Must have missed something!:
As the original poster of the query concerning absolution of
the dead, I notice a response from JMWALKER to NCACIOLA concerning
the topic. I have received no original posting of NC's response on
our list, or any other responses to it, and am wondering how/what I
might have missed. Cannot seem to locate it on archive either. Would
someone kindly pass on this string, if there is one.
>Nancy Caciola
>History, UCSD wrote
>
>In some cases when a body was said to be wandering from its grave
>at night, the proposed method of laying it to rest was to exhume the body
>and place a letter of absolution on its breast.
>
>
>I love this nearly-pagan idea of placing a letter on the body of the dead so
that it can find its rest,..
Nancy;
It is still the customary practice in Orthodox Burial
Services, after the final prayers of forgiveness, to place a
"Grammota" ( Bull, Citation) of Absolution ( an actual signed
ecclesiastical document) in the hand of the deceased, prior to the
final departure of the body. The grammota indicates, in effect, that
this Christian has died with the proper ecclesiastical rites
performed, and the in accordance with the sacramental obediences of
the Orthodox Church. Not being completely certain of the earliest
reference to such documents and the practice of affixing it to the
deceased, it is, however likely that the origin of the practice was
related more to the equally common, though not condoned, practice of
desecrating the graves of heretics, and the conspicuous avoidance
thereof that such a document might insure, rather than a way of
laying the soul to rest. The practice may also have had its origin in
the military themes of the Byzantine empire, where death on the
march, or on the battlefied needed guideposts for"clearing up".
Josef Gulka
Josef Gulka
[log in to unmask]
Tel: 215- 732-8420
Fax (215) 732-8420
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