"O earth, having received from thee that which has been created"

After the completion of the funeral service in the church, we accompany the deceased to the grave with the singing of the "Trisagion", glorifying our Triune God, as Symeon of Thessalonica writes [833]. Thus, the "Trisagion" here glorifies the Triune God, who favors our brother who is leaving this world. By singing the "Trisagion" we also emphasize the Orthodox faith of the departing one. If he has reposed in Paschal week, when special Paschal hymns are sung, as we have already said, we accompany him to the grave with the singing of "The Day of the Resurrection..." [834].

Once, during the carrying of the deceased to the grave, the verses of the Psalms were sung: "Honorable in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 115:6); "Turn, O my soul, to thy rest, for the Lord is good to thee" (Psalm 114:6), or the verse of the wise Solomon: "The memory of the righteous with praise" (Proverbs 10:7), or "The soul of the righteous is in the hand of God" (Wis. 3:1). After all, all who believe in God, even if they die, are not dead, for, as the Lord said about the resurrection to the Sadducees, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:32), "for all are alive in Him" [835].

When the body is carried out, a procession is formed. In front they carry the Cross – a symbol of the victory of Christ the Savior over death and hell; it is followed by candles, followed by a choir of singers and priests with censers. Then the coffin with the deceased is carried, which is accompanied by relatives and other believers. In ancient times, all of them unanimously sang the above verses from the Psalms at certain moments. In this way, psalmody was heard from end to end of the funeral procession all the way to the grave [836]. If the deceased was a martyr, the faithful in those days carried candles, palm branches, censers with fragrant incense in their hands [837]. All this was intended to symbolize the triumph of the heavenly victory of the martyr. "And the censer offered to God for propitiation is the repentance of his piety and Orthodox life, which is most fragrant, as pure" [838].

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Divine Chrysostom calls on believers to deeply feel the meaning of all this in order to find a source of consolation. He writes:

"Tell me, what do burning lamps mean? Do we not accompany the dead as ascetics? What do the hymns mean? Do we not glorify God, do we not thank Him that He finally crowned the departed, freed him from labor, delivered him from fear, and received him to Himself? Is it not for the purpose of hymns, or for the purpose of singing?.. Remember what you sing at that time (of the burial): "Turn my soul to your rest, for the Lord is good to you" (Psalm 114:6); and again: "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me" (Psalm 22:4); and again: "Thou art my refuge from sorrow, holding me up" (Psalm 31:7), Consider what is the meaning of these hymns [839]... Psalmody, prayers, a host of fathers and such a multitude of brethren – not so that you may weep, grieve and murmur, but that you may thank Him Who has taken it. Just as those who are called to power are seen off by many with honors, so the faithful who depart are seen off with great glory, as those called to the highest honor" [840].

When the procession reaches the burial place, the deceased is lowered into the grave with all caution and piety, facing the east, to our eternal homeland, as we have already written above. His face is turned to the east in anticipation of the "East of the East", the Judge of all. We, the living, commit the body of the deceased to the earth, fulfilling God's commandment: "For thou art the earth, and into the earth shalt thou depart" (Gen. 3:19). At the same time, we proclaim the future Resurrection by placing the seal of the Cross on the deceased or pouring oil crosswise on his body. For, being corruptible, we shall nevertheless be resurrected by the will of our Lord Jesus Christ [841]. A handful of earth, which the priest throws first, saying: "O earth, O earth, receive from thee that which has been created," signifies the disintegration of the body into the elements from which it was created. It is also a vivid and visual lesson in our perishability and the transience of all earthly things. Ordinary oil, poured crosswise on the body of the deceased, symbolizes the sacred and righteous struggle of the deceased – the ascetic in Christ, who ended his life with all holiness, who will be honored as a conqueror by Divine mercy and "unceasing divine light" [842]. In our days, when pouring oil, it is customary to read the verses of the Psalms, symbolizing the remission of sins: "Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 50:9). After this, the attendants of the deceased disperse, thinking that the same thing will happen to them, that they will end their life in the ground, as St. Simeon of Thessalonica notes...

And so, our neighbor is now in the earth, bodily, of course. But where does his immortal soul dwell?

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TESTING OF SOULS AT THE TOLL-HOUSES