The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-06-07
A Greek Funeral.

The Constantinople correspondent oI
an Edinburgh paper, refers to the death
Of its washer-wOman as follows: "a
few hours before the funeral the body
was placed in bath filed with wine,
and there washed by the priest and his
deacon. The corpse was afterward
dressed In the best costumes of the de-
ceased, and laid face uncovered, in the
coffin. This being done, the priest re-
cited certain prayers, and sprinkled
the coffin with holy water, and this was
also done by the relatives and their
friends. The corpse was then carried
out by bearers, and on reaching the
door Of the cottage the person the most
dear to the relative approached bearing
cupful Of white wine and a sponge,
and after having them blessed by the
priest, proceeded to wash the mouth of
the dead woman with the wine as a
symbol of washing away her iniquities.
This done, the cup was thrown on the
ground, trod on, broken in many pieces,
and its fragments hastily covered over
with earth or thrown into the sea. The
funeral procession was then formed,
and started in the following order /:
First came the deacon, carrying the lid
of the coffin, and accompanied by three
friends of the deceased and carrying a
tray covered with numerous small
glasses, another with tray of small
bits of toasted bread, and the third car
rying a large bottle of wine. These
were followed by the choristers, the
priest, the body, (the face uncovered)
and lastly, by the relatives and friends.
In this order the company paraded
through all the streets of the village,
the women and the family, assisted by
the professional weeping women, cry
ing and loudly lamenting, and all after
ward returned to the house of the de-
ceased. There the corpse was laid for
few minutes on the ground at the en-
trance, and then taken up and held
high in the air by the bearers, the rela-
tives and friends thereupon passing un-
der the coffin as token of respect for
the dead. The funeral thereafter pro-
ceeded to the church, where, while the
usual ceremonies were being gone
through, the wine and toast was handed
around, and each person partook of
them, saying in a loud voice, "May the
Lord receive her." the deacon answer
ing each time, "Amen," and incensing
the speakers. A fresh collection was
made for the family, and then the
funeral started for the burial ground.
There the corpse was despoiled of its
finery, the coffin covered up and laid in
the earth, amid the fresh lamentations
of the women. Sweetmeats were then
thrown on the grave, and each assistant
was bound to pick one up and eat it,
saying afresh, "May the lord receive
her." The funeral having thus con-
cluded, the family and friends re-
turned to the nearest cafe, where l had
the satisfaction of seeing the husband
of the defunct washerwOman consoling
himself by getting gloriously drunk on
'raki, kind of white brandy which is
largely drunk by the lower orders in
this country. Three days after the
funeral, platesof boiled barley covered
with sugar, called 'colivas, were sent
around to all the acquaintances of the
family, and eaten in memory of the dev
ceased. This latter custom in the
richer families is renewed three months
and nine days after the death"