Remembering the dead
Last weekend Sasha and I went with my parents to their village (where they were born). It was the next weekend after the Easter, which here is celebrated as "Pastele Blajinilor" (i.e. "The Easter of the Blessed", or "Parents' Day" in Russian). On this day (actually someone does it on Sunday, others - on Monday), people go to cemeteries where their parents and grandparents are buried, and perform a few rituals, in addition to simply remembering them.
One of the rituals is to put a towel on the grave, on top of which to put a plate/bowl with Easter eggs , candy, Easter cake, a glass/cup and a candle in it). Usually there are more than one grave together (when relatives are buried together), so each grave would have such a dressing. People would serve each other wine and drink for the memory of their parents and grandparents. But first of all, people would take an old can (from a conserve), put in it a little paper and light it up, then add a little incense on top until it begins emitting scented fumes, and make three circles around the grave(s) with this can - to protect the buried from evil or devil or something like that.
At the same time children would go around the cemetery with bags, greeting you with "Christ is risen!", expecting in return cake/candy etc. to be put into their bags (a bit like Halloween's Trick or Treat, but without the Trick part). By the end of the day they can hardly carry the heavy bags.
The main part of the day is waiting for the priest to come around, giving him a "Remembrance book" and some money. The book is a simple small notebook sold by churches where one would write the names of all people for whom they would like the priest to say a prayer (these must be deceased people). Some people forget these books at home, but it is OK to write the names on a piece of paper. Thus, the priest comes to the grave, you give him the book and some cash and he sings the prayer. He sings it in the way Orthodox priests sing in churches, while a group of women accompanying him provide choir and back vocals. At the end of the prayer they sing "God have mercy on them" at which time you are supposed to lift the towel on the grave, or at least its corner, and move it up and down above the grave. Then you give the priest a glass of wine and he pours it on the grave making an orthodox crucifix image (i.e. a cross with an additional diagonal bar below the horizontal one). After that the priest returns the book, you give him a gift and he moves on to the next grave. A pair of men behind him carry a basket for "gifts". These gifts are ritual and symbolise a sacrifice in exchange for the people's wellbeing in the afterworld. The gifts are also symbolic - an Easter cake, a few easter eggs (i.e. dye-boiled eggs), some candy, a towel or a plate/bowl/glass/cup - usually such a "gift set" is taken from one of the graves. It is also a ritual to give similar "gift sets" (which were on other graves) to young people or children and to anyone else. After the priest has gone, people usually serve others with wine that they had brought with them and leave. Sometimes people have to wait the whole day until the priest comes to them, but usually each year the path is altered so that people wait a different period of time each year.
I hadn't been to a cemetery in many years. This year I wanted to pay a tribute to my grandparents, which included going to two cemeteries in one day. An extra "bonus" of such a visit is that people talk about the buried people and you find out a lot of interesting stuff about your parents' childhood and about your grandparents. This is especially valuable for me because both of my grandfathers had died before I was born.
I am planning to put up a few pictures on my website, so that you could see a Moldovan village cemetery during this day - I am sure it's nothing like what you may have seen at home.
One of the rituals is to put a towel on the grave, on top of which to put a plate/bowl with Easter eggs , candy, Easter cake, a glass/cup and a candle in it). Usually there are more than one grave together (when relatives are buried together), so each grave would have such a dressing. People would serve each other wine and drink for the memory of their parents and grandparents. But first of all, people would take an old can (from a conserve), put in it a little paper and light it up, then add a little incense on top until it begins emitting scented fumes, and make three circles around the grave(s) with this can - to protect the buried from evil or devil or something like that.
At the same time children would go around the cemetery with bags, greeting you with "Christ is risen!", expecting in return cake/candy etc. to be put into their bags (a bit like Halloween's Trick or Treat, but without the Trick part). By the end of the day they can hardly carry the heavy bags.
The main part of the day is waiting for the priest to come around, giving him a "Remembrance book" and some money. The book is a simple small notebook sold by churches where one would write the names of all people for whom they would like the priest to say a prayer (these must be deceased people). Some people forget these books at home, but it is OK to write the names on a piece of paper. Thus, the priest comes to the grave, you give him the book and some cash and he sings the prayer. He sings it in the way Orthodox priests sing in churches, while a group of women accompanying him provide choir and back vocals. At the end of the prayer they sing "God have mercy on them" at which time you are supposed to lift the towel on the grave, or at least its corner, and move it up and down above the grave. Then you give the priest a glass of wine and he pours it on the grave making an orthodox crucifix image (i.e. a cross with an additional diagonal bar below the horizontal one). After that the priest returns the book, you give him a gift and he moves on to the next grave. A pair of men behind him carry a basket for "gifts". These gifts are ritual and symbolise a sacrifice in exchange for the people's wellbeing in the afterworld. The gifts are also symbolic - an Easter cake, a few easter eggs (i.e. dye-boiled eggs), some candy, a towel or a plate/bowl/glass/cup - usually such a "gift set" is taken from one of the graves. It is also a ritual to give similar "gift sets" (which were on other graves) to young people or children and to anyone else. After the priest has gone, people usually serve others with wine that they had brought with them and leave. Sometimes people have to wait the whole day until the priest comes to them, but usually each year the path is altered so that people wait a different period of time each year.
I hadn't been to a cemetery in many years. This year I wanted to pay a tribute to my grandparents, which included going to two cemeteries in one day. An extra "bonus" of such a visit is that people talk about the buried people and you find out a lot of interesting stuff about your parents' childhood and about your grandparents. This is especially valuable for me because both of my grandfathers had died before I was born.
I am planning to put up a few pictures on my website, so that you could see a Moldovan village cemetery during this day - I am sure it's nothing like what you may have seen at home.
posted by Vit at 8:28 AM
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