215. Funeral

I went to my first funeral in Moldova this spring.  It was a funeral for the mother-in-law of my host family’s goddaughter.  I did not attend the church service, but I heard that they pray and sing there for about an hour.

By the time my host father and I got to the church the precession was on its way to the cemetery.  This was an Orthodox ceremony so there were a few men carrying crosses leading the precession, then priest and the choir, then the deceased on the bed of a truck (sometimes there is no truck and the pallbearers carry the casket all the way to the cemetery), and then family and friends followed that.  About every two blocks the precession would stop and a song/prayer would be sung.

When we arrived at the cemetery we all stopped right in the entrance and the casket was placed in the center of the circle and some more prayers and songs were sung.  Then the group moved to the gravesite.  More songs sang, prayers said, scriptures read and a few words were said about the woman that died.  The family and anyone that wanted too would then lean over the deceased and kiss the icon of Jesus and then the woman’s hand or head while saying their goodbyes.  Flowers and incent ashes were thrown into the grave.

Then the pallbearers nailed the lid of the casket on with four nails and lowered it into the grave.  The priest with a shovel made a cross pattern around the grave and threw three shovels of soil into the grave in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We then headed to the school for a meal (because the church does not have the space for a meal) and the pallbearers came later after they had finished filling the grave.

I did not take any photos of this event because I wanted to be respectful.  It was very interesting event to see.  One thing that struck me was how close/intimate the preparation and the ceremony was.  In America generally when a loved one dies we pay a company to get the deceased ready for burial, change the cloths, dig the hole, and assist the family.  But in a village in Moldova, those options are not available and few would be willing to pay money for those services.