In ancient Rome, a ''refrigerium'' () was a commemorative meal for the dead, consumed in a graveyard. These meals were held on the day of burial, then again on the ninth day after the funeral, and annually thereafter. Early Christians continued the ''refrigerium'' ritual, by taking food to gravesites and

catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

in honor of

Christian martyrs In Christianity, a martyr is a person who was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In the years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake, or ...

, as well as relatives. The early

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

used the term ''refrigerium interim'' to describe a happy state in which the souls of the blessed are refreshed while they await the

Last Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

and their definitive entry into

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. Later Christian writers referred to a similar, interim state of grace as the "

Bosom of Abraham The Bosom of Abraham refers to the place of comfort in the biblical Sheol (or Hades in the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew scriptures from around 200 BC, and therefore so described in the New Testament) where the righteous dead await re ...

" (a term taken from Luke 16:22, 23). Tertullian's notions of ''refrigerium'' were part of a debate on whether the souls of the dead had to await the End of Times and the Last Judgment before their entrance into either heaven or

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, or whether, on the other hand, each soul was assigned its place in the eternal afterlife immediately after death (see

particular judgment Particular judgment, according to Christian eschatology, is the divine judgment that a departed (dead) person undergoes immediately after death, in contradistinction to the general judgment (or Last Judgment) of all people at the end of the w ...

). In

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

's ''

The Great Divorce ''The Great Divorce'' is a novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, published in 1945, based on a theological dream vision of his in which he reflects on the Christian conceptions of Heaven and Hell. The working title was ''Who Goes Home?'' but ...

'', the concept is described as "the damned have holidays".Lewis, C.S., "The Great Divorce" (HarperOne,

946 Year 946 ( CMXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – King Otto I invades the West Frankish Kingdom with an expeditionary force, but his armies are not strong enough ...

, 67. In the book, the damned take an excursion to heaven (for refreshment) where they are invited to stay.

References

* La Piana, George, ''The Tombs of Peter and Paul Ad Catacumbas'', The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1921), 53. * Lietzmann, Hans, ''The Tomb of the Apostles Ad Catacumbas'', The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Apr., 1923), 147. *

Jacques Le Goff Jacques Le Goff (; 1 January 1924 – 1 April 2014) was a French historian and prolific author specializing in the Middle Ages, particularly the 12th and 13th centuries. Le Goff championed the Annales School movement, which emphasizes long-term ...

, ''The Birth of Purgatory'', (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986). {{ISBN, 978-0-226-47083-2 Ceremonial food and drink Funeral food and drink