and a new pectoral cross with a gaitan. A pillowcase is sewn on a pillow measuring 20 by 30 cm, stuffed with birch leaves and “Bogorodskaya” grass (thyme).
According to the ideas of the Old Believers, dying among the family in full memory, and even on Easter, is a blessing from heaven for a person. Our ancestors believed that if a person died quickly, then his soul went to heaven, and if he suffered before death, it means that the sins are great and he cannot escape hell.
It was believed that the easiest way to die was on the floor, where straw was laid, and later - linen. Trying to help the dying, they opened the door, window, chimney - so that it would be easier for the soul to fly away. “When he starts to watch, they read the canon for the outcome of the soul, and when he leaves, then they immediately begin to dress him.”
The washing of the dead in each village is performed by specially trained people who performed this rite so that no one saw the body of the deceased naked.
“How many ordeals are described in the “Vision of Grigoriev” - so many rags need to be prepared.” Washing accessories: a vessel, a spoon, rags - on the way to the cemetery with a prayer, they lowered them into the river or buried them in the grave.
After washing, the body was placed in a coffin with the singing of an angelic song. The bed of the deceased was taken out to the chicken coop, “so that the roosters crowed”, and remained for three days.
Until the early 1980s, elderly Old Believers were buried in dominoes - dugout wooden logs. Later they began to make a coffin from boards, without iron nails. The tradition has now been lost.
The coffin is not upholstered with cloth. In the house where the deceased lies, a mirror is hung. They do not heat the stove, they guard the dead man at night - that is, surely someone is sitting at the coffin, not sleeping.
After being placed in the coffin until the day of the funeral, the Psalter was read over the deceased according to a special rule, and on the day of the funeral they performed a burial, or funeral service, during which all the relatives of the deceased said goodbye to him in turn. After the funeral, the coffin was closed and taken to the cemetery.
Often, special mourners were invited to the funeral - women who know many beautiful and appropriate cries for any occasion. “Orina knew how to pity so much that you don’t want to, but you roar with foolishness to unconsciousness,” fellow villagers said about Zhukovsky’s mourner.
Before the coffin is taken out, the chicken is served through the coffin, and then given to a stranger to pray for the deceased. You can't go under the coffin. When the coffin is carried out, one must not touch the doorposts (touch magic). Close relatives should not carry the coffin.
First they take out the cross, the lid, and then the coffin. Whoever carries the cross is given a towel. They put the coffin in the fence. If he died not at home, then they take him to the house to say goodbye.
By this time, in the cemetery (in the village of Zhukovo - “at the graves”, “behind the hill”), diggers had already dug out a grave. “You don’t have to dig deep, it’s just up to the armpits so that you can get out later.” (Referring to the second coming and the resurrection of all the dead).
After incense, the graves lowered the coffin and covered it with earth, put up a cross with a lid (stuffed cabbage) and turned to the deceased three times: “Remember me in the kingdom of heaven when you stand before the throne of God!” They dispersed without looking back and went to the house of the deceased, where a commemoration (funeral dinner) was held.
A special element of the funeral and memorial rite is the observance of mourning. Family hire "spiritual", "divine" for this period - to read the magpie, and on the third, ninth, fortieth day and anniversary - to perform "panafida" (requiem).
Due to the closed nature of the culture of the Old Believers, the traditional elements of the funeral and memorial cycle have acquired the status of a code, a mandatory rule, an axiom that must be observed. Observations from outside, personal conversations made it possible to state that many ritual actions are performed “according to the rule”, “according to the law”, “as was customary”, but the semantic basis has already been forgotten by many.
Thus, the process of erosion of the ritual basis naturally touched the Old Believers, which confirms the legitimacy of the general evolutionary process of all components of culture.
ST. Batuev,

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