The religious duty of every Orthodox person is the memory of deceased relatives and friends. On special memorial days, people tend to visit the graves of those who have passed into eternity. An Orthodox Christian needs to know several rules regarding behavior in a cemetery.
An exiled person should be aware that the main purpose of visiting a cemetery is to remember the deceased person. The commemoration of the deceased in the cemetery should not be done through eating any food. The Orthodox Church does not recommend remembering food at burial sites. The main thing that a Christian must do is to pray for the deceased. Those who do not know certain funeral prayers are allowed to simply put the sign of the cross and in their own words ask God for the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased.
It is also necessary to understand that a Christian must behave in a reverent manner in a cemetery. Foul language, drinking of alcoholic beverages should not be allowed. All this is a desecration of the memory of the deceased.
Every Christian should monitor the cleanliness of the graves of deceased relatives and friends. So, you can clean up the cemetery, put things in order at the grave. This is one of the responsibilities of a Christian towards the deceased. At the same time, you cannot litter on the graves. It is not recommended to leave any food at burial sites, as the deceased does not need material food. Sometimes it happens that the left food is eaten up by the dogs.
An Orthodox Christian can lay fresh flowers on the grave of the deceased, and also put a burning candle in memory of the deceased. You can leave the candle in the cemetery.
Leaving the burial place, it is necessary to reapply the sign of the cross with a prayer for the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased. It is worth seeing if all the garbage is removed, if something needs to be fixed, then this should be done, but nothing superfluous should be left in the cemetery.
Thus, it turns out that the main purpose of a Christian's coming to a burial place is to remember the deceased in prayer and to clean up the grave to maintain purity.
