Is it possible to bury suicides? About the rules and prohibitions at the funeral of suicides

Many relatives who have lost in their family loved one who committed an act of suicide, they often ask themselves the question: how to bury a suicide? Is it possible to sing it? For a person who professes Christianity, in particular, the Orthodox branch, the funeral of the soul of the deceased becomes a very significant and important rite. After all, the funeral service is as important as baptism, a rite that allows the soul of the deceased to prepare for the afterlife.

According to religious concepts, a suicide is a person who has transgressed both before his soul and before God. After all, if God gave you life, then only he has the right to take it away.

Are suicides buried?

Yes, suicides are buried. However, the process of burial itself is somewhat different from how people are buried who, through no fault of their own, committed suicide.

Where are suicides buried?

The answer to this question is as follows: suicides cannot be buried in a cemetery where people are buried who died either of natural death or not by their own hands. In Orthodoxy, suicide is considered the gravest sin, to the extent that there is such a belief that a person who commits suicide renounces the status of a person. This means that suicides, like pets, need to be buried along roadsides, on roadsides, or in certain places. This is due to the fact that the cemetery is a place where people are buried, protected by God, who lost their lives through no fault of their own.

Previously, suicides were buried in forests or in clearings. Also, earlier there were villages where suicide was a fairly common cause of death, and for this reason there were two cemeteries in these villages. The first cemetery was for people who died through no fault of their own or will, as well as for those who independently took their own life. However, today, people neglect the fact that suicides should be buried in a specially designated place, although according to the Biblical canons, it is not allowed to bury suicides in cemeteries.

Suicide bans

Suicides cannot be buried, and the funeral must be carried out on the third day. You can not cry and mourn for the deceased, as well as kiss the deceased. After the burial, the magpie for the dead also cannot be ordered, and it is also impossible to commemorate the deceased with a memorial service.

Who are considered suicidal church canons?

Suicides include not only those people who committed an act of suicide by means known to us (hanging, and so on), but also those people who, being criminals, were killed during the commission criminal act, people suffering from serious illnesses who consented to euthanasia. The funeral service for the soul of the deceased may be refused if it has not been established whether the person committed suicide or not.

Also, in fact, the church classifies drug addicts, substance abusers and alcoholics, because they voluntarily shorten their lives and bring closer the already inevitable moment of death.

And yet: is it possible to sing a suicide?

It is possible to sing a suicide only if the person who killed himself was mentally ill. In order to make this possible, you must apply in writing to the bishop of your diocese, indicating mental illness suffered by the suicide. It is also necessary to attach a certificate of illness and that the person was registered. After you receive permission with the decree of the bishop, you must contact your parish.

Also, it is not forbidden to pray at home for the soul of the deceased, but this is considered a great temptation, since a relative of a suicide asks for forgiveness for a person who has committed a grave sin.

Why do people commit suicide? What drives people to commit suicide?

You can find information about all ritual rites and customs in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, as well as ask a question that interests you, on the website of the guide of Funeral Services

About Us

suicides are among the top 10 causes of death, causing enormous damage to society. Every year in the world commit suicide more than 1.4 million people. The Christian Church is negative to suicide.

Preparing and conducting the burial ceremony of a suicide surrounded by a mass of superstitions and contradictions. In most cases funeral of the suicidal significantly different from the usual ritual. In the old days, they were buried in the forest or in the clearing behind the cemetery. In some villages number of suicides increased so much that it turned out two cemeteries - for the righteous and criminals before God and people. Today this tradition is big cities ceased to exist, while in some villages and villages people still suicides are buried separately.

Believers believe that among the peaceful dead who have outlived their lives, there is no place for such sinners. Suicides should not disturb the peace of the righteous. As you know, a person who has righteously outlived his life goes to heaven, where his bright soul rests. BUT suicide soul goes to hell. So that she does not grab a pure soul along the way, bury suicides necessary separately from other dead.

For suicides there are several prohibitions that his relatives simply cannot violate, otherwise they themselves will become great sinners. First of all, the deceased cannot be buried before burial. Secondly, bury the murderer it is possible only on the third day, while relatives and friends it is forbidden to mourn and kiss him. Thirdly, it is forbidden to commemorate the deceased at the Liturgy and memorial service, as well as you can’t order magpie for the repose of the soul of the deceased.

Nevertheless, both in the Russian Church and in other Local Orthodox Churches, they considered it possible, after carefully examining the circumstances that led each specific member of the Church to suicide, allow funeral and church commemoration those of them who committed suicide in a state of mental disorder, mental illness. On this basis, ecclesiastical institutions, with the blessing of the reigning bishop, may issue permits for suicide funeral, in respect of which it is known for sure that they committed suicide not in a state of spiritual anger or cold calculation, not in a fit of theomachism, but in a state of mental illness. So, for example, in 1991 the Moscow Patriarchate decided to bury Marina Tsvetaeva. Upon careful examination of all the circumstances of her Yelabuga suicide, they came to the conclusion that it was impossible to call her a conscious theomachist, she never blasphemed God or the Church, she never renounced Christ, and her suicide was the result of the extreme exhaustion of all mental and bodily forces, provoked by loneliness, hunger, ruin. In addition, the church allows bury according to church custom so-called "accidental suicides" - that is, those who did not calculate the dose of alcohol, who drank poison by mistake, accidentally discharged the barrel into themselves while cleaning their weapons, fell out of the window, etc. etc., as well as those who sacrificed their lives to save someone else's life. The church allows funerals for suicides who did not die immediately, but had time to repent (this is how Pushkin was buried, although a duel is equated with suicide). special attention deserve cases where a person was killed, but the killers tried fake suicide. If there is even the slightest reason to doubt that it was a suicide—i.e. late never showed such intentions, etc., then funeral service usually takes place. So, for example, Sergei Yesenin was reprimanded, despite official version suicide.

But you should know that suffer because of the sin of suicide there will be relatives and friends of the sinner, especially offspring. So it is worth thinking and turning to the Bible before doing such an act.

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There is a belief among the people that the Church nevertheless commemorates people who have voluntarily passed away, the only time a year - on Saturday, preceding the feast of the Holy Trinity (this day of commemoration is called Trinity parent Saturday). This performance comes from one of the hymns that are sung on this day in the temple, there really are words about people who committed suicide, but they are not commemorated.

Life is given to a person by God, only He has the right to decide when it ends - and no matter how pleasant life is for a person. From a Christian point of view earthly life- this is the path of trials that must be accepted with humility, understanding for spiritual growth. By arbitrarily renouncing life and the trials that it brings, a person puts his will above the will of God, thereby demonstrating a worldview that is absolutely inconsistent with Christian doctrine.

Such a person finds himself outside the Church - like an unbaptized one, therefore, she can no longer do anything for him. Of course, other sins also put a person in a similar situation, but they at least imply the fundamental possibility of repentance, while a suicide deliberately cuts off this path for himself. Priests do not undertake to assert that there is absolutely no hope for such people - only God can know everything about someone's posthumous fate, but one has to completely surrender to His will.

private prayer

The impossibility of a church commemoration makes the close people of the suicide seek at least some consolation in the cell - individual, home prayer. There is no direct ban on cell prayer for suicides in the Church, but this can be done only with the blessing of the confessor. However, priests are reluctant to give such blessings, and there are good reasons for this.

Praying for a suicide to a certain extent becomes a manifestation of pride: the person who does this may seem to be more merciful than the Church or even God himself. In addition, praying for someone, a Christian becomes involved in the state of the soul of this person. The soul of a suicide leaves the world in a state of despair, despondency, or even anger, hostility to God. This condition can be "infected" by the one who prays for him, so the priests do not advise praying for suicides.

If the blessing of the priest is still, you need to read the prayer of the Monk Leo of Optina. Good way to help the soul of a suicide - the distribution of alms to those in need.

According to church canons, suicides (these also include those killed in a duel, criminals killed during a robbery, people who insisted on their euthanasia) and even those suspected of suicide (it is not customary to bury those drowned under unknown circumstances) cannot be buried in a temple, commemorated in church prayer at Liturgy and Panikhida. Suicides are not buried in cemeteries near churches. There are opinions that dead "lovers" of extreme kinds of "sports" can be attributed to suicides, because they are really aware of the mortal danger of such activities, for the sake of empty pleasure they still risked their lives. In fact, suicides are drug addicts, substance abusers and alcoholics.

However, in the well-known pre-revolutionary manual for clergy S.V. Bulgakov, with reference to the decision of the Holy Synod of July 10, 1881, it is indicated that those who died of hard drinking (unless it is proved that they drank in order to poison themselves with alcohol) are not considered suicides, on the basis that "... for death from binge is preceded by clouding of the mind, which does not happen with the use of other means to conscious suicide ...". Although, apparently, almost all drunkards are aware that overuse alcohol is deadly to health. Not everything is simple in cases of death of drug addicts from an overdose, since immediately before taking the drug, the drug addict is conscious, in contrast to the drunken alcoholic who takes the last already fatal portions of alcohol in an obviously insane state.

Exception is done only for suicides suffering from obvious mental pathology, and who are on official psychiatric records. In such cases, it is necessary to provide the ruling bishop of your diocese with a certificate from the psychiatric institution that once supervised this unfortunate person, and write a corresponding petition asking him to bless the church commemoration of such a person. Almost always such a blessing is given ...

Who are we deceiving ourselves or God?

However, as practice shows, our people, especially those of little faith, church "goers" attach an excessive and false meaning to the church funeral service, as to some kind of magical action, after which the deceased automatically goes to heaven.

Meanwhile, according to the teachings of the Church, the human soul on the third day after death goes through terrible ordeals. At this time, the soul of the deceased has a great need for prayer help relatives and the Church. To facilitate the transition of the soul to another life, the canon and the psalter are read over the coffin by relatives, and the funeral service is performed in the church. The primary importance of this service is consolation of the soul of the deceased, and only then asking for mercy from the Lord for the soul, the forgiveness of sins, which, alas, are not automatically forgiven in absolutely all cases.

It is hard to see with what simply maniacal persistence parents almost knock out a blessing from the hierarchy for the funeral of their suicide children, who never suffered from mental disorders. Who are we deceiving? The priest, turning to the Lord, sings: "... rest with the saints ...". Whom with the saints rest?! Suicide?! Who, moreover, for years despised the Church of Christ, as well as his parents, who began to be baptized only when a terrible thunder struck?

Saint Innocent of Irkutsk, according to, among other things, the apostolic rules, asked relatives who brought the dead to church for the funeral: "And when was the last time he was in the service?" - "About six months ago."

The Church prays only for its members, but almost always people end up committing suicide, having long arbitrarily cut themselves off from the body of the Church. The Lord said: "I am the vine, and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch and wither; and such branches collected and thrown into the fire, and they burn"(John 15:5-6) - in them there is both a great consolation for faithful Christians, and a terrible warning for those of little faith and apostates.

Here are two letters from Archimandrite John Krestyankin, confessor of the Pskov-Caves Monastery:

“Dear in the Lord A.! You cannot remember and pray in church about your mother, because there are canons that cannot be disobeyed. Disobedience will entail terrible consequences for the rebellious. He himself will give himself into the power of the enemy. Vladyka Benjamin. And we are sending you the Canon about the one who voluntarily died his stomach. Read this canon at home for 40 days every day, and read the prayer of Lev of Optina for your mother all your life. Also give alms about your mother to those in need. Nothing more can be done. Even if someone gives you permission to pray in church, it will be to the detriment of both your mother and yourself. because no one can cancel the canons of the Church. And obedience to them will incline the Lord to mercy on you and your mother. God bless you!".

"Servant of God V.! You can’t violate church canons with impunity. You can’t pray for your brother in church. You’ve been bothering about his funeral in vain, now at least stop collecting God’s wrath on your head. You can only pray for suicides at home, and no way file about them in the church, neither at the Liturgy, nor at the panikhida. The Lord is their judge, and you suffer for disobedience."

The manic stubbornness of relatives of suicides is often recognized by a subconscious desire to shift all responsibility for the further fate of their murdered child onto the Church. Meanwhile, the greatest fault lies, first of all, on the parents who live in unbelief, and who did not give due faith from a young age to their child, on which he could easily rely on in difficult times.

Therefore, it is more correct to take responsibility for ourselves, and privately (at home) to take upon ourselves the feat of prayer (but not arbitrarily, but blessings and under certain conditions), with faith that the Lord will give a certain relief to the soul of a suicide.

However, it's not all that simple...

Pray but be careful

During recent years there are several pamphlets in circulation, which contain a commemoration at home prayer for suicides with the canon "O self-willed belly of those who died" and the prayer of St. Leo, the elder of Optina. This is a publication of a certain Moscow parish (by the way, printed without the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch); publication of the Holy Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery (also without the archpastoral blessing); this canon and prayer were included in the book published by the Sretensky Monastery - "Prayers for the Dead" (I have not personally seen the publication, and I do not know whether it was blessed by His Holiness the Patriarch). A small book "How to Pray for Suicides", which is a copy of the first two with a number of additions, was published in 2004 with the blessing of the Archbishop of Ufa and Sterlitamak Nikon.

Despite the fact that the creator of the canon, Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) was a remarkable ascetic of Orthodoxy of the 20th century, in the report of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia at the Council of Bishops in 1997 http://www.sedmitza.ru/index.html? sid=50&did=40 say "Needed more control for the publication and introduction into use of new liturgical texts in order to avoid such misunderstandings as the publication by one Moscow parish of the dubious from the theological and canonical point of view, the "Canon on the self-willed death of their stomach." Indeed, it is noteworthy that all the prayers about suicides, which are now recommended with certain reservations for private (home) reading, refer only to the last century. In a detailed pre-revolutionary guide for the clergy of the same S.V. Bulgakov, unfortunately, there is no explanation of how the home commemoration of suicides should be performed, except perhaps:

"... In 1894, the refusal of one of the clergy to bury a woman who had strangled herself in a drunken state by one of the clergy in 1894 was recognized as correct by the Samara spiritual consistory; make a commemoration, with alms in memory of her, and I do not dare to allow her burial according to the order of the Orthodox "".

unified conciliar ecclesiastical opinion on EXPECTABILITY prayer cell (home) commemoration of the souls of suicides,
to alleviate their condition in hell, and even save them from hellNO

In one of the brochures, which considered the possibility of commemorating suicides, one pre-revolutionary story was cited.

"In the city of Buzuluki, near Orenburg, at one time there lived a rich man. He had a beloved son. At that time, they found a bride for him, and he did not like her. They wanted to marry, and he hanged himself out of resentment. For parents, it was terrible a blow. They are believers, they applied to many churches and monasteries - they asked to pray. And everyone refused. We went to the holy city of Jerusalem, and there they refused. Holy Mount Athos refused ... They found one hermit who advised them to cast at the bell factory at their own expense the biggest bell and donate to the church. And so they did. When the bishop began to consecrate the bell, he struck it 12 times, as it should be, the sound went heavy, mournful, and the bishop said: only when the deceased is carried out." The walls of the bell tower often fogged up, the floor on the bell tower constantly rotted from this moisture and was often changed. And then a letter came from the Holy Mountain, in which it was written: we tried to pray for a suicide, but the Lord God does not accept our prayers, He does not accept and bell ringing... The bell was removed and buried in the ground."

The young man who committed suicide was young, baptized, I think, like everyone else then, much more often than modern Christians of little faith attended services, took Holy Communion, fasted, confessed his sins to the priest, and, judging by the mores of the time, he hardly sinned seriously. And why was this young man pardoned? It is, alas, now young people go through all the circles of hell by the age of twenty: unbelief, hatred of parents, adultery, abortion, envy, lies, drugs, foul language, passion for the occult ... But from a human point of view, even such an incredible zeal of parents - try in In the 19th century, to travel all over Europe - it would seem that it already deserves the attention and condescension of God. However, the Lord finds in what, and judges about it ....

On the other hand, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), the confessor of the Pskov-Caves monastery, in one of the letters to his mother, whose son committed suicide, wrote: “But it’s really impossible to pray for a son in the church - such is the definition of the Holy Councils of the Holy Fathers, such is the canon. Praying at home, with all the soul grieving and wounded, is before God, it is necessary without fail. And the answer is the work of God, we cannot predict it and decide for We cannot God. Having preserved obedience to the Church, leave in your soul the hope maternal prayer. Read the Canon for the one who arbitrarily ended his life(written by Metropolitan Benjamin - approx. MS),whenever possible and willingly. For the first time, try to read 40 days a day. And let the prayer that is in the canon console you daily, and it will help your son. It is good to give alms to the needy for the son. hope with faith are lamps in our life. The Lord is mercy and love. That's what we hope for."

All these commemorations collected in this pamphlet are only the private opinion of individual members of the Church. Their righteousness and holiness, alas, is not a guarantee of the correctness of their advice, consistency with God's will. Unfortunately, we are now full of people who blindly identify the opinion of a pious elder or ascetic with the opinion of God himself, like "the words of an elder are the words of God."

Hieronymus Bosch. Fragment of the triptych "Last Judgment" - right wing "Hell", 1504

Not every black soul can be bleached by God's mercy and grace

The Holy Apostle John, the apostle of "love," as he is sometimes called in the Church, commanded: "If anyone sees his brother sinning with sin not unto death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, he who sins with sin not unto death..." however he warned "... there is a sin unto death: I do not say that he should pray"(1 John 5:16), that is, people who are in such a fallen state that any prayer for their salvation futile.

Or here - "Who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, anathema, maran-afa"(1 Corinthians 16:22). Terrible words!

The Gospel Scriptures and the apostolic letters do not give reason to believe that Christ can save people by force, and the soul of a person who did not take care to purify it himself during his lifetime through repentance and faith in Christ, the Lord can hardly purify, even if relatives fervently pray about it.

Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) gives this story:

"The Lord does not want the death of a sinner, and whoever turns to Him is saved. He calls everyone to repentance, He loves everyone and desires that not a single soul perish. No wonder the Lord Himself took on human flesh, came down to earth and suffered for us. This means that He suffered for everyone, how many people were, are and will be in the world.

But man is given free will - to repent, to accept the living Christ into himself, or to reject Him.

When I served in the Transfiguration Cathedral, I often had to travel around the city for services. Once went to one challenge; I enter the apartment, they meet me, they say: "Father, here is a man - he is 51 years old, his name is Anatoly - he should be both consecrated and communed." I went in, I looked: after the operation, the patient was lying, his intestine was taken out into the stomach. Next to it is a bottle of water with a pacifier on it. Constantly his lips dry, he keeps this nipple in his mouth. I ask:

- Anatoly, when did you go to confession?

- Never.

- Do you want to confess, take communion?

- And I have nothing to repent of!

- Well, how? You never went to church in your life, you didn’t pray to God, you cursed, drank, smoked, fought, lived unmarried with your wife. All life is a sin.

- I do not want to repent of this!

And the women standing nearby say:

- Anatoly, how? After all, you agreed to call the priest. You need to repent - you will immediately feel good in your soul.

- I do not want to repent.

I talked with him, spent 20 minutes, I say:

- Now - imagine - Christ Himself has come to you in the Holy Mysteries, waiting for your repentance. If you don't repent and take communion, if you die, evil spirits will take your soul. And I would be glad to repent later, I would be glad to correct myself - but you will no longer have such an opportunity. You have to repent while you're alive.

- What I deserve - I'll get it! - He speaks.

I finished talking and got dressed. And the women (neighbors) began to convince him, saying: "Anatoly, think about it - what are you talking about! After all, it is so important for every person (especially the sick) to repent before death!" And he tells them:

- Don't persuade me.

I got dressed:

- Well, goodbye. If he wants to confess - let me know, we'll come.

And one of them fits:

- Father, talk to him for the last time: suddenly he will agree. I walked over and sat next to him.

- Well, Anatoly, do you want to repent or not?

He is silent. I look, and his eyes glaze over. I'm talking:

Yes, he is dying.

Women:

- How? He did feel good!

- He is dying - I look: he sighed three times - and the soul came out. Of course, demons took this unrepentant soul. That's where the fear, the horror! After all, a person has left this world for eternity. Billions years will pass suffering in the fire is only the beginning, there will never be an end. What a great opportunity to repent! Not all people are worthy to have a priest come to them, bring the Holy Mysteries - the Body and Blood of Christ ... Here, such terrible deaths happen.

Can God save such an unwilling person? And who can guarantee that the suicide at the time of death did not have the same attitude towards God and His Church?

Some may reasonably notice - what is demagoguery here - it is useful or not useful to pray at home for suicides, according to Christian mercy and compassion, you must definitely pray for those, and the Lord will judge. At first glance, such judgments seem justified. However...

Praying, prepare for serious temptations

Real prayer is not ecstatic meditation, it is work, but a prayer for suicides, unbaptized people and great sinners is hard work! During which you will face strong spiritual temptations and deterioration in the health of not only the prayer book itself, but possibly all members of his family.

There is reason to believe that, perceiving the memory of the soul of the deceased praying at the same time becomes, as it were, a partner and his state of mind, enters the area of ​​his spiritual languor, comes into contact with his sins, uncleansed by repentance.

If the deceased was an Orthodox Christian and once in his earthly life turned to God with a prayer request for mercy and forgiveness, then the one who prays for him with the same prayers inclines God's mercy and forgiveness to him. And if the soul passed into another world in a mood hostile to the Church? How is it possible, praying for someone who has not been baptized or has been baptized, but who has departed from the faith, to allow himself to come into some contact with that theomachist mood with which their soul was infected? How to take into your soul all those ridicule, blasphemy, crazy speeches and thoughts with which their souls were full? Doesn't this mean exposing one's soul to the danger of being infected by such moods? All this should be considered by those who reproach the Church with unmercifulness.

An example from the life of St. Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky, he said that he managed to beg some great sinner, and so after that, he is a great righteous man, a monk, he was seriously ill for several months.

What awaits not so righteous Christians as St. Seraphim of Sarov, who undertook with their prayers to "save" a relative dear to them who had killed himself?! Great temptations and health problems.

Experience shows that with the beginning of private prayer remembrance, not even about a suicide, but about an unbaptized parent who, alas, died in unbelief, almost immediately the disease rolled over the prayer, then the wife (husband), and then - on the children. Lord have mercy! I know of a woman who prayed fervently for her unbaptized father during her pregnancy and ended in a miscarriage.

One of the Ufa priests told me a case when, in the already distant Soviet years the young man, who began to diligently go to church, in his excessive zeal, decided to save the souls of the dead, whose bodies lie at the Demskoye cemetery near Ufa. There he compiled a large list with the names of the deceased, and prayed for the repose of everyone. Wild scandals began in the family between him and his wife, it came to a divorce, his already adult children were allowed into all grave sins; of course, diseases appeared, not in better side the spiritual life of this person has changed. The holy Monk Moses of Ufa, to whom this Christian then turned for advice, first of all asked him for whom he was praying. When he spoke about his prayer "feat", the first words of the monk were not at all biblical: "Are you a fool?!" etc.

Praying for relatives who are not baptized in Orthodoxy is also not easy.

The conversation about unbaptized people was not started by chance. In practice, it turns out that a person is not only a suicide, but also a non-Christian.

The well-known canon to St. martyr Huar for unbaptized people. However, few people carefully read the story accompanying this canon about how, through the prayers of this righteous man, one unbaptized young man was pardoned, and comprehended what was told in his life.

This young man, firstly, was a young man, pardon the pun, which means that, due to his age, he did not have time to sin in many and hard; secondly, apparently, he was pious; thirdly, he had a very pious Christian mother (you must agree, this is important); fourthly, he knew about Christ, and, apparently, he was preparing to receive Holy Baptism, but did not have time (earlier, Christians went to the catechumens not for a week - another, but for months, or even years); Fifthly, those who were catechumens in those days were sure to sincerely repent of their sins, even without the confession of a priest, so who will object to me that such sincere repentance of sins is not spiritually beneficial and useless? What am I actually leading to? Such a pious young man, the son of a pious Christian mother, already well-disposed towards Christ, it was not difficult for Saint Ouar to beg before God.

Now imagine, for example, a woman who died at an advanced age, lived in unbelief, blasphemed, fornicated, had abortions, stole (who in Soviet times did not steal?), etc., in short, with a great variety of all kinds of unrepentant sins. What can one hope for when trying to pray for her salvation to the holy intercessor Uaru?!

However, the soul of relatives is still restless in despair, is it really impossible to save or improve the situation of suicides, as well as unbaptized relatives?

If the spouse is pregnant, if the family has infants and small children - categorically refrain from praying at home for suicides and unbaptized, especially for unbaptized suicides in order to avoid health problems in small family members, pregnant and lactating women.

If everything is higher specified conditions this does not apply to you, of course, you can try to dare this home prayer feat. However NECESSARILY take a blessing from the priest, and if he refuses, do not act out of order - this will not end well, and remember "obedience is greater than fasting and prayer."

It is better to start your prayer feat by imposing a fast on yourself (always with a blessing!) Or during many days of fasting, if no one prayed for such dead within forty days immediately after death in private. The Monk Nektarios of Optina advised at least three Christians to pray together at the same time. Before and during the time when you pray, confess and take Holy Communion often, preferably even weekly (again, with a blessing). Every day eat a particle of prosphora and holy water. Order a magpie about the health of yourself and close family members. Remember, praying for suicides and great sinners is a great spiritual feat, do not do it casually, from case to case. I repeat, it is quite possible, perceiving the memory of the soul of the deceased, the one who prays at the same time becomes, as it were, a partner in his spiritual state, enters the area of ​​​​his spiritual languor, comes into contact with his sins, uncleansed by repentance. Naturally, nothing good can be expected from this. Even such a great ascetic as Seraphim of Sarov found it hard to pray for some grave sinner.

There is another, I think, very pious and The right way receiving mercy from God for any person. Read, along with prayers, the Gospel for the salvation of his soul, one or two chapters a day - "So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"(Rom. 10:17). Where will the saving faith in Christ come from in the dead, unbaptized and suicidal with little faith, if he does not know "words of God"? Alas, this is our common misfortune - many Orthodox Christians, even grandmothers, who participate in divine services almost every day, do not read, or read the Holy Scriptures little.

If you started to pray, and you, your loved ones, children, began to serious problems with health, immediately leave your efforts and just humble yourself, trusting in God's mercy on the fate of this person's soul.

"The justice of God will not make a mistake, and with this calm yourself, as much as possible" - the already mentioned archimandrite wrote wisely John (Krestyankin).

Resigned with the fact of the suicide of a person close to you, live worthy of a righteous Christian life with faith in Christ the Savior, so that your soul will be reunited with the Lord after death in paradise, and there you will find out directly from Him the Divine will on this occasion. If there is some benefit from your prayers to a suicide, pray already being in the Kingdom of God diligently. Christians are asking righteous prayers from the saints of God, now standing before Him in paradise, about themselves and their dead relatives. So what prevents a Christian who finds himself in paradise from praying for his relatives who are in hell?

Save yourself, and thousands will be saved around - do not forget these words of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Lord, have mercy and save us!

Maxim Stepanenko, supervisor

Missionary Department of the Ufa diocese

Russian Orthodox Church

Ufa Diocesan Gazette, No. 2-3, 2006. -S. 8-9.

Choose to live with Christ!

"For God so loved the world,

that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16)

"Choose life, that you and your offspring may live, love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and cling to Him; for in this is your life and the length of your days..." (Deut. 30:19-20)

Suicide is the most serious human sin. It is necessary to bury such people behind the cemetery fence, and this corner of suicides cannot be fenced in any way. Otherwise, the soul of the deceased will be greatly tormented. If a suicide is buried among ordinary people, then his soul will receive additional torture in the next world and will take revenge on the one who imprisoned his body behind the cemetery fence. Usually they are relatives. For the same reason, crosses cannot be placed on the graves of suicides, they cannot be buried. A special prayer is read over suicides in churches.

To find a drowned body, you need to float a loaf of bread with mercury inside, and it will stop exactly above the body

Not entirely accurate. When the soul leaves the body at the time of death, it leaves behind a thin silver path. The human soul has a high content of silver. Bread with mercury will stop at the place where the man drowned, where the silver trace was left. And the body itself by this time can be carried away by the current far to the side.

If you fire a gun, the drowned man will float

Not true.

The drowned man himself emerges on the third day

Only in the event that the body is not caught on the snag by them some other obstacle.

After death, the connection between the soul and body of a person is preserved. The soul, wanting the body to be buried according to the rules, raises it to the surface.

If a drowning person is pulled out, he should not be placed on the ground.

Yes. The remnants of a person's vitality can go to the ground. You need to put something under it.

The first dead in the new cemetery will definitely go to Hell

No, it's not true. It’s just that it’s uncomfortable to lie alone in the cemetery, and soon he will pull another one along with him.

Earth from the graves of relatives has protective properties

The earth itself does not possess anything, but the belief of a person in the miraculousness of the earth really helps. A person programs himself for good luck.

The rope on which a person is hung can remove headache. Coffin rings cure rheumatism. The soap used to wash the dead heals from aching bones, etc.

Very bad and wrong superstitions. All objects associated with death have not healing, but, on the contrary, destructive properties. No wonder all these items are used in witchcraft to induce damage or even death.

If a person dies on Easter, he will immediately go to Paradise

Yes. Easter - great holiday, at this time the gates of Paradise are open to everyone.

Other signs and superstitions

Bath

It is believed that:

Bath - a place unclean, filthy;

Devils, kikimors, and a bannik live in it;

You can't wash at night;

Sundays and Christian holidays are also not allowed;

You can not wash without a cross;

Can't wash in drunk(devils torture). Actually:

The bath (bathroom) is a really unclean place. Because there, with the help of water, a person washes away not only ordinary dirt, but also invisible energy. Ordinary dirt goes down the drain on the floor, while energy dirt remains in the room.

Only a bannik lives in the bath - an invisible bundle of energy, similar to a brownie. Unlike the brownie, the bannik is a blacker creature, since he constantly has to deal only with dirty human energy. Bannik lives only in separate rooms. If the bath is in the house, then there is no bannik there, this is already the territory of the brownie. There is no bathtub in the bathroom. Bathing at night and on Sundays is not recommended. At night, the black forces intensify their influence. At the moment of washing, a person is in a relaxed state, so there is a very high risk of getting a blow to health from any evil spirits.

The same situation is with Sunday. On Sunday, it is generally not recommended to work. The body after a working week requires rest and restoration of vitality. And washing the body is not really fun, but work. No wonder after a good bath a person needs rest. While washing in a bath or bath pectoral cross on the contrary, it must be removed. Because the cross clings to itself with black energy. When you wash with a cross around your neck, then blackness, instead of draining with you to the floor, will hold on to the cross. But after washing you can put on a cross, the ion will again begin to fulfill its protective function.