According to Orthodox traditions, are people buried on Sunday, Monday and Saturday?

Funeral according to Orthodox canons
There are some traditions and rules associated with religious beliefs or customs of a particular people when burying a person, which people try to observe. But in some cases, confusion often occurs. For example, the question of whether the dead are buried on Sunday can lead many to a dead end. There are people who see nothing reprehensible in burial on a day off. But there are also those who are ready to give reasons why it is impossible to bury on Sunday. To understand this issue, it is worth studying in detail where this opinion came from and what Orthodoxy thinks about this.

On what day is it better to bury the deceased: historical background

The fear of being buried alive is called taphophobia. Therefore, some even indicated in their wills when their burial would take place. For example, Arthur Schopenhauer bequeathed his body to be given to the earth 5 days after his death.

Nikolai Gogol was very afraid of waking up in a coffin after burial. It is believed that he could not avoid this terrible fate.

Sopor

They began to bury the deceased after some time because of cases when the deceased suddenly “resurrected” during or on the eve of the funeral process. Previously, it was customary to bury the dead on the day of their death. Therefore, there were situations when a person who had fallen into a lethargic sleep was buried alive, assuming that he had died. A similar fate could have happened to Francesco Petrarca, an Italian poet. But what saved him was that 20 hours after he was declared dead, he woke up. After this, the poet lived happily for about 30 years.

In 1772, a decree of Duke F. of Mecklenburg was introduced, ordering the burial of the dead on the 3rd day after death. This was done to exclude cases of burial of people who had fallen into the liturgy or were in a deep faint.

When is the best time to go?

On the day of the funeral of the deceased, on the second day after burial, on the 9th and 40th day after the death of a person, on each anniversary of death, during Parental Saturdays. At this time, the soul is tuned to positive contact with a loved one. Also at this time, people and worshipers pray intensely, which helps them drive out dangerous energy.

They visit the churchyard taking into account the time of day:

Morning. At this time, the Lord gives the soul the opportunity to see loved ones.
During the day. After lunch, a powerful flow of energy from the deceased is observed in the graveyard. Therefore, it is not recommended, but not prohibited, to go to graves.
Evening. It is believed that at this time of day the dead rise from their graves. Therefore, visitors often experience a feeling of anxiety and depression. It's better to postpone the trip.
At night. Visiting the dead is prohibited. There is a dense concentration of negative charge, and this, in turn, negatively affects a person’s well-being. Another reason is wild animals, stray animals, ill-wishers.

Reference. While visiting the grave, it is prohibited to drink alcoholic beverages, step on the burial site, lose personal belongings, or turn around at the exit from the graveyard.

Visiting the cemetery is allowed on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and church holidays. It is not advisable to visit on Trinity Sunday, Easter, the Annunciation, Christmas, and other days of the week. If you follow customs, you can protect yourself and your loved ones from adversity and misfortune.

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On what day after death are Orthodox Christians buried?

The tradition in Orthodoxy of burying on the 3rd day is associated with the special meaning attached to this number. The Gospel describes many situations where the number 3 plays an important role. Here are the most significant of them:

Three gifts presented to Christ in honor of his birth by the Magi;
Three crucifixes on Mount Golgotha;
The third day after the death of Jesus, when his resurrection took place.

Orthodox cemetery

The sacred meaning is also contained in the term Holy Trinity, reflecting the Trinity of God. The resurrection of Christ further strengthened the belief that a person should be buried on the third day.

Orthodox Christians believe that the soul should leave the body gradually. This moment occurs on Tretina - exactly on the third day from the moment of death. After release, the intangible entity follows the guardian angel to the Kingdom of Heaven, where it can contemplate the beauty of the heavenly abode for another three days. It is believed that if you bury a person earlier, his soul will see it and the transition to another world will be more painful for it, or it will remain restless.

It is not always possible to hold a burial ceremony on the day prescribed by Orthodox canons. The Church allows a shift in the date of the funeral if circumstances are such that it is not possible to bury a person on Tretina after death due to life circumstances.

When is it customary to hold a funeral in Orthodoxy?

Orthodoxy attaches great importance to the number 3. This is how many days it took Jesus to resurrect after crucifixion. It is generally accepted that for three days after death the soul wanders the earth, and then, together with its guardian angel, goes to the Heavenly Kingdom. In addition, the figure is closely related to the Trinity, which includes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The desire to bury the deceased on the third day also has practical significance. In ancient times, when medicine was not yet so developed, there were cases of burial of living people, as a result of which the term “taphophobia” appeared in the Russian language. It is understood as a panicky fear of being buried alive if it was mistakenly believed that a person had died.

Such situations are usually associated with lethargic sleep, which previously could not be distinguished from death. Today, doctors accurately confirm death, but the tradition has not lost its meaning. And even if the pathologist does make a mistake, three days before the burial allow him to observe the deceased and notice the appearance of cadaveric spots.

They say you can't bury on Sunday

Some people, when asked whether it is possible to bury on Sunday, confidently say that it is not possible. They consider this a great sin. This is largely due to the fact that the church prohibits burials on certain events that are especially significant for Orthodoxy, which, in turn, often fall on Sundays. Echoes of this belief were the fact that previously it was considered Christ’s day and it was a day of rest and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

Debunking the myth about the ban on funerals on Sunday

But again, if we return to the events described in the Bible, the seventh day was considered a day off and the Jews were ordered to do nothing during this time. But in those days, Sunday was considered the first day of the week. The end of the week was Saturday. Therefore, the question should rather sound like this: “Are the dead buried on Saturday?” But even on this score there are no prohibitions on holding a farewell ceremony. All unspoken beliefs are rather relics of the past.

Even if Tretina falls on a Sunday, the funeral may be canceled for the following reasons:

The authority issuing the documents has a day off. Without documents, the body cannot be handed over to loved ones. The necessary papers must be received the day before - on Saturday;
In some cities, it is not possible to pick up a body from the morgue on Sunday, since its employees are on vacation. In others, you only need to pay extra to the orderlies for handing over the deceased to relatives on a weekend or holiday;
On Sunday the cemetery can be very crowded. Therefore, in order to hold a mournful farewell ceremony for the deceased, the funeral is often postponed to another Monday.

Sometimes in the church itself the work schedule on the weekend is completely booked, which can also serve to postpone the farewell to the deceased and his funeral service to the next day.

Cremation of an Orthodox

There are still many misconceptions associated with cremation. But they are also baseless. Since in the canons of the Orthodox faith there is very little information regarding issues related to cremation. Despite the fact that the Orthodox Church still does not consider cremation a sin, an Orthodox Christian is supposed to bury the deceased in a coffin. So the question of whether it is possible to cremate or bury a deceased person on Sunday is also not relevant.

It should also be noted that in the Orthodox faith, not only the burial process itself is very important, but the holding of memorial days after it. As you know, the 9th and 40th days are considered the most important for the soul of the deceased. Therefore, holding a memorial dinner these days needs to be thought out no less carefully than the burial of the deceased itself.

If you are sure that you cannot cope with this task on your own, then you can contact specialized organizations that organize such events in accordance with all the traditions of the Orthodox world. Or turn to the priest at the temple for help. He will tell you in detail how to properly carry out these important events.

The best article for you, go to: How to beautifully tie a scarf to church

The Lord is always with you!

Is it possible to bury on Sunday - the opinion of the church

When asked whether it is possible to hold a funeral on Sunday, the clergy say that there are no prohibitions on burial at this time, except for those Orthodox holidays that fall on the weekend. In addition, the farewell process can be scheduled either in the morning or afternoon, or in the evening.

There are situations when it is necessary to postpone the date of the funeral indefinitely. For example, the procedure for handing over a body to relatives is delayed when a person’s death is violent. In such cases, the church allows the date of burial to be postponed.

Farewell to the deceased at the cemetery

Church officials recommend paying attention not to the day of burial, but to the correctness of the burial ceremony. When choosing a burial date, it is better to be guided by the fact that three days must pass from the date of death. But sometimes the church gives permission for burial earlier - in countries with hot climates and during epidemics.

The prohibitions related to the fact that funeral services and memorial services cannot be held on Sunday are just human speculation. Even on great holidays that fall on this day of the week, the church can make an exception and hold a ceremony, but only after the festive service can a memorial service be held. And then, first you need to consult with a priest. The dynamics of modern life are such that it is not always possible to avoid a “forbidden” day for a funeral, so this process can be carried out at any time.

On what days should the dead not be buried?

According to Christian customs, burial on the day of death or the next day is not permitted unless there is a reason for it. This is due to the belief that the soul did not have time to leave the body. If a Christian is buried ahead of schedule, she has nowhere to go. Before Tretina, a person’s soul is surrounded by his family. For the deceased, contemplating the burial of his body ahead of time can lead to great mental pain, as a result of which he will remain restless.

You can often hear the following question: “Why can’t people who died of their own death or those who died at the hands of a murderer be buried on Monday?” The thing is that earlier on this day it was customary to bury suicides. The funeral of the deceased, who died from natural or violent death, was postponed to Tuesday.

If you delve deeper into history, you can find a mention that even earlier in Rus' it was customary to transport bodies of those who committed suicide and unknown persons to special buildings called godhouses or wretched houses. They were buried after sowing, and some time later on Thursday on the eve of Trinity.

Funeral service in the temple

Times change and therefore the question of why people are not buried on Monday is no longer so relevant. Now it is allowed to bury the deceased on any day of the week, regardless of what caused the person’s death.

Can burial be performed before or after the 3rd day?

According to Christian priests, a person cannot be buried before the third day. Until this time, the soul is still closely connected with the body, and if the burial is carried out earlier than usual, this connection will be severed. A violent break will lead to the fact that the soul will have nowhere to go, and this will bring it unspeakable pain and doom it to eternal suffering. However, in some cases a person may be buried earlier. This happens during wars, epidemics, or when staying in regions where there is stifling heat in the summer.

If we talk about the fourth, fifth and subsequent days after repose, then Orthodoxy allows such burial. The reasons for the delay may be:

violent death requiring a forensic medical examination;
Some relatives live far from the place of death of the person (they need time to come to the funeral).

In such a situation, an embalming procedure is carried out, which prevents decomposition and allows you to preserve the body in its natural form.

Is it possible to bury on church holidays?

The choice of the day of the funeral determines how quickly the soul ascends to the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, a Christian cannot be buried on these great Orthodox holidays:

Annunciation. On this day, Mary received the news that she was destined to give birth to a son and name him Jesus. On this bright holiday, memorial services and memorial services cannot be held.
Christmas. January 7th is the day when Christ was born. It is better to avoid holding a farewell ceremony on this day so as not to anger God. If there are compelling reasons for the funeral, it is worth checking with the priest;
Easter. If an Orthodox Christian dies on the eve of a holiday - on Palm Week, it is believed that grace from the Lord descended on him. But under no circumstances are funerals scheduled for the day of Christ’s resurrection;
Veil day. On this great holiday, they remember the event when the Mother of God saved Christians from an attack by the Saracens. A memorial service is not scheduled for this day, so as not to anger her.

If a wake falls on the Annunciation or Easter, then it should be held on Radonitsa. On holidays, according to Orthodoxy, one cannot bury or perform funeral services for the deceased, so as not to overshadow the holiday with grief and sadness.

But it is not only on great holidays that burying is not recommended. This should not be done on days of mourning - 3 days on Good Friday. On these days, parishioners pray and remember the last days of Jesus.

What is said on this issue in Orthodox literature

To establish the date regarding the day of a particular ceremony, it is worth turning to Orthodox literature. The disciple of John Chrysostom, Isidore of Pelosiot, described the burial, in which he indicated the dates. He wrote: “On Friday the Lord gave up the ghost...one day. He continued: “When Sunday came, He arose.” This passage, which describes the moment of death and indicates specific days of the week, makes it clear that funeral services and burials can be held on the last day of the week.

According to the charter, the church may refuse to bury the dead on the following days:

on the days of remembrance of the holy martyrs;
Main Epiphany holiday;
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
Holy Resurrection of Christ;
on Christmas Day.

Those who claim that burial on Sunday should under no circumstances be allowed to give reasons for this. There is nothing like this in the Bible itself and even in the church canons.

The day of the week and time of burial do not play such a big role. The main thing in a funeral is the observance of the burial ritual itself. To begin with, the procedure for preparing for the funeral takes place. The person's body is washed and dressed in preferably light-colored clothing. This is carried out by morgue workers or independently by relatives. If the funeral takes place at home, then “Lord have mercy” is read 3 times.