40 days and 40 nights

[Muzh]

According to tradition observed by some in eastern Ukraine, this the end of 40 days of mourning by Neeley's family and friends. So here's to David.

[Faux Pas]

According to tradition observed by some in eastern Ukraine, this the end of 40 days of mourning by Neeley's family and friends. So here's to David.

I'll raise my glass to David and his family

[mendeleyev]

Thanks for the reminder Muzh.

In our thoughts we sit at his gravesite and set out vodka and bread for the final journey.

Вечная память Дэвид. Пусть земля будет тебе пухом.

[Gator]

What is the derivation of 40 days?  I assume it is Biblical as the period of 40 days is mentioned a few different times in the Bible and not just in the story about Noah. 

[Boethius]

Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection.

[Gator]

Thanks Boethius,
 
I must have slept through that Sunday School lesson.   

[tim 360]

Thanks Boethius,
 
I must have slept through that Sunday School lesson.   

40 was a special symbolic number used in the Old and New Testaments usually it is in a time of testing, Like Jesus in the wilderness or Moses on Mt Sinai with God for forty days or Lent is 40 days...40 was just especially special to the ancient Hebrews and early Christians.

[mendeleyev]

Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection.

40 was a special symbolic number used in the Old and New Testaments usually it is in a time of testing, Like Jesus in the wilderness or Moses on Mt Sinai with God for forty days or Lent is 40 days...40 was just especially special to the ancient Hebrews and early Christians.

Orthodoxy teaches that we do the same. The first 40 days after our deaths is spent in soul travel, visiting places we've been so that before the judgment we can begin to ask God's forgiveness for the sins committed during our lifetimes.

Sometime ago here I wrote and included photos on a topic about Russian burial traditions.

Some older Russians who lived in the time of the GPW believe that Stalin still remains in soul limbo as his sins are so great that 40 days or even 40 years would not be enough. Two quick examples:

- My very first Russian landlord, a well educated attorney, left a rocking chair in the living room with very strict instructions that NOBODY was to sit on the chair. It was reserved for Stalin's ghost just in case he wandered by.  As you may recall, Stalin was a nightowl and had a habit of wondering out and about Moscow at night in disguise. He'd invite himself into homes and drink tea with frightened citizens who were usually perceptive enough to know who was this odd guest, but too fearful to allow him to understand that his disguise wasn't working.

- Perhaps a year or more later I visited the home of a lady who has since become a dear friend. Educated in both Moscow and London, she was a professor and a talk show host on the Voice of Russia, now retired. She lived in a tiny 2 room apartment in which the grand piano took up the centre of her living room. Thus her small bed was in the kitchen. If you were to play her piano, the first thing she'd do is to gently brush off the stool with her hand--just in case Stalin's unseen ghost (he loved piano) might happen to be already sitting there.

[Gator]

Some older Russians who lived in the time of the GPW believe that Stalin still remains in soul limbo as his sins are so great that 40 days or even 40 years would not be enough. Two quick examples:

- My very first Russian landlord, a well educated attorney, ......
 
- .....she was a professor and a talk show host on the Voice of Russia....

Two sophisticated  people, yet believers of the supernatural.   
 
I read Stalin's Ghost  by Martin Cruz Smith (Gorky Park).   If I were not interested in Russia, I would have stopped reading it the first day. Nevertheless, some of what you describe is in the book.
 
You wrote "older Russians," yet the belief in the supernatural is imprinted in younger people, albeit less as superstitions.   A westernized Moscow woman (about 30-yo)  was driving her car.  She suddenly stopped for a black cat, and she would not proceed until some unknowingly person went ahead of her.   It seems so bizarre that as a people they are much more superstitious than Americans.  Americans know about black cats; however, I have never known any American to stop and wait for another person to cross.

 

[GQBlues]

Giving my respect and well wishes to David. May he ascend to the promised heights.
 

Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection.

As I thought. I always knew I was a bad catholic, but isn't the 40th day of celebration technically the 43rd day of his departure (death)? I thought you held a vigil for 3 days for his resurrection, then mourned for 39 more, then rejoice on the 40th..(?)

[mendeleyev]

Some traditions place it after the funeral as you mentioned. However most Orthodox traditions place it after the soul leaves the body (death).

Here is a description of what transpires for the deceased during those 40 days: http://www.orthodox.net/articles/life-after-death-john-maximovitch.html

If the person was Orthodox the funeral consists of three services which are the vigil, or Trisagion, after death and is usually conducted by a priest at the wake. The funeral liturgy is conducted at the church with the body present on the day of burial. Normally, the divine liturgy (Mass) is celebrated at the end as it represents the hope of resurrection to the living. Lastly, the vigil is repeated at the graveside.

When possible it is traditional for the person to be buried with their head facing West and feet facing East so that when Christ returns for the resurrection one can be already facing the right direction (East) upon rising from the dead.

Funerals always end with a funeral banquet with foods of celebration and поминали кутья —a special kind of boiled rice with raisins along with other foods. A memorial panikhida (vigil) is observed in the church on the 3rd, 9th and 40th days after death and at the 1 year anniversary.

Some families commemorate the 40 days with a meal and a place at the table is served for the departed. When that meal goes untouched it is considered a sign that the departed has moved on to the next life.

[GQBlues]

Some traditions place it after the funeral as you mentioned. However most Orthodox traditions place it after the soul leaves the body (death).

Here is a description of what transpires for the deceased during those 40 days: http://www.orthodox.net/articles/life-after-death-john-maximovitch.html

If the person was Orthodox the funeral consists of three services which are the vigil, or Trisagion, after death and is usually conducted by a priest at the wake. The funeral liturgy is conducted at the church with the body present on the day of burial. Normally, the divine liturgy (Mass) is celebrated at the end as it represents the hope of resurrection to the living. Lastly, the vigil is repeated at the graveside.

When possible it is traditional for the person to be buried with their head facing West and feet facing East so that when Christ returns for the resurrection one can be already facing the right direction (East) upon rising from the dead.

Funerals always end with a funeral banquet with foods of celebration and поминали кутья —a special kind of boiled rice with raisins along with other foods. A memorial panikhida (vigil) is observed in the church on the 3rd, 9th and 40th days after death and at the 1 year anniversary.

Some families commemorate the 40 days with a meal and a place at the table is served for the departed. When that meal goes untouched it is considered a sign that the departed has moved on to the next life.

Thanks for that information, Mendy. I remember as a kid when one of our relative died, everyone held a vigil for 3 straight nights and everyone taking turns making sure someone stayed awake close to the departed at this juncture. Then the body is laid to rest and once again visited and celebrated on the 39th with offerings of sustenance as mentioned. IIRC.

[Gator]

Please do not take my comments as irreverent; this thread is about David, and I respect other peoples beliefs even if they differ from mine. 
 
I have never paid much attention to death and burial rituals, hence I was unaware of the 40 days.   My concept of heaven and afterlife is how one is remembered by those he/she/it knew; 40 days should have no affect. 
 
Being a nature boy, I believe in scattering the ashes.  Does cremation conform to the Orthodox beliefs (e. g., direction one faces is not a parameter)? I visited a columbarium in Moscow - a large, busy place so I assume Orthodox religion accepts it.    In the adjacent cemetery I did not look for nor recall a pattern suggesting everyone had their feet to the East.
 
I ask because if I have an Orthodox wife I do not want a battle about my remains, as if I would care. 

[mendeleyev]

For a practicing Orthodox Christian it is prohibited except in the event of accidental death involving fire.

There are several reasons: in preparation for an Orthodox funeral after being embalmed the body is wrapped in a shroud and then anointed with holy oil and perfumes.  This rite follows the sequence after Christ's death as myrrh and oil is poured on the body just as at baptism.

The church believes that the period immediately after Christ's Crucifixion shows the proper way to treat the dead is a reverent burial of the body. So, there is the vigil and prayers and the incense with hymns during the time leading up to the funeral.  Wrapping the body in a new shroud serves as a symbol of the new dress of incorruption the person is destined to receive.

During that vigil the incense and candles testify to the belief that the deceased has been liberated from darkness of sin and is going to the true Light.

A bodily burial is a prelude to a future bodily resurrection.

[mobob]

I received a note from Irina on the 40th day. I have forwarded to her what's been written. I think she will be touched by everybody's thoughtfulness.
 
Once more, I raise a glass of samogon and toast to David. Poka, my friend, poka.
 
Everybody, Thank You.
 
John

[mendeleyev]

It is very nice of you to communicate those messages to her and we hope that she will find comfort from them.