Everything You Wanted To Know About A Greek Orthodox Funeral

 

Greek orthodox church is one of the oldest churches and is followed by people from Eastern Europe, Russia and Greece, Georgia, and Cyprus. The church has a good presence in the USA and has its own tradition when it comes to weddings, baptisms, and funerals. If you are going to attend one, or if your funeral home Kendall is going to host one, here are some important facts to know about Greek Orthodox funeral traditions.

 


One of the biggest differences with other churches is the belief that soul and body are created together and so should remain whole. When a person dies, his body has to be buried and the soul meets God and waits for the second coming of Christ when the body will be resurrected and unite with the soul. This is why cremation is mostly not allowed by Greek Orthodox church followers.

 

The wake of a parishioner belonging to this church is also a little different. As per tradition, the body has to be washed by a relative and laid on a bed blessed by the priest with holy water. Then a service called Panikhida is held. The wake is generally 3 days and kept by relatives and friends who recite the Book of Psalms by the side of the body. But nowadays the washing of the dead body and preparing it for the wake is done by the funeral home attendant. The wake is also not that long but held before the funeral.

 

One of the most important aspects of a Greek Orthodox funeral is the Trisagion prayer that is held a day before the funeral and in modern times is often combined with the wake. In this service, always begin with a fixed chant repeated thrice. Then four hymns are recited which asks God to provide rest to the deceased person. The beauty of this service is that the prayer words are poetic in nature and is very comforting to hear for the grieving family members. The prayer service ends with the song “May your memory be eternal”. This service is followed by the funeral held the next day.

 

When attending a Greek Orthodox funeral, please note that they are quite longer than any other funeral that you have attended. Most last for 90 minutes and is very poetic in nature. The prayers and words used during the funeral service are very much like the Trisagion prayer held the night before. The deceased is never referred to have “died”; he is believed to be in sleep or repose. There are fixed chants and Psalms that has to be recited during the funeral in a specific order.

 

Once the funeral is over, people move from the funeral home in Kendall where the funeral was held to the graveside. Another Trisagion prayer is held there and before the coffin is lowered, the priest sprinkles soil in the shape of the cross. Each person who attended the burial places a flower on the coffin as the final respect.

 

After the burial, refreshments called “Meal of Mercy” are given either by the family members or the congregation. It can also be held in the funeral home or a restaurant.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why funeral directors are important in a funeral home?

Image
  The last ride of anyone is a hard time for their family members. Choosing a funeral home very hard decision to do everything best for your loved one. That is why every funeral home has a director who will take care of all the things. He/she is the important individual in every funeral home who will take care of all the things from preparation to cremation. In this post, we are going to discuss why funeral directors are important in funeral homes. Let’s read it out: Coordination The funeral director is the person who can manage the whole funeral. It will help the families to mourn stress-free. Their job doesn’t end here after the funeral is over. They also have to assist and advise in the matter of estate documents, memorial products, and social securities. Better Experience Many of us don’t know about the funeral process. So it is very hard for us to plan because of lack of knowledge. You can benefit from your funeral director's experience to arrange a more successful e
Read more

4 Reasons Why You Should Consider Being A Funeral Director

Image
When someone thinks of a career, very few think about becoming a funeral director. Many think that it is a very gloomy job where you have to be serious all day and perform a mundane job. But that can’t be furthest from the truth; it is one of the jobs where you really help people when they need it the most. So, what are the reasons to become funeral directors in Kendall, FL ? Here are 4 of them. 1.      Contrary to belief, the job of a funeral director is varied and never boring. They have to do plenty of jobs from removing the body from the place of death to embalming it (if they are also trained morticians) to helping the grieving family during the funeral. You will also get to meet some amazing people during your work and you will be surprised by the resilience of the human soul. Many of them will be at their lowest and it is the job of the funeral director to help them hold on to their rational part and not give in to the grief altogether. You also hear some amazing life stories
Read more

The Last Three Steps Of Six Step Journey Through Grief

Image
Grief from death is something every one of us has to face in our life. Once we have journeyed through this, we emerge as strong individuals. Funeral directors in Hialeah, FL will tell you that there are six steps in this journey through grief; and once you have completed all of them, you will learn to look at life and yourself in a new way. To start with, let’s first recap the first three steps. They are: acknowledging the death, embracing the pain of the loss, and remembering the departed loved one. Now, once you have successfully walked these three steps, here are the last three steps of this journey. Fourth step: developing a new identity The reason why we feel so lost and bewildered after the death of the nearest one is that we often derive our identity from the deceased person. Once they are gone, we know that our identity as wife/husband or children/parent is no longer there. And this identity loss leads to a sense of panic and fear and our inability to move away from the passing
Read more