The Orthodox burial ceremony includes a number of specific rites. Depending on the sex, age, status and cause of death of the deceased, the burial procession may be accompanied by certain rituals. When grief comes to the family and the soul of an unmarried or innocent girl leaves the earth, the funeral should take place in the form of a ritual that has some resemblance to a wedding ceremony.
There are several reasons why the funeral process for unmarried girls is carried out in a certain way. The following are considered the main ones:
- the soul of a girl who never knew happiness family life, will be doomed to endless wanderings in the afterlife;
- dressing the deceased in a beautiful and festive attire, which all young people dream of, relatives in this way embody the dream of the deceased;
- white color is associated with purity, it gives the event a mood of bright sorrow. Girls in white dresses are buried because they did not know true love, which means they are the brides of Christ.
In the case when a young couple dies, who have not sealed the relationship by marriage, the dead are also dressed in wedding attire. This is done with the aim that in the next world the souls of the dead are inseparable. As a rule, a memorial complex is installed on a paired grave.
What to dress an unmarried dead woman in?
Ideally, the deceased should be buried in a wedding dress. But if there is none, you can choose an outfit that resembles a formal dress. Vestments should be light colors, have a festive look. According to Orthodox traditions, the seams of the outfit cannot be sewn, you just need to sweep the dress. It is important to do the basting manually. When fastening the thread, the needle is held forward away from you. This rite is explained by the fact that the deceased does not return for any of the family members.
Light-colored shoes or boots should also be imitation: as a rule, shoes for the bride of Christ are made of fabric, not leather. A wedding ring is put on the ring finger of the right hand. It is customary to leave hair loose, a veil or wreath is put on the head of the deceased.
Features of the funeral ceremony
Our ancestors, when burying unmarried girls, adhered to one important tradition. Among the young people who came to the funeral, a guy was chosen as the groom of the deceased. The young man had to follow the coffin during the ceremony. To date, the role of the groom of a dead girl can be assigned to a fruit tree or stone. In this case, a stone / tree is put on men's hat or a wedding wreath (the same as the bride's). After the burial of the body, the wreath is thrown into the grave or hung on a cross.
Then those present are sent to the house of the deceased, where a commemoration takes place. So that the mourning ceremony resembles a wedding ceremony, solemn songs are often sung and even round dances are performed. Especially on the occasion of the funeral, a wedding loaf is baked, which is treated to those present. The loss is really heavy and incommensurable, but always remember that you should not cry and grieve a lot. Thus, you can bring on a new disaster and cause suffering to the soul of the deceased.
If a young girl dies, it is customary to bury her in wedding dress. Find out where this tradition came from and why our ancestors dressed the unmarried in white outfits.
beautiful White dress evokes, rather, bright associations: after all, we most often imagine a bride dressed in new outfit. However, the wedding dress is worn not only by future wives, it is also intended for girls who are no longer destined to marry. Why is a wedding white dress traditionally an outfit for a young deceased?
The roots of such rituals go far into the past. Previously, people believed that if a guy or a girl passes away without having time to marry, their souls are destined to forever wander restless, between the afterlife and the world of the living. Such souls, like the souls of suicides or the unbaptized, could cause serious harm to the living. And in order to prevent this from happening, the Slavs stylized the funeral as a wedding.
"Dead Wedding"
To make the funeral really look like a wedding, a guy was chosen who took on the role of the groom: he was dressed in a solemn outfit and in the procession he took a place near the coffin of a young girl. If there was no such guy, then to organize such a funeral, people used an ordinary stone or fruit tree, on which they put on a hat.
The girl herself was dressed in a white dress and light boots. For the wires, the girls specially wove wreaths. One wreath was intended for the deceased (nowadays a veil or veil is used), and the second - for the young groom. As soon as the coffin was lowered into the grave, the wreath of the "groom" was thrown on him or hung on the cross.
Often, at the funeral of a young girl, not mournful, but cheerful music sounded, people danced round dances and baked a loaf, treating everyone present to them.
Other explanations
Of course, the belief about restless souls was far from the only reason why an unmarried woman was escorted on her last journey in a wedding dress.
- It was believed that if the young were supposed to get married, but did not have time, as they died, the funeral in wedding dresses should have united their souls in heaven.
- White has always been a symbol of purity and innocence. And since before the wedding it was believed that the girl did not know true love, she became the bride of Christ.
- Every girl dreamed of getting married. And, dressing the young woman in a wedding dress, the parents, as it were, embodied the unfulfilled dream of their daughter.
This is the most common explanation for this tradition. Of course, today people at the funeral of an unmarried girl do not choose a groom and do not dance, but they still dress the young woman in a wedding dress.
The procedure for holding Orthodox funerals over the centuries has acquired a large number of traditions that are strongly recommended to be observed. Some of them raise questions. For example, why is a young girl buried in a wedding dress? Where did the tradition of dressing unmarried people in white dresses come from?
A beautiful white dress evokes bright associations, because it is in this outfit that the bride appears. However, from time immemorial, a tradition has arisen to dress up in wedding dresses not only girls who are to become wives, but also those who will never be able to marry.
In ancient times, it was believed that if a girl leaves the earthly world without knowing marriage, then her soul is doomed to wander forever, torn between the world of the living and the Kingdom of Heaven.
People believed in the ability of such souls to cause serious harm to relatives left to live. They were equated with the souls of the unbaptized and suicides. And to avoid this, the funeral of a young girl was like a wedding.
"Dead Wedding"
- In order to bring the similarity of the funeral to the wedding as close as possible, they chose a guy who was to play the role of the groom. He was supposed to be dressed in a solemn attire and in the funeral procession take a place next to the coffin of a young girl.
- If it was not possible to find a guy willing to play such a role, then they used an ordinary stone or a stump of a fruit tree, on which a man's hat was put on.
- The girl was dressed in a white dress and complemented the outfit with light boots. Wreaths were specially woven by her peers or girlfriends. One of them was worn on the head of the deceased (in the modern interpretation, a veil or veil is used), and the second was worn on the groom. After the coffin was lowered into the grave, it was either thrown over the top of the coffin or hung on a cross.
- Sometimes such funerals were accompanied by cheerful music. People were ordered to dance. Relatives baked a loaf, pieces of which were treated to everyone who came to the funeral.
Other explanations
In addition to the belief about a restless soul, there were several other reasons as a reason for the tension of an unmarried girl in a wedding dress when she was sent on her last journey:
- If life circumstances so developed that young people could not carry out plans for marriage due to their unexpected death, then the bodies of the deceased dressed up in wedding dresses so that their souls could unite when they met in heaven.
- White has always been associated with purity and innocence. And when a girl passed into another world, who did not have time to know true love, and therefore did not marry, she was considered the bride of Christ.
- Almost every girl dreams of marriage, and when the realization of this dream became impossible due to sudden death, the parents of the deceased tried at least in this way to realize the dream of the deceased.
We have discussed only the most common explanations for the observance of this tradition. Of course, modern funerals are not accompanied by cheerful music and dancing, but young girls are still often buried in wedding dresses today.
The death of young unmarried girls in earthly life coincided with marriageable age, with a turning point in earthly life - marriage. This served as the basis for comparing and combining the funeral with the wedding.
Not only Russians, but many peoples had a custom to dress a girl who died in the prime of her youth in a wedding dress, to prepare her for burial, like a bride for a wedding. At the funeral of a dead girl, they even imitated wedding ceremony, sang wedding and wedding songs. A wedding ring was put on the ring finger of the right hand for both the girl and the guy, while the ring was not put on for a married man and a married woman.
Now there is also a custom to bury young girls in, and drink champagne at their wake, imitating a failed wedding. The clothes were, as it were, not real, but only its replacement, not sewn, but only swept. It was sewn necessarily on the hands, and not on a typewriter, the thread was fixed, the needle was kept away from you forward; otherwise the dead man will again come for someone to his family. The footwear of the deceased was also an imitation: in leather shoes, as a rule, they did not bury, but replaced it with a cloth one. In cases where boots were worn, iron nails were pulled out of them.
At present, in the custom of burying in new, not yet worn clothes, there is an echo of the belief that the newness of the clothes of the dead is a synonym for purity, the sinlessness of the soul, which should be pure in the next world.
Death has always been shrouded in many mysteries and rituals associated with it. We are unable to find out why this or that person died, and the death of young people, who, it would seem, is still ahead, seems especially bitter.
The funeral of young girls, in particular, is accompanied by distinctive rituals: it is customary to bury them in white sundresses or wedding dresses. Where did this custom come from, what does it mean and is it necessary to bury unmarried girls in wedding dresses?
The history of "wedding" customs at the funeral
Even our ancestors adhered to the custom of burying unmarried women in their wedding attire. According to pagan beliefs, the soul of the deceased, who did not have time to marry her chosen one, will remain homeless if the deceased is not buried in a wedding dress.
However, there are other explanations for this phenomenon:
- White color in Rus' has traditionally been considered a symbol of moral purity. An unmarried girl was also considered "clean", and her soul, according to the beliefs of the Slavs, had to move to a mountainous place. That is why she was dressed in white elegant clothes - according to anthropologists and archaeologists, not necessarily wedding clothes.
- Girls who passed away before their own wedding were considered especially unhappy, so their relatives dressed them in a wedding dress before burial, as if embodying an unfulfilled event.
How was the funeral of a girl in ancient Rus'
Even after the adoption of Christianity in Rus', people continued to arrange a kind of funeral and commemoration of unmarried women, stylizing them as a wedding: they dressed the deceased in solemn wedding dresses and jewelry, set the table with a white cloth, put a lot of dishes for the guests to treat. A frequent treat was a large loaf, poultry or fish dishes, ritual pies and pies with filling, wheat kolivo. Naturally fermented low-alcohol drinks - berry wines and mead - brightened up the atmosphere of the funeral.
A young man was invited to the gloomy celebration, with whom the deceased had a close relationship, or, if there was none, one of the young villagers. It was he who took on the role of the groom, took a place at the head of the table and at the coffin of a young girl during the funeral procession.
The parents of the deceased wove wreaths of plants and flowers - one was intended for the girl, the other for the "groom"; the latter was thrown onto the coffin when it was lowered into a prepared earthen pit. There is evidence that instead of the invited groom, a large log or stone was often used, on which human clothes were put on. In the remote villages of Russia, such traditions are preserved to this day.
What is "bride"? She was dressed in white formal clothes, smart boots were put on her feet, her hair was braided and a wreath, kitchka or embroidered fabric tiara was put on her head. Such clothes were supposed to give rise to bright associations and make the funeral not so gloomy and sad. They rarely invited mourners - on the contrary, the guests performed folk and ritual songs to drown out the pain of loss.
Today, such traditions are a thing of the past, and it is not customary for unmarried girls to be buried in wedding dresses - a long white sundress or just smart dress light tones.
