Atheism or paganism?
Nowadays you can often hear, even from priests, that this phrase is atheistic, has nothing to do with the church, with Christian doctrine, and, on the contrary, absolutely contradicts it.
But in fact, this phrase has nothing to do with atheism. She's pagan. In ancient times, people's religious ideas differed from those accepted today. People believed that a person's soul remains with the body after death. They honored the body and sought to provide it with maximum comfort in the afterlife. They provided a person with various attributes of secular life, put weapons, utensils, and jewelry in the graves. There was even a custom of burying his servants and wives, horses, and dogs with the deceased.
A whole ship could be placed in a pharaoh’s tomb to make it more convenient for him to travel along the river of death.
How does Orthodoxy relate?
The priests are convinced that these common words contradict the canons of the Christian religion.
Christians believe that the soul does not remain in the body after death, but leaves it and is transferred to heaven. Orthodoxy points to the primacy of the soul over the mortal physical shell. To confirm the belief in such immortality of the soul, the funeral ritual is carried out, as well as other Christian traditions. That is why you cannot say “may the earth rest in peace.” Along with this, Orthodoxy denies the need for rich decoration of graves and prohibits burying objects and valuables with the deceased. There is no need to use the phrase wishing you rest in peace.
Origin of the expression “May the earth rest in peace”
In ancient Rome, the phrase “May the earth rest in peace” was a common wish. It can often be found on ancient graves in the form of an epitaph. She promised a person an easy afterlife and was a kind of blessing to the deceased.
However, some consider this phrase a posthumous curse on the enemy, apparently basing their opinion on the lines of the ancient Roman poet Marcus Martial who wrote:
May the earth rest in peace to you, And softly cover the sand so that dogs can dig up your bones.
However, the widespread use of this phrase in those days suggests that it was not a curse. Rather, it corresponded to the modern phrase “Rest in peace.”
What to say to the deceased
If a person during a burial says: “May the earth rest in peace,” no one will judge or scold him for this phrase. The expression has caught on and is self-evident.
According to the clergy, it is impossible to harm the deceased with such a wish. But you can help the soul of the deceased find peace and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
First of all, a prayer coming from the heart will help with this: “Rest, O Lord, the soul of Your newly departed servant, and forgive him all his sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant him the Kingdom of Heaven.”
It is also important to say “eternal memory” to the deceased. This means wanting a person to enter into the eternal memory of God. When we say “blessed memory,” we only want to preserve for ourselves good memories of the deceased, and this is not entirely Christian.
The phrase “May the earth rest in peace” cannot be used when burying a believer, an Orthodox person. This shows concern for the body of the deceased, but not his soul. In Orthodoxy, it is customary to wish for the “Kingdom of Heaven” and “eternal memory.”
Is it possible to wish “May the earth rest in peace”?
Let's think about what exactly we are saying when we say this phrase. We express the desire for soft earth and comfort for the body of the deceased. But what is the body if not just a mortal shell, which after death is abandoned by the soul?
After all, Christian teaching says that after death the soul leaves the body and goes to the highest court, which will determine where it will stay in the afterlife, in heaven or hell. And by performing funeral rites, we show our faith in the resurrection.
You should not worry about the body abandoned by the spirit, you should worry about the fate of the Soul itself. Much more important to her are the prayers of loved ones, a memorial service held according to church canons, good deeds and good memory of the deceased.
The Christian word “Deceased” itself emphasizes that death is not decomposition and decay, but falling asleep, a transition to eternity, to another world. The human soul goes to God and it is completely wrong to wish it a soft earth.
Roots go back to pagan times
Among true Christian believers, you can also often hear misconceptions regarding these words. Many people, knowing that the phrase “may the earth rest in peace” is not permitted by the church, consider it a sign of atheism. However, this is fundamentally wrong - it has nothing in common with atheism, but goes back to antiquity during the time of pagan beliefs.
Previously, the dominant belief among people was the belief that after death the soul does not leave the body. Therefore, the body must be given various honors so that a person remains in comfort and coziness after death. That is why tombs were built, and they were placed in them along with the body.
- Jewelry;
- Clothes;
- Weapon;
- Utensils.
Some peoples had a tradition of burying their wives, slaves, servants, and animals along with the deceased. For pagans, wishing the earth to rest in peace meant the need to prevent the earth from pressing on the deceased.
Information that came to us from the ancient world also confirms the existence of this phrase. It carried a slightly different meaning - a wish for an easy afterlife. After all, it was in the life of a person after his death that people believed so strongly in those days. This is evidenced by the phrase in Latin - Sit tibi terra levis, which means wishing for the earth to be made of fluff. It can be found in the works of many ancient poets. Other formulations are also known, for example, “Terra levis sit” or “Sit ei terra levis”.
Historians have a different opinion regarding the wish. Some documents indicate its use as a curse. With this phrase, the people of ancient Rome wanted any traces of human presence on earth to disappear, including in the memory of descendants. All these pagan traditions confirm the reasons why one should not say “may the earth rest in peace.”
The Kingdom of heaven
According to Christian doctrine, the body is the seat of the soul, a temple that should be maintained in proper order. Including after death. Resurrection is one of the main dogmas of the church. And after the Resurrection, the soul will again be reunited with the body, wherever it is, and in whatever state it is.
Hence the careful, reverent attitude in church rites towards the body of the deceased. Hence the various funeral rites. But the soul is immortal.
The phrase “May he rest in peace” was inherited from paganism. But if many pagan rituals were quite successfully assimilated by the church, then this phrase contradicts faith, does not bring any benefit to the deceased and cannot be used. Instead, one should wish the deceased the Kingdom of Heaven .
Is it possible to wish for a living person
Orthodox Christians cannot say “Rest in peace” not only in relation to the deceased. According to superstitions, the expression is forbidden to be said to a living person. Experts in the field of esotericism are sure that a saying spoken about a living person is a curse. A chain of misadventures awaits the person to whom the words were directed. If the message is energetically strong, death is possible. To get rid of the curse, esotericists advise turning to professionals.
The person to whom the phrase was addressed should monitor their health. In what cases should you sound the alarm:
- disharmony in the family - it is not possible to find a common language with members of the household;
- health problems began for no reason;
- For no apparent reason, one is overcome by a depressive state and feels a loss of strength.
Superstition says you shouldn't curse
The wish will be redirected to the head of the person from whose lips it came out.
Peace to dust
“Peace be upon his ashes” or “Peace be with him” is a phrase that is appropriate when bidding farewell to a Jewish deceased. In Hebrew it sounds like “alav-ha-shalom” and, as follows from the book of Mishley by King Shlomo, it is pronounced every time to glorify the righteous and righteous life as such. The fact is that one of the names of the Almighty is Shalom, and it literally means “perfection” or “peace.” Therefore, when saying “Peace be upon your ashes” to a righteous person, it is meant that he has reached such a level of spiritual perfection at which, after his death, he will rest next to “peace,” with the Almighty. Those who hear “alav-ha-shalom” should follow the example of the mentioned righteous Jew and walk the righteous path through life.
Alternatives
In addition to STTL, similar sayings were also often used in Roman culture:
- SETL - Sit Ei Terral Levis
- May the earth be easy for him. - OTBQ - Ossa Tibi Bene Quiescant
- Bones, you have the opportunity to rest. Mostly found in Roman Africa. - DMS - Dis Manibus Sacrum
- To the Holy Gods Mans. Manas are the deified souls of deceased ancestors in the Italic religion. It is curious that the word manis (spirits of the dead) has a common root with the word manus (hand). Thus DMS can also be translated as “in the hands of the holy gods.” - HSE - Hic Situs (sita) est
- He (she) is here. As a rule, this inscription was accompanied by the name of the deceased.
Immortal soul
Orthodox doctrine views death only as a stage of transition from one life to another. To simplify, during life the soul lives in the body, and after death it leaves it, but does not stop living. As Archbishop Anthony of Geneva explained, the soul that has left the lifeless body remains alive due to its immortality. She continues to live as before, overwhelmed by the same virtues, fears, and vices. It preserves the advantages and disadvantages accumulated during earthly life. The ultimate goal of her new existence is the anticipation of the Last Judgment and resurrection. At the same time, pious souls await the Last Judgment with joy, and vicious souls with sorrow.
The best parting word for an Orthodox Christian is the wish for the Kingdom of Heaven, because every believer strives to find a place next to God after death. These words are addressed not to the body, but to the soul. They are said both separately and at the end of the prayer read at the memorial dinner after the funeral, on the ninth and fortieth day, as well as at the wake a year after death. In addition to the Kingdom of Heaven, it is appropriate to wish eternal memory to those baptized into Orthodoxy. Mention of eternal memory, along with requests for forgiveness and the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven, are present in all memorial services for the deceased - on the ninth and fortieth memorial day, on an anniversary, on a name day or birthday.
On some Orthodox tombstones there is another phrase - “Peace be to your ashes.” It does not violate religious canons, given that the Lord created man “from the dust of the earth.” According to the teachings of John Chrysostom, the phrase recalls the humble acceptance of inevitable death and the unquenchable hope for the resurrection of the immortal soul.
Earth and fluff: a wish for evil or good
When expressing condolences, a phrase is pronounced that does not carry anything bad. “May the earth rest in peace for you” - this is what they say to express their respect for the deceased, to show respect, suggesting that they wish all the best. The phrase “rest in peace” suggests that the soul will have a soft time in heaven after death. On the one hand, the phrase means a wish for good, and on the other hand, it does not relate to the Christian faith, since the incorruptible shell does not require anything material, it only needs the prayers of loved ones.
The phrase was first heard a long time ago. She is mentioned in the poems of the poet Mark Valery Martial in Latin. Translation: “May the earth rest in peace and cover you softly with sand so that dogs can dig up your bones.” On the one hand, the phrase is perceived positively, because it sounds like a wish for soft earth, which is already associated with goodness. On the other hand, the sentence speaks of a possible wish for evil, a curse.
The time when the poem was written should be taken into account (ancient centuries, the period of paganism). Then the meaning of this could be different, less ominous. Most likely, this is a synonym that strengthens the words from the first part of the phrase (ground in fluff), is a synonym that emphasizes the softness of the earth, its looseness, which allows a dog to easily dig up a burial place. This means that this is only a comparison, but not a curse.
Soul after death
According to Orthodox doctrine, in addition to the physical body, a person also has a spiritual, invisible essence - the soul. It is given by God at the birth of a person in the womb and continues to exist independently after the death of the body. The posthumous fate of the soul is determined by its spiritual state. That is why the question of how to correctly wish for the Kingdom of Heaven is relevant.
Life “beyond the grave” is determined by the way a person lives on earth. Did he strive for salvation, did he try to keep God’s commandments, did he repent of his sins. A pure, righteous soul carries within itself the Divine image. She is with God, to whom she longed. A soul polluted by sins is likened to demons who have fallen away from God. She cannot be close to the Lord, because she has always resisted Him. Dark forces take such a soul to themselves. After all, she was in their power even in earthly life.
One of the images of the Kingdom of Heaven (cartoon “The Extraordinary Journey of Seraphim”)
Common phrases at funerals and wakes
Immediately after death, during the funeral or later at the first meeting with the relatives of the deceased since his death, words of condolences are expressed. Common phrases used for this:
All of the phrases listed are used at different times and in different territories. Moreover, they differ in origin and religion. This means that not everyone is considered a manifestation of the Christian faith. The phrase “May you rest in peace” is pagan and should not be used by a believer. All other expressions are more suitable.
Burial ceremony
Eternal respite
The wish for “downy land” is a pagan heritage. Our pagan ancestors actually used this phrase for objective reasons when seeing off the deceased to the Underworld. As Y. Mazun writes in the book “Secrets of Pagan Rus'”, before the adoption of Christianity, the Slavs believed that death was a kind of sleep and an eternal respite from the bustle of life. Just as winter forces nature to freeze without movement and go into hibernation, so a person who has completed his life cycle “falls asleep.”
It is no coincidence that in Russian folklore numerous lamentations have been preserved with calls for a dead person to wake up: “Be agitated, violent winds! Ring the big bell! Wake up my mother! or “Become, awaken, my dear father!” And in the Arkhangelsk province, until recently, the word “live” was used in the meaning of “wake up, start the day”: “In the evening the whole village was still alive” or “We began to live in the early morning.” And the word “deceased” has an obvious connection with the verb “sleep”.
If we accept that death is a dream, then the pagan desire for “downy land,” that is, a soft bed, looks quite logical.
Condolences and wishes as an important element of mourning etiquette
After the death of a person, everyone who meets his relatives shows courtesy and sincerely wishes the deceased an easy path in the transition to another life. Such words are an important part of mourning etiquette.
They allow you to partially alleviate the condition of the deceased’s loved ones or at least distract them from painful thoughts and put them in a more positive mood with kind words about the deceased.
Sometimes a simple nod of the head, a hug or silent support is all that relatives need when they lose a loved one. But this method of condolences is more acceptable for close people (blood relationship does not matter in this case). Acquaintances, colleagues, distant relatives most often express condolences in verbal form. In this case, they use template phrases, including the common one: “May you rest in peace,” addressing the deceased. A simple greeting in this case will look inappropriate and tactless.
Condolence is a form of expressing sympathy for a death
