Christian funeral rites in Byzantium are little known and even less studied. Elena Velkova Velkovska made some studies focusing on

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

tradition in

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

and defined three major periods, namely ''the early period (fourth to fifth century)'', ''the euchological repertory (eighth to twelfth centuries)'', and ''the oldest rite (tenth century)''.

Early period (fourth to fifth centuries)

The Christian funeral rites in this period included the singing of

psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

, and the celebration of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

at the cemetery.Elena Velkova Velkovska. In: ''The Handbook for Liturgical Studies''; 2000. There are also commemorations for the third, ninth, and fortieth day after death, a practice that has been kept in the East until today.

The euchological repertory (eighth to twelfth centuries)

The Christian funeral rites in this period focused on prayers. Based on

Barberini The House of Barberini is a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in the 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban pal ...

, it is known that there were seven prayers often used: there are three prayers for a deceased person; one is a prayer at the bowing of the head; two are for the burial of

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

and

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

; one for a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

; and finally a diaconal litany for the dead.

The oldest rite (tenth century)

The Christian funeral rite in this period is a single rite: for both laity and monks. It takes place in the church and consisted of an opening blessing; also psalms of

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning (between midnight and dawn). The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which w ...

were recited. Psalms of Matins can be replaced by Psalm 90 if the deceased is a monk; litany by the deacon and finally singing of "

Alleluia ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern Hebrew, Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, ...

References

Funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

Christianity and death {{morecat, date=March 2024