Priest Gennady Emelyanov in monasticism Sylvester. Angel dust. About the cult of Slavik Chebarkulsky. What should a priest be like?

The purpose of our article is to help everyone who wants to understand everything that has to do with suicide. Where they are allowed to be buried, how suicides are commemorated, and what help can be provided to them, who find themselves in the afterlife, by living relatives. And also we will talk about what awaits the souls of those who prefer suicide to life.

The attitude of Orthodoxy towards suicides

Orthodoxy considers suicide to be a terrible sin. He is even put on the same level of severity with the violation of one of the 9 commandments. After all, a murder is committed and it does not matter that in this case one's own flesh is mortified. Deciding to take such a step, a person demonstrates his disbelief in the Lord, who can help him if he turns to him.

His audacity extends so far that he takes upon himself the authority of God, deciding his fate. At the same time, he does not allow the idea that the trials were sent down to him to temper the spirit during the passage of the next test. The soul of the suicidal is destined to forever wander and be subjected to ordeals.

Even the church cannot forgive this sin. After all, this implies the repentance of the one who committed an unseemly act. Not only is sin not forgiven, the church is disgusted by the prayer for the soul of the one who voluntarily left this world. There is no generally accepted church commemoration for him, and corresponding notes with his name cannot be submitted.

It is very difficult for a soul toiling in the afterlife to help. Relatives who seek clarification from the church are always answered that it is strictly forbidden to commemorate the deceased in this way. True, there are situations when, as an exception, a funeral service is held, but this will have to receive special permission.

Christian scriptures about when the suicidal are commemorated

Christian canons contain special mention of those who end their lives by suicide. This happened for the first time in 385. Then Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria wrote the fourteenth canon. It was in the form of questions and answers. It spoke about the possibility of commemorating the suicidal, but this can only be done when it is established for certain that at that moment the person was beside himself.

Another church council in 452 established that the reasons for suicide lie in devilish malice, and therefore it is considered a crime. At another council, but held in 563, a ban was imposed on the funeral of people who laid hands on themselves. They could not be buried according to the customs of the church, it was impossible to follow the body to the grave, and over time, for such dead people, it was even forbidden to dig a grave on consecrated ground.

How to bury a suicide

So how can a suicide be buried? Until relatively recently, a place for their grave was chosen on unconsecrated land. Most often it was the side of the road. Today, burials are allowed only in a common cemetery, but at the same time, the deceased cannot be buried, and it is forbidden to hold memorial services for him.

In addition, the church has set some other restrictions:

• A cross cannot be placed on the grave of a suicidal person, as it is a symbol of faith. And the one who himself interrupted his life path, according to the church, abandoned it.
• It is impossible to put a whisk in the coffin, symbolizing the trials sent by God, which the sinner refused to go through.
• The body of the deceased cannot be covered with a church veil, which is a symbol of patronage, in which the deceased is denied because of the action he committed.

All of the above testifies to the categorical approach of the church to the question of the burial of the suicidal. She has a whole set of rules from which she almost never deviates.

How to commemorate a suicide in Orthodoxy

So how is the commemoration of the suicidal in Orthodoxy, if the traditional form is not available for this. For those who gave preference to death over life, there is no church prayer and memorial service. At the same time, it must be remembered that the prayer addressed to the holy martyr Huar can only be offered up for those who have reposed without being baptized. That is, it does not apply to suicides.

However, it must be said about special days - the Ecumenical Parental Saturdays, on which all the dead are commemorated without exception. Even despite the fact that the commemoration is of a general nature during the service, it can bring some relief to the souls of suicides.

After all, the prayer offered is general and extends even to souls in hell. This is the main difference of the Parents' Saturday. Therefore, for those who have one of their relatives who died voluntarily, prayers should be offered on this day with double zeal.

Relatives of the suicidal should remember that it will not be possible to hide this fact when ordering prayers. There are cases when prayer for the repose of the soul was not effective. The Lord refused to accept prayer for such a dead man. Thus, a sign was given that the deceased laid hands on himself.

On special occasions in commemoration

The Church recognizes the existence of special exceptions, thanks to which the suicidal may be remembered. At the same time, priests are allowed to bury only some of them. So, a sin can be forgiven a person if there is confidence that at the time of its commission, a person did not have the opportunity to control his actions.

This can be provoked by mental illness or severe insanity caused by some events. Confirmation of the existence of such an opportunity must be obtained by the relatives of the deceased in a medical institution.

Before the funeral ceremony, in this case, it is necessary to receive the blessing of the bishop ruling at that time. It must be in the form of a written authorization. Only then can the action be taken.

For making an independent decision, indicating a deviation of the clergyman from the existing rules, he will be punished. Moreover, he can not only be removed from the performance of his duties for a certain period of time, but also deprived of dignity.

What can relatives do to alleviate the fate of the souls of suicidal

If a family has suffered such a misfortune as the suicide of one of its members, then relatives should familiarize themselves with the rules for commemorating the suicidal. It goes without saying that there can be no talk of commemoration in the church, since a ban has been imposed on this.

However, relatives are allowed to participate in consolatory prayers, which are held on memorial days. A prayer service is read by a clergyman in the temple, but only for grieving relatives. By no means can it be called a panikhida. Its commission is excluded near the requiem table with a coffin. This action was decided to be approved in 2011 in order to console relatives.

In addition to the rank, which was previously discussed, there are some more rules for commemorating suicides. This is how the use of a special cell reading of the prayer of the holy elder Leo of Optina is practiced. It goes without saying that in order to proceed with its implementation, one should enlist the blessing of the priest.

The most effective method that allows you to provide all possible assistance to the soul of the deceased of your own free will in the afterlife is the giving of alms to the needy and the pious lifestyle of all relatives.

And it is also recommended to perform independent prayers. They can be performed both in the temple and at home. In addition, lighting candles in the temple for the repose of the soul with a request to the Lord for mercy is also an effective way.

According to the canonical traditions of the Orthodox Church, which were formed back in the era of the Ecumenical Councils (IV-VIII centuries), it is not allowed to commemorate suicides in an Orthodox church. The canonical ban on this is connected with the God-fighting nature of suicide as such. Every person's life is a precious gift from God. Therefore, he who arbitrarily takes his own life blasphemously rejects this gift. This must be said in particular about the Christian, whose life is doubly a gift from God, both by nature and by the grace of redemption. A Christian who lays a murderous hand on himself offends God doubly: both as the Creator and as the Redeemer. It goes without saying that such an act can only be the fruit of complete disbelief and despair in Divine Providence, without whose will, according to the gospel word, not even a hair will fall from the head of a believer. And whoever is a stranger to faith in God and hope in Him is a stranger to the Church. She looks at the free suicide as a spiritual descendant of Judas the traitor, who, having renounced God and rejected by God, "shed strangled himself."

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Therefore, according to church canons, suicides (these also include those killed in a duel, criminals killed during a robbery, people who insisted on euthanasia) and suspected suicides (for example, drowned under unknown circumstances) cannot be buried in the temple, commemorated in church prayer for Liturgy and funeral services. Suicides are not buried in church cemeteries.

Nevertheless, both in the Russian Church and in other Local Orthodox Churches, it was considered possible, after carefully examining the circumstances that led each individual member of the Church to commit suicide, to allow the funeral service and church commemoration of those of them who committed suicide in a state of mental illness witnessed by third parties. disorders, mental illness. On this basis, diocesan church institutions, with the blessing of the ruling bishop, can issue permits for the funeral of suicides, 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 grumbling or theomachism, but in a state of mental illness.

So, for example, in 1991 the Moscow Patriarchate decided to bury Marina Tsvetaeva. The basis for her church commemoration was the petition of Deacon Andrei Kuraev, one of the most respected modern theologians and a great connoisseur and expert on Tsvetaeva's work. With a careful study of all the circumstances of her Yelabuga suicide, Fr. Andrey Kuraev could probably come to the conclusion that it is 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, devastation.

In addition, the church allows burying, according to church custom, so-called “accidental suicides” - that is, those who did not calculate the dose of alcohol, drank poison by mistake, accidentally discharged the barrel into themselves while cleaning 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 the funeral of suicides who did not die immediately, but had time to repent (this is how Pushkin was buried, although a duel is equated with suicide).

Particularly noteworthy are cases when a person was killed, but the killers tried to stage a suicide. If there is even the slightest reason to doubt that it was a suicide—i.e. the deceased never showed such intentions, etc., then the funeral service, as a rule, is performed. So, for example, Sergei Yesenin was reprimanded, despite the official version of suicide.

Good afternoon. I was interested in your answer "According to the canonical traditions of the Orthodox Church, formed back in the era of the Ecumenical Councils (IV V ..." to the question http://www.. Can I discuss this answer with you?

As you know, the nominal church commemoration of suicides is FORBIDDEN. There is no funeral service for suicides and there are no special days of remembrance for them, and the church prayer for them is NOT lifted up. Prayer to the holy martyr Uar is offered not for suicides, but for the unbaptized.

In the hymns of the Trinity Parental Saturday there are words in which we ask the Lord to bestow His mercy on those who have committed suicide, but at the same time there is still no commemoration by name, and particles are not taken out at the Liturgy for suicides.

Suicides are never remembered(if there was no blessing for the funeral service).

For suicides, you can pray to relatives on your own at home prayer, asking the Lord to show mercy to sinners who have raised their hands to their lives. You can give alms for his soul, you can light candles for his repose and pray yourself. Both at home and in church.

There is a known case when prayers for repose were given to Athos, but after a while the monks returned the money and said that the Lord does not accept prayer - probably the person himself left.

However, there are exceptions to the rule. Some suicides are buried. These are cases when a person was mentally unhealthy, or was in a state of such strong affect that insanity occurred. There must be relevant medical documents about this. But in any case, the priest DOES NOT have the right to perform such a funeral without the blessing of the ruling bishop. Only if there is a blessing of the bishop in writing for such a burial, the priest can perform the funeral service for a suicide. If the priest independently makes such a decision, without the participation of the bishop, he is subject to punishment up to a ban on priestly service, or deprivation of dignity.

Church canons forbid "offering and prayer" for suicides (Rule of St. Timothy of Alexandria, answer 14), as those who deliberately cut themselves off from communion with God

who “raises his hands on himself or throws himself down from a height”: “About such it is not appropriate to be and an offering, for there is a suicide”

The validity of this rule is confirmed by the spiritual experience of the ascetics, who, daring to pray for suicides, experienced irresistible heaviness and demonic temptations.

This canon of St. Timothy of Alexandria was directed against fallen members of the Church. However, at present, most of those who commit suicide are baptized people, but who have not received either church education or church care. They end their lives not as a result of conscious opposition to God and the Church, but because they are "out of their mind", although this is not recorded by medical evidence. It is impossible for a priest who did not know the deceased in his life to decide how to relate to such a death, and relatives and close suicides, meeting the refusal of the priest to perform the funeral, depart even further from the Church, not receiving consolation.

In this regard, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church blesses, for the purpose of spiritual nourishment of the flock and uniformity of pastoral practice, it proposes, without performing the funeral of suicides and “offerings” for them, that is, commemoration in the church, to teach the relatives and relatives of such dead the following consolatory prayers.
But it should be taken into account that this rite is not a memorial service, and is not performed either at the coffin, or at the grave, or at the memorial table in the temple. This rite is actually a prayer service for the consolation and support of the grieving relatives of the suicide. That is, such a prayer service will be performed specifically by separate agreement with the priest and always in the presence of relatives - in the temple.

In addition to performing the proposed rite, relatives and friends can take over, with the blessing of the priest, private reading of the prayer of the venerable elder Leo of Optina:

Seek, O Lord, the lost soul of Thy servant (name): if it is possible to eat, have mercy. Your destinies are unsearchable. Do not put me in sin with this prayer of mine, but may Thy holy will be done.

Most of all, the distribution of alms for them and the pious life of their relatives and friends help such dead people.

The rite of prayerful consolation of relatives, the belly of the self-willed deceased

approved by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian
Orthodox Church of July 27, 2011

Blessed be our God:

Trisagion according to Our Father:

Alleluia, tone 6. Verse 1: Lord, do not rebuke me with Your wrath, / below with Your anger punish me. Verse 2: Have mercy on me, Lord, / for I am weak.

Troparion: Have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us:

Glory: Lord, have mercy on us:

And now: Mercy doors:

Psalm 50.

And the abie antiphon, tone 3:

Verse: Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, / as we are filled with humiliation (Ps. 122: 3).

Heavenly Father, / Loving, Humane, / Merciful, merciful, merciful be to us, / oh, all-embracing / and receiving everyone! (Kontakion of St. Roman the Melodist on Great Thursday).

Verse: The speech is foolish in his heart: there is no God (Ps. 53:1).

Heavenly Father, / Loving, Humane, / Merciful, merciful, merciful be to us, / oh, all-embracing / and receiving everyone!

Glory:

Whenever, Judge, sit down like a Benevolent One, and show Your terrible Glory, O Savior: oh, what a fear then, of a burning furnace, to all who fear Your unbearable judgment! (Grand Order. Canon. Thurs., p. 8, tr. 4).

And now:

Not imams of other help, / not imams of other hope, / unless You, the Lady, / You help us, / We hope in You / and we boast in You, / Thy servants, let us not be ashamed.

Let's pray to the Lord.

Lord have mercy.

Prayer
Master, Lord, Merciful and Humanitarian, we cry out to You: we have sinned and lawless before You, we have transgressed Your saving commandments and the love of the gospel to our despairing brother (our despairing sister) is not revealed. But not with the fury of Thy appearance, punish us with Thy anger below, O Lord of mankind, weaken, heal our heartfelt grief, may the many bounties of Thy sins overcome our abyss, and Thy countless goodness the abyss may cover the bitter sea of ​​our tears.
To her, the Sweetest Jesus, we still pray, give to Your servant, a kinsman who died of his own will, in sorrow their consolation and firm hope in Your mercy.
As a Merciful and Humanitarian God, Thou art, and we send glory to You with Your Beginningless Father and Your Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Wisdom.

Holy Mother of God save us.

Most honest Cherubim:

Bless in the name of the Lord, father.

Ordinary (small) leave.

What is the process of "church divorce"? To whom and why is permission given for a special funeral service for those who committed suicide? What are the statistics on debunking and suicide?

We asked these and other questions to the Vicar of the Kievan Metropolitanate, Bishop Iona (Cherepanov) of Obukhovsky, at the end of his duty on one of the reception days.

- Vladyka, please tell us how the reception of people in the Kyiv Metropolis is organized?

In the Kyiv Metropolis, 4 days a week - from Monday to Thursday - vicar bishops receive visitors according to the approved schedule.

People turn mainly on two issues: for a blessing to enter into a second marriage and about the possibility of burying suicides.

There are other reasons; in fact, any person can come to the vicar for an appointment at the Metropolis and find out all the issues of ecclesiastical canonical concern that concern him.

Reception time - from 10.00 to 14.00. In addition, on some days of the year, such as: the first and last week of Great Lent, major church holidays, days of official church events, the reception is not held.

To clarify whether the vicar bishop is receiving on a given day, you can call the duty officer in building 70-A: 044 255 12 46.

There is no "debunking" procedure

- What is "debunking"?

- "Debunking" as such does not exist. The church cannot annul a church marriage: a wedding is the same sacrament as baptism or chrismation. But due to human weakness, the Church can give a blessing for entering into a second marriage.

The reasons why the previous family broke up are very different: the departure of one of the spouses, drunkenness, or, as most often happens, "did not agree on the characters." Unfortunately, when entering into marriage - not only in church, but also registered by the state, people do not pay serious attention to preparing for a family union, often future spouses know each other for a very short time and practically do not know each other. For these and many other reasons, marriages, unfortunately, break up.

According to statistics, up to 60% of marriages concluded in state registration bodies are terminated. And how many more so-called "civil" marriages ...

As for the church environment, on average, from 5 to 15 people a day come with a question about entering into a second marriage. This is a fairly large number.

I emphasize once again: there is no “debunking” procedure, there is only a blessing for entering into a second marriage.

In this vein, a petition is written addressed to the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry: “I ask Your Beatitude to bless me to enter into a second church marriage with an Orthodox Christian (full name). In this regard, I ask you to consider the previous marriage with such and such an Orthodox Christian (full name) invalid. Approximately the same content is issued a certificate with a blessing for entering into a second marriage.

In order to apply for a second marriage, certain documents are required: a wedding certificate (if any, since not all churches issue such certificates), a certificate of dissolution of a previous marriage, a certificate of registration of a second marriage, or a certificate from the registry office that already a corresponding application has been made. Based on these documents, we give a blessing for entering into a second marriage.

For the priest who will perform the wedding, an instruction is placed to perform the wedding according to the order of the second marriage. In the rites of the Orthodox Church there is such a rite that has some differences from the usual wedding. So, for example, crowns are not placed on the heads of the spouses. The Orthodox Church places crowns on young spouses to commemorate their victory over passions, as a sign that they have kept their purity before marriage. And although in modern times the situation is such that very few young people remain virgin before marriage, it is still traditional for the young to be crowned with crowns.

- Are there situations when a person comes only for a “dethronement”, not intending to enter into a second marriage?

Yes, it happens that people come for the dissolution of a church marriage: if one of the spouses has already entered into a second marriage or leads a lifestyle that does not correspond to an Orthodox person.

This question is very serious. We know that Christ in the Gospel indicated only one reason for the dissolution of marriage - the guilt of adultery. Since this fact, as a rule, cannot be confirmed, then if a person has a desire to dissolve a marriage without entering into a second one, a written petition from the confessor of this person is usually required that he, knowing the situation, asks for divorce.

- Did it happen that you did not give blessings for a second marriage?

In my memory, there were no such cases.

Once a man came for a blessing to enter into a third marriage. But this is no longer blessed by the Church.

- That is, the Church does not bless the third or even fourth marriages?

If life circumstances have developed in such a way that a person wishes to enter into a church marriage for the third time, then in this case a written petition of the confessor is also required, who, knowing the situation and life of this person, considers it necessary for him to enter into a third marriage. But in this case, penance is imposed on the spouse, that is, fasting and a certain number of bows or prayers.

- Summarizing the conversation about receiving a church blessing for a second marriage, you canwhether to say thatrespecting the choiceand the decision of people without becomingyat obstacles,and if they came for a blessing, do they not refuse?

Yes, if there are no obvious reasons of a canonical or moral nature. After all, not knowing the details of the lives of these people, in this case we trust the relevant state bodies and, based on the decision of these bodies, we bless the entry into a second marriage.

But, of course, if possible, we try to talk with people about the importance of church marriage and the need to save a family.

80% of suicides are committed for no apparent reason.

- “Permission for the funeral of a suicide” - what kind of document is this, to whom and for what reason is it issued?

Unfortunately, the number of suicides is increasing every year. And very often, relatives, grieving for the soul of their loved one, seek to bury him in a proper way, that is, with the performance of church rites.

But the Church can bless the funeral to the fullest extent only if the person committed suicide in a state of insanity, because he did not consciously oppose the will of God and could not control his actions. The basis for such permission is documentary evidence that the suicide was treated in the relevant neuropsychiatric institutions. Usually, a certificate is issued that such and such a person with such and such a diagnosis was treated in such and such a clinic. If there is such confirmation, a blessing is given for the funeral.

There were cases - although I personally did not come across, but heard from old clergymen - that people acquired such certificates, wanting, at all costs, to do their own thing - to bury a suicide according to the Orthodox rite.

But you need to understand that if here, on earth, you can deceive a priest, a bishop, then you cannot deceive the Lord. Relatives who fraudulently want to make a burial do not bring any benefit to the soul of this unfortunate person, and besides, they harm their souls, because they deliberately lie in such a serious and important matter regarding eternity.

If a person committed suicide without mental illness, but for other reasons - because of alcoholism, drug addiction, debts, unrequited love or any other reason, the Church does not bless him to be buried. During the funeral, we pray: "With the saints, give rest to your servant." But it is difficult to call a servant of God a man who has renounced the will of God, all the more boldly - to ask the Lord to rest him with the saints.

In this case, we can only ask the Lord's mercy for this person and his family. After all, if a person commits suicide, then part of the blame lies with the people who surrounded him - they did not support, did not help him, perhaps they remained indifferent to his being in a state of despondency, despair.

In such cases, the burial is performed according to a special order, in which the Church does not ask the Lord to rest with the saints, but only asks for mercy on this unfortunate person and his relatives.

A clergyman cannot perform this rite without permission, only with the blessing of the bishop. For this blessing, relatives come to the reception. People want at least some prayers to be said over the body of the deceased, because it concerns such an important issue as the posthumous fate of our neighbor.

- What are the reasons for suicide - based on the cases with which people come to the bishop?

People who commit suicide are of completely different ages, social status and wealth, both young and old. No particular trends are observed.

What is unfortunate and even scary: a lot, up to 80% of suicides are committed, as a rule, for no apparent reason.

The standard situation that relatives talk about: a person came home from work, watched TV, had dinner. I talked, packed my things to go fishing with friends tomorrow. Literally a few minutes later they go into his room and see that he hanged himself. For no apparent reason...

It is tragic that on the day of admission there are from 1 to 3 cases of treatment about this! And this is only the Kyiv diocese, and only those who converted to the Church. What then is the statistics for the whole of Ukraine? How many people are buried without any prayer at all?..

Be attentive to your neighbors, love them, take care of them!

- What do you say to relatives?

People who come with such petitions, naturally, are in a state of shock and horror from what happened, they cannot adequately perceive the information. Therefore, we have published a small brochure with words of consolation and instruction, and we give it with us - so that, having come to his senses, a person can read and pass it on to other relatives. Including so that people know how to help the soul of the deceased.

And help, first of all, can be alms. Many saints spoke of the fact that almsgiving can deliver from many sins, including such a terrible sin as suicide.

The brochure also contains a prayer of one of the Optina elders, which the monk blessed to read to his spiritual child.

And so, to be honest, it’s hard to find words - people with tearful eyes, in black scarves, are sitting in the queue for the reception, they rush further along their mournful chores. Today, for example, there were 3 cases of suicide and about 12 appeals for a second marriage. I try not to burden them with questions or instructions.

But what I would like to say to everyone: be attentive to your neighbors, love your neighbors, take care of them! If you see that it is hard for a person, that he is suffering, try to somehow alleviate his suffering - either with a kind word, or advice, or action. Try not to leave a person alone with his weakness and despondency. Because the demon of despondency can lead a person into such a terrible state.

And to those who enter into a second marriage, I would like to say - remember the importance of the sacrament of the wedding, treat it as seriously and responsibly as possible! Still, a wedding is not a beautiful addition to the painting in the registry office, it is a sacrament in which young people are given the grace to live like a Christian, help each other, being saved together, going to the Lord.