- The version of the representatives of the Sretensky Monastery
- Helpful information
- Recommendations from ministers of the Church
Even in works of scientific content related to the exact sciences, it is easy to find disagreements in theories and exceptions to accepted rules, and in matters of faith and religion, there are more than enough differences in interpretations and explanations of traditions. Thus, to find the only true remembrance of 9 and 40 days after death simply does not exist. Below you will find answers given by various representatives of the spiritual world, as well as interesting facts and very important tips.
Version of the Representatives of the Sretensky Monastery
Why is the 9th day after death celebrated?
On the ninth day, the deceased is commemorated in order to honor the honor of 9 orders of angels, who, being the servants of the King of Heaven and our representatives to Him, intercede before Him for mercy on the deceased person. It is believed that from the third to the ninth day, the soul of the deceased resides in heavenly abodes, where it:
- Forgets past grief that she had to leave the body and the ordinary world.
- She realizes that she served God so little while on earth, reproaches herself for this and mourns.
On the ninth day, the Lord sends Angels to bring the soul to worship. Before the throne of the Lord God, the soul trembles and is in great fear. The Holy Church at this time, in prayers for the deceased, asks the Almighty to decide on the acceptance of the soul of his child. From the 9th to the 40th day, the soul goes to hell, where it observes the torment of sinners who do not deserve forgiveness, and trembles with fear. That is why it is so important to spend the ninth day in remembrance and prayers for the departed.
Why is the 40th day after death celebrated?
The history and giving of the Church say that 40 days is the period necessary for the soul to prepare to receive help and a Divine gift from the Heavenly Father. The number 40 appears repeatedly in church traditions:
- After a 40-day fast, the Prophet Moses talked with the Lord on Mount Sinai and received the tablets of the law.
- On the 40th day, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven after His Resurrection.
- The Israelites wandered for 40 years before they reached the promised land.
Representatives of the church took all the facts described above into account, and decided to hold a commemoration on the 40th day after death. With their prayers, they help the soul to ascend the holy mountain of Heavenly Sinai and saw the Lord God, achieved bliss and ended up in the company of the righteous in the heavenly villages.
In 9 days, after worshiping the Lord, the Angels show the soul hell, in which the souls of unrepentant sinners suffer in torment. On the 40th day, getting to the Lord for the third time (the first time the soul falls on the 3rd day), the soul receives a sentence: a place is appointed in which it will stay until the Last Judgment. That is why church commemorations and prayers on this day are so important, they help to atone for sins and get the cleansed soul to Paradise with the saints.
Helpful information
How do you count 9 days from the date of death?
Often people make the mistake of starting the countdown from the day after death. In fact, the countdown time should be the day on which the deceased left this world, even if it happened late in the evening (before 12:00). Thus, if a person died on December 2, then December 10 will become ninth day after death. Adding numbers mathematically (December 2 + 9 days = December 11) and starting counting from the day after death is wrong.
On the ninth day, you can remove the curtains from the mirrors.
On the ninth day after the death of the deceased, you can remove the curtains from the mirrors in the house (in all but the bedroom of the deceased). It is noteworthy that the hanging of mirrors is a non-Orthodox tradition. These are echoes of an old Russian belief, which says that in the mirrors the soul of the deceased can get lost and not find the way to the next world.
On the ninth day, the wake should be modest.
Alcohol at the feast is optional, and according to the popular opinion of primordially believing people, it is completely an extra attribute. In a table conversation, one should remember the good deeds and good deeds of the deceased. It is believed that every good word spoken about the deceased will be credited to him.
Hegumen Fedor (Yablokov) about the commemoration: Commemoration should be prayerful. This is often forgotten, reducing the commemoration to a feast, and a commemoration without a sincere commemoration of the deceased has no meaning. Drinking at funerals and commemorations is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the dead. Alcohol on the table should not be at all, or the minimum amount. Taking alcohol or drugs in these cases is not a tradition, it is an attempt by a godless person to hide, to escape reality. No need to force the whole table with dishes, the table should be modest. Gathering for a wake, people gather for prayer, for a prayerful remembrance of the deceased, and not in order to arrange a feast of gluttony. An obligatory dish in accordance with tradition is kutya, over which a special prayer must be read. Within 40 days, you need to avoid any mourning events, you can come to the commemoration in any strict, non-seductive clothing.
Archimandrite Augustine (Pidanov) about traditions and superstitions: Nowadays, one can often encounter superstitions skillfully disguised as traditions. Superstition is indifference, vanity, a senseless attitude towards faith. Firstly, some superstitions contradict the concepts and traditions of faith, and secondly, some superstitions simply do not leave time for faith in our lives. For example, at first glance, there is nothing wrong with a person hanging a mirror. But a person burdens all his thoughts with the fact that one must not forget to hang mirrors, not finding time to pray for the souls of a loved one. There should be no booze on the table, and don't be afraid that someone will judge you. It all depends on you, whether you organize a commemoration for the soul of the deceased or a booze for the sake of relatives and friends.
Archimandrite Augustine (Pidanov) about the funeral: The funeral service is nothing more than a prayer service, approved by the church as a farewell and parting word for sending people to another world. Many mistakenly take the funeral service for a rite or tradition. In the process of conducting the ceremony, people try to make the incomprehensible understandable, but in fact, behind the form of the funeral there is much more important and more important both for the soul of the deceased and for the living. To find answers to questions related to the last journey of Christians, you should contact the clergy directly. Only in this way will you be able to avoid mistakes and conduct a funeral service, bringing the greatest benefit to the soul of the deceased, without wasting time on superstition.
When a loved one has not yet crossed the threshold of eternity, his relatives try in every possible way to show signs of attention, to offer their all possible help. This manifests the duty of fulfilling love for one's neighbor, which is imputed as an obligatory responsibility by the Christian doctrine. But man is not eternal. There comes a moment for everyone. However, this transition from one state of personality to another should not be marked by leaving the memory of. A man is alive as long as he is remembered. It is a religious duty to organize memorial dinners in memory of all who knew the latter during his lifetime.
The meaning of 9 days after the death of a person
According to Orthodox doctrine, the human soul is immortal. This is confirmed by practice in the Christian tradition. Church Tradition teaches that the first three days after death, the soul abides on earth in those places that were especially loved by her. Then she ascends to God. The Lord shows the soul heavenly abode, where the righteous are blissful.
The personal self-consciousness of the soul is touched, it marvels at what it sees, and the bitterness from leaving the earth is no longer so strong. This happens within six days. Then, by angels, the soul again ascends to worship God. It turns out that this is the ninth day, on which the soul sees its Creator for the second time. In memory of this, the Church establishes a commemoration, at which it is customary to gather in a narrow family circle. Commemoration is ordered in churches, prayers are offered to God for mercy on the deceased. There is a statement that there is no one who has lived and not. Also, the semantic meaning of the number nine is the memory of the Church about the corresponding number of angelic ranks. It is the angels who accompany the soul, showing it all the beauties of paradise.
Fortieth day - the time of the private judgment of the soul
After nine days, hellish abodes are shown to the soul. She observes all the horror of incorrigible sinners, feels fear and awe before what she sees. Then for a day he again ascends to God for worship, only this time there is also a private judgment on the soul. This date is always considered the most important in the afterlife of the deceased. There is no transfer tradition, no matter what day they fall on.
The soul is judged for all the deeds committed by a person during his lifetime. And after that, the place of her stay is determined until the moment of the second coming of Christ. It is especially important these days to pray and do alms in memory of a relative or friend who has left this world. A person asks God for mercy, the possibility of bestowing a blessed fate on a dead person.
The number 40 has its own meaning. Even in the Old Testament, it was prescribed to keep the memory of the deceased for 40 days. In New Testament times, one can draw semantic analogies with the Ascension of Christ. So, it was on the 40th day after His resurrection that the Lord ascended into heaven. This date is also a memory of the fact that the human soul after death goes back to its Heavenly Father.
In general, holding a commemoration is an act of mercy to living people. Dinner is offered as alms in memory of, other rites are performed, testifying to a person’s faith in the immortality of the soul. This is also the hope for the salvation of each individual person.
Guest article.
The death of a loved one is always a serious test for those who remain alive. And only at these moments we are faced with some special rules and events that we do not think about in ordinary life. For example, only after the departure of someone familiar or dear people think about what 9 days and 40 days after the death of a person means. Also a significant date is 3 days from the date of death.
Interpretation in terms of religion
If we turn to Orthodoxy, we learn that the human soul goes a long way before it calms down. Immediately after death, she is next to the body. This, for example, explains why the dead cannot be left alone at night. One of the close people always remains near the coffin - and most often several people at once. Three days later, the soul of the deceased goes to heaven - there she will stay until the ninth day, and then she will appear before the Lord. The next stage is an acquaintance with hell and torment, which are intended for sinners.
The soul, being in hell for up to 40 days, is filled with fear, and for it this is a serious test. This period is much longer than nine days. This is due to the fact that hell itself is much larger, because it is believed that there are very few sinless people. Getting to know this place takes a long time. That is why for 40 days it is very important to pray for your loved one, to ask God for the remission of sins, for forgiveness. After forty days, the soul again appears before the Lord, and at this moment a decision is made where it will go finally - to heaven or hell. There the soul will remain until the Last Judgment - until the moment when the new world comes.
Speaking of heaven and hell, we mean conventional concepts - although religion describes these places, it cannot be said that there are reliable sources that tell one hundred percent how everything works. We just know that the third, ninth and fortieth days from the day of death are critical milestones that relatives and friends should pay a lot of attention to. You need to go to church, to the cemetery, you need to pray a lot and in every possible way help the soul to go through this path easier.
Traditions associated with nine and forty days after death: what prohibitions must be observed
If you study the traditions that are formed in various settlements, it turns out that they are fundamentally different from each other. Most of them have nothing to do with religion and are not confirmed by books or other documents. Let's figure out what is forbidden to do in different traditions, and whether it is worth strictly following these rules:
- Watch TV, listen to music. The ban on TV and music is due to the fact that these activities are associated with entertainment. But it all depends on what you listen to and watch. News, educational programs, as well as Christian channels are not prohibited. This ban can be maintained for no more than 9 days.
- Arrange holidays and celebrations for 40 days. It happens that birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays fall into this period. The Church does not prohibit the celebration of such a plan - they just need to be quiet, without noisy parties. It is better to choose a family format.
- Cover mirrors and all reflective surfaces in the home. It is believed that the soul can be reflected in such surfaces and get stuck between the two worlds. The church also does not speak of such a rule, but among ordinary people the tradition is very strong. If you believe in it, you can keep this rule for 9 days. You can safely refuse this rule - all reflective surfaces can be opened as soon as the coffin with the deceased leaves the room.
Also, contrary to many superstitions, after the funeral, you can clean the house, wash, cut your hair, distribute the things of the deceased to those in need, and even make repairs.
All the rules that relate to the period up to 40 days after death are related to praying and avoiding excesses, too noisy fun. Otherwise, you can only observe what you yourself really believe in.
The ninth and fortieth days after death are considered taking into account the day the person died (even if it happened late in the evening).
Content:- The version of the representatives of the Sretensky Monastery
- Helpful information
- Recommendations from ministers of the Church
Even in works of scientific content related to the exact sciences, it is easy to find disagreements in theories and exceptions to accepted rules, and in matters of faith and religion, there are more than enough differences in interpretations and explanations of traditions. Thus, to find the only true remembrance of 9 and 40 days after death simply does not exist. Below you will find answers given by various representatives of the spiritual world, as well as interesting facts and very important tips.
Version of the Representatives of the Sretensky Monastery
Why is the 9th day after death celebrated?
On the ninth day, the deceased is commemorated in order to honor the honor of 9 orders of angels, who, being the servants of the King of Heaven and our representatives to Him, intercede before Him for mercy on the deceased person. It is believed that from the third to the ninth day, the soul of the deceased resides in heavenly abodes, where it:
- Forgets past grief that she had to leave the body and the ordinary world.
- She realizes that she served God so little while on earth, reproaches herself for this and mourns.
On the ninth day, the Lord sends Angels to bring the soul to worship. Before the throne of the Lord God, the soul trembles and is in great fear. The Holy Church at this time, in prayers for the deceased, asks the Almighty to decide on the acceptance of the soul of his child. From the 9th to the 40th day, the soul goes to hell, where it observes the torment of sinners who do not deserve forgiveness, and trembles with fear. That is why it is so important to spend the ninth day in remembrance and prayers for the departed.
Why is the 40th day after death celebrated?
The history and giving of the Church say that 40 days is the period necessary for the soul to prepare to receive help and a Divine gift from the Heavenly Father. The number 40 appears repeatedly in church traditions:
- After a 40-day fast, the Prophet Moses talked with the Lord on Mount Sinai and received the tablets of the law.
- On the 40th day, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven after His Resurrection.
- The Israelites wandered for 40 years before they reached the promised land.
Representatives of the church took all the facts described above into account, and decided to hold a commemoration on the 40th day after death. With their prayers, they help the soul to ascend the holy mountain of Heavenly Sinai and saw the Lord God, achieved bliss and ended up in the company of the righteous in the heavenly villages.
In 9 days, after worshiping the Lord, the Angels show the soul hell, in which the souls of unrepentant sinners suffer in torment. On the 40th day, getting to the Lord for the third time (the first time the soul falls on the 3rd day), the soul receives a sentence: a place is appointed in which it will stay until the Last Judgment. That is why church commemorations and prayers on this day are so important, they help to atone for sins and get the cleansed soul to Paradise with the saints.
Helpful information
How do you count 9 days from the date of death?
Often people make the mistake of starting the countdown from the day after death. In fact, the countdown time should be the day on which the deceased left this world, even if it happened late in the evening (before 12:00). Thus, if a person died on December 2, then December 10 will become ninth day after death. Adding numbers mathematically (December 2 + 9 days = December 11) and starting counting from the day after death is wrong.
On the ninth day, you can remove the curtains from the mirrors.
On the ninth day after the death of the deceased, you can remove the curtains from the mirrors in the house (in all but the bedroom of the deceased). It is noteworthy that the hanging of mirrors is a non-Orthodox tradition. These are echoes of an old Russian belief, which says that in the mirrors the soul of the deceased can get lost and not find the way to the next world.
On the ninth day, the wake should be modest.
Alcohol at the feast is optional, and according to the popular opinion of primordially believing people, it is completely an extra attribute. In a table conversation, one should remember the good deeds and good deeds of the deceased. It is believed that every good word spoken about the deceased will be credited to him.
Hegumen Fedor (Yablokov) about the commemoration: Commemoration should be prayerful. This is often forgotten, reducing the commemoration to a feast, and a commemoration without a sincere commemoration of the deceased has no meaning. Drinking at funerals and commemorations is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the dead. Alcohol on the table should not be at all, or the minimum amount. Taking alcohol or drugs in these cases is not a tradition, it is an attempt by a godless person to hide, to escape reality. No need to force the whole table with dishes, the table should be modest. Gathering for a wake, people gather for prayer, for a prayerful remembrance of the deceased, and not in order to arrange a feast of gluttony. An obligatory dish in accordance with tradition is kutya, over which a special prayer must be read. Within 40 days, you need to avoid any mourning events, you can come to the commemoration in any strict, non-seductive clothing.
Archimandrite Augustine (Pidanov) about traditions and superstitions: Nowadays, one can often encounter superstitions skillfully disguised as traditions. Superstition is indifference, vanity, a senseless attitude towards faith. Firstly, some superstitions contradict the concepts and traditions of faith, and secondly, some superstitions simply do not leave time for faith in our lives. For example, at first glance, there is nothing wrong with a person hanging a mirror. But a person burdens all his thoughts with the fact that one must not forget to hang mirrors, not finding time to pray for the souls of a loved one. There should be no booze on the table, and don't be afraid that someone will judge you. It all depends on you, whether you organize a commemoration for the soul of the deceased or a booze for the sake of relatives and friends.
Archimandrite Augustine (Pidanov) about the funeral: The funeral service is nothing more than a prayer service, approved by the church as a farewell and parting word for sending people to another world. Many mistakenly take the funeral service for a rite or tradition. In the process of conducting the ceremony, people try to make the incomprehensible understandable, but in fact, behind the form of the funeral there is much more important and more important both for the soul of the deceased and for the living. To find answers to questions related to the last journey of Christians, you should contact the clergy directly. Only in this way will you be able to avoid mistakes and conduct a funeral service, bringing the greatest benefit to the soul of the deceased, without wasting time on superstition.
For the Orthodox, the remembrance of the dead occurs on the ninth and fortieth days after death. Why?
The priests answer this question in detail. According to church canons, the time from the moment of repose directly to the ninth is called the design of the "body of eternity." During this period, the deceased is taken to the "special places" of paradise. And in the world of the living, relatives and clergy conduct various funeral rites.
What happens in the first 9 days after death?
In these very first 9 days after death the deceased can observe the surrounding people, see them and hear them. Thus, the soul says goodbye forever to life in this world, to life on earth, gradually losing these opportunities and thereby moving away from the world of the living. Therefore, it is no coincidence that a memorial service is ordered for the 3rd, 9th and 40th days. These days are special milestones that every soul goes through when leaving our world.
After a nine-day milestone, the soul goes to hell in order to see the torment of unrepentant sinners. As a rule, the soul does not yet know what fate is destined for it, and the terrible torments that will appear to its gaze should shock it and make it fear its fate. But not every soul is given such a chance. Some go directly to hell without the worship of God, which occurs on the third day. These souls delayed ordeals.
Ordeals are posts at which souls are detained by demons, or they are also called princes of ordeals. There are twenty such posts. Demons gather on each and expose the soul to all the sins that it has committed. At the same time, the soul does not remain completely defenseless.
Guardian angels are always there in these difficult moments.
The guardian angel presents to demons the good deeds of the soul that are opposite to sins. For example, generous help can be put against the accusation of greed. Blessed Theodora, whose authority deserves attention, testifies that most often people get stuck in ordeals because of adultery. Since this topic is too personal and shameful, people are often painful about the mandatory conversation about it in confession.
And this sin remains concealed, thus canceling out the entire confession. Therefore, demons win the war for the life they have lived. Whatever actions you have committed, no matter how ashamed of them (this also applies to intimate life), it is necessary to confess to the priest in full, otherwise the entire confession will not be counted.
If the soul does not go through all the ordeals, the demons take it straight to hell. There she remains until the doomsday. Relatives and relatives of the deceased can mitigate the fate of his soul with prayers, so it is better to order a commemoration in the church.
Then she is shown all the beauties of paradise, in comparison with which earthly joys simply fade. The happiness that becomes available to a person in paradise is incomparable to anything. That's what the saints say.
Pure and beautiful nature, as it was before the fall of man, the fulfillment of all desires, righteous people who are all together, everything you can dream of is paradise. There is nothing like that in hell and all people are lonely.
On the ninth day, the soul is brought down to hell as a spectator.
Having been in paradise, having seen the righteous there, a person realizes that he deserves hell more than paradise because of his sins, so the soul with great trepidation awaits a period of 9 days after death. Prayer is very important here, with which loved ones help the soul. It is important to acquire a close connection with the soul of the deceased, so that the verdict is in favor of the Holy Place. In the church, you should order a service so that your loved one has support from you.
Also at this time, you can think about how to arrange a burial place, for example,.
9 days after death - commemoration of loved ones
The first 9 days after death are very difficult for the soul of the deceased person, so help your loved ones, order a commemoration in the church, and you will be easier and calmer for your loved one and the soul of the deceased will be calm and peaceful. Not only church prayer is important, but also your personal one. Ask your father for help. He will help you master the special rules in reading the psalter.
Since ancient times, the custom has been known to commemorate loved ones at a meal. Often, commemoration is an occasion for relatives to get together, have a tasty meal, and discuss business. In fact, they gather at the memorial table for a reason. Orthodox Christians should pray for those loved ones who have left the earthly world. Before the start of the meal, it is mandatory to perform lithium. This is a small rite of requiem, it can be performed by a layman. You can read the 90th psalm and "Our Father".
Kutia is the first dish that is actually eaten at the wake. It is prepared, as a rule, from boiled grains of wheat or rice with honey and raisins. Grain is a symbol of resurrection, and honey is a sweetness that the righteous enjoy in paradise. Kutia should be consecrated during a memorial service with a special rite, if this is not possible, it should be sprinkled with holy water.
The desire of the hosts to treat everyone who came to the commemoration to taste better is understandable, but it does not exempt from observing the fasts that the Church has established. On Wednesday, Friday and, accordingly, during long fasts, eat only allowed food. If during Great Lent the commemoration falls on a weekday, they should be moved to Saturday or Sunday.
The pagan custom of drinking on graves has nothing to do with Orthodox customs. Every Christian knows that our departed loved ones will find joy in praying for them and in the piety we bring, not in the amount of alcohol we drink.
At home, during a memorial meal, after a memorial service, a small glass of wine is allowed, which will be accompanied by a kind word addressed to the deceased. Do not forget that this is a completely optional thing at the wake. But the rest of the alcohol should be avoided altogether, as it will distract from the commemoration itself.
In Orthodoxy, the poor and the poor, old women and children are the first to sit at the memorial table. You can also distribute things and clothes of the deceased. You can hear many stories about cases when the alms of relatives helped the deceased, and received confirmation of this from the afterlife. Therefore, you can help the deceased by giving savings to alms in order to benefit the soul in the afterlife.
The loss of a loved one can change one's outlook, help one gain the desire to become a true Orthodox Christian, and take one's very first step on the path to God. Start now to cleanse your soul, confess, so that in the afterlife good deeds prevail over sins.
