A wake after a funeral: rules, when to hold it, how to count the days after death, the essence of the rite of remembrance.
Days of commemoration after death
- According to Orthodox canons - on the day of the funeral, on the 9th and 40th days and 1 year after death.
- You can remember the deceased with a kind word on any other day when the family gathers. Without clinking glasses and observing the rules and etiquette of condolences.
From what date should we count 9 and 40 days after death? You need to count from the date of death , not the funeral. If a person died before noon, then a funeral service is held on the eighth day. It is important that no more than 9 or 40 days from the moment of death.
The essence of the wake
After death, the soul experiences great sorrow and goes through suffering and ordeal. Immediately after death, a person’s soul is without shelter.
- Until the third day, it is in the habitats of the deceased during life.
- Then the angels take her to Heaven to worship the Lord God. For 6 days she gets acquainted with the lives of the Saints in the heavenly monastery.
- On the 9th day, the soul goes to hell, where for thirty days it is horrified by the torment of sinners.
- On the 40th day, the soul is again called to worship the Lord, where its posthumous fate is decided.
The funeral should help the soul ascend from earth to heaven to heaven . Funeral prayers, words and speeches are a petition to God for the deceased before passing judgment.
Funerals for Orthodox Christians are a mandatory farewell ritual , so find out more about them. For 40 days, relatives and friends pray for the deceased, visit churches, order services for the repose of the servant of God, distribute alms, and conduct memorial ceremonies on the indicated days. Until the 40th day in Church Slavonic the deceased is called newly deceased.
Why remember the dead?
The fact is that life continues after death. Moreover, the final fate of a person is decided not after death, but at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we are all waiting for. Therefore, before the second coming we can still change this fate. When we are alive, we can do this ourselves by doing good deeds and believing in Christ. Having died, we can no longer influence our own afterlife, but this can be done by people who remember us and have heart problems. The best way to change the posthumous fate of the deceased is prayer for him.
Days of commemoration
Funeral services are held on the day of the funeral (3rd), on the 9th, 40th days and on the anniversary after death.
Days of commemoration
Private commemorations
Private commemorations include memorial services, memorials from notes at liturgy, magpies, prayers at home on memorial days , on the anniversary of death , birthdays, name days (Angel's Day) and on any other private occasions.
In addition to private commemorations, the Russian Orthodox Church established parental Saturdays - days of special commemoration of all deceased ancestors.
Wake after funeral
The first wake takes place on the day of the funeral, and according to Orthodox tradition, this is the third day after death . On this day, everyone who wishes to see the deceased off on his last journey is present at the wake: relatives, friends, colleagues...
Traditionally in Russia, the first wake takes place in the home of the deceased or his relatives. Nowadays, ordering a funeral service in a cafe or in a specialized funeral hall of a ritual organization .
