Why commemorate it on 9 and 40 days after death?
Today, the pagan beliefs of our ancestors can be traced in Christian rites. From the depths of centuries came to us strict rules, They include: the deceased must be taken out of the house only forward feet in the coffin necessarily put his favorite items. Obligatory ritual is the commemoration of the deceased food on certain days and visiting the grave. Orthodox Christians adhere to Church canons. This is especially true for the rituals of commemoration on the 9th, 40th day and on the anniversary of death. Relatives help the soul of a loved one to find peace and the Kingdom of heaven.
Content:
- Why note 9 and 40 day after death
- Value 9 days
- What happens to the soul 9 days after death
- Value 40 days
- What happens to the soul 40 days after death
- How to celebrate day 9 and 40
- How to cover the memorial table
- How to count 9 and 40 days
Why note 9 and 40 day after death
The Servants of the Sretensky monastery interpret their vision of remembrance on the 9th and 40th day:
On memorial day, people give thanks to 9 angelic ranks. They are with him, interceding before the King of Heaven for the forgiveness of his sins. The clergy believe that until the ninth day the soul is in the heavenly abode. She ceases to grieve for the abandoned body and the earthly world. She begins to realize that during her life on Earth she gave little thanks and turned to God for help. To worship the Lord God, the soul lead the angelic ranks. In the Holy Church there are prayers for the petition of the Almighty to take the soul of the child under his protection. After the throne of the Lord God from the 9th to the 40th day, the soul falls into the hellish abode. She has to watch the torments of sinners who do not deserve the Lord’s forgiveness. Therefore, the 9th day a big day for the family. They should spend it in remembrance, prayers and petitions to the Lord God to pray him a place in the heavenly abode. According to the Church canons only on the 40th day the soul finds its refuge, where it will wait for the Last judgment. After death, he immediately goes to heaven, enjoys a quiet, joyful life near the Lord’s presence or in hell, and continues to live in torment, away from God.
FYI! The man himself has to take care of your the Kingdom of heaven, not to rely on the remembrance of loved ones. As the Scripture says (Hebrews 9:27), “Only once a man dies, and then the Judgment.”
Value 9 days
According to Church canons, the soul of the deceased wanders the Earth for three days. She moves among native people, visits familiar places. During these days, next to her is the guardian angel with other angels who help to deal with the mental state of the deceased. They help:
- See the beauty of past life;
- Forget about sad days, cause of death;
- The to understand that committed mistakes in life, don’t give her the right to stay in Heaven.
According to Christian traditions, prayers help the soul of a loved one to leave the earth easily, as well as find their way in another world. On the 9th day there is a commemoration of the deceased, the prayer of his sins, as well as his blessing on the 40-day journey to Heaven. The relatives of the newly deceased should perform the following rituals:
- The to Read prayers, to remember and to remember only the good about the deceased.
- According to the Church canons, it is necessary to order a prayer service and leave the products on the Church table ‒ sweets, cookies, sugar, cereals, pasta, vegetable oil, bread.
- It is Desirable to distribute to strangers funeral candies, cookies, it is obligatory to call a name of the dead person.
- The for the remembrance of cooked porridge-kutya, which is put on the memorial table. It is advisable to take her to the temple and leave on the Church table. This dish symbolizes that the soul of the deceased begins a new cycle of “heavenly ordeal.”
The right of action to relatives, help the soul of the deceased to find his way into eternity.
What happens to the soul 9 days after death
According to Orthodox beliefs, it is believed that after death man does not end his earthly existence. In the Holy Scripture it is written that a person consists of a body and a soul, which is considered eternal. After nine, the body of the deceased turns to dust, and the soul meets the Creator. The clergy pray to the Creator to classify the newly-departed among the nine angels, who will ask the Almighty to forgive him all his sins, to decide the way forward, to grant him a new place near them. This will help the deceased make it easier to transfer stay in the hellish abodes, which are larger than the Paradise. Only the heavenly Creator at the Last Judgment will determine the location of the soul of the deceased.
Value 40 days
The soul of the deceased for 40 days wanders between heaven and earth, looking for shelter. On the 40th day she finally leaves the body and never returns. The body belongs to the cemetery, and the already purified spiritual component is finally forgiven, but it continues to monitor the earthly life of relatives. On the 40th day there is a second commemoration. Relatives can visit the cemetery, remove the funeral wreaths from the burial place.
FYI! Relatives help their prayers to be cleansed, and the soul to find eternal peace. No need to visit the cemetery often, and shed tears as it bothers the deceased.
What happens to the soul 40 days after death
No one is meant to live forever. Each person has his own destiny, he goes to another world in his time. To explain these phenomena, there are a large number of Christian customs. According to Church canons, the soul leaves the human body. After forty days of ordeal, she finally finds her place. Here she will wait for the Second coming. It will determine the permanent place of residence of the newly departed soul. On the 40th day, relatives arrange a Wake, order a prayer in the Temple for the repose. They give her the opportunity to go through all the heavenly trials with the Lord God. By their actions, relatives provide the soul of the deceased with future eternal life, hand its fate into the hands of the Almighty.
How to celebrate day 9 and 40
After burial, the human soul becomes restless and begins to wander between heaven and earth. The Holy Scripture notes that the 9th and the 40th day after the mortal day mark the beginning and the end of the heavenly path. Relatives an opportunity to help the soul to take its rightful place in the other world with eternal peace.
Ninth day:
- Native people must perform a Wake in honor of the nine angelic ranks, who are servants of the King of Heaven. These actions will protect the soul of the deceased before God’s judgment.
- The Soul with the Angel goes to worship the Lord God. The Almighty on the throne makes the soul tremble, and also wait for his verdict. The festival is celebrated with funerals, reading prayers. To ask the Lord God to be merciful to the newly-reposed servant of God.
Fortieth day:
- Mark with remembrance. Order in the Church prayer “Prayers for the repose”. The priests help the soul to ascend the Holy mountain of the Heavenly Sinai, to see the Almighty, to achieve bliss, so that it finds itself in the heavenly abode.
- Relatives should also read prayers for the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased, to help her get to the heavenly abode, where righteous souls live.
FYI! Relatives should control their behavior for 40 days after the death of a loved one. They’re being watched by a Higher power. Therefore, in order not to make mistakes in the sacred days, you need to get acquainted with the funeral and memorial rituals.
How to lay the funeral table
At the wake is not accepted to invite people, they have to come themselves. At the memorial table, food is not the main aspect, so there is no need to prepare complex and delicious dishes. The main thing ‒ is the memory of the deceased, his forgiveness of all voluntary and involuntary sins. Be sure to read the prayer “our father” for the repose of his soul. Everyone present should say a few kind words about the deceased. Subsequently, all the words spoken will fill the Cup of good.
- The be Sure to eat a wheat or a rice pudding, which must be sprinkled with Holy water. It is taken from the plate three times in a row. Then serve soup or borsch.
- On the table can stand dishes of fish, vegetables, meat.
- it is Customary to prepare pancakes, both with and without filling.
- pies with fruit compote are a Mandatory dish. The plates can lie candy and cookies.
- If the day of remembrance falls on the Great or other lent, it is not necessary to put meatless dishes, but because of respect for the guests, you can put on the table next to meat dishes, fish or vegetable salads, seasoned with vegetable oil.
- The must be favorite foods of the deceased person.
After supper, guests are distributed kites and sweets.
How to count 9 and 40 days
9-th and 40-th days need not be considered from the day of the funeral, and the number and time of death. If the death occurred in the second half of the day, the remembrance of the Church held on the 8th day. Date of death not associated with the day and time of the burial. According to Orthodox traditions, the burial is performed on the second or third day after death. For family reasons the body to be buried on the fifth or sixth day. Wakes are arranged on the 9th and 40th day strictly according to Church calculations. The commemoration can be postponed one day earlier, but in no case later.
In the Churches, during the sermons, the clergy constantly repeat that the most just is the Supreme court. Only after parting with the earthly life, visiting the heavenly and hellish abodes, the newly deceased person can appear before the Court of the Lord God.