A funeral in the Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church has around 100 000 adherents in Sweden and around 220 million in the world.

What usually happens at the ceremony?

The funeral is always a burial in the ground. The person who has died is dressed in their own clothes and the coffin is often open during the service.

The service rests entirely on the liturgy led by the priest, and the congregation stands throughout. The priest goes with the family to the cemetery and reads prayers for the person who has died before the coffin is lowered.

What is useful to know?

• Cremation is not permitted.
• The funeral is preferably held on the third day after the death.
• The coffin lid is removed during the service.
• Incense is used.
• Funerals are usually well attended.
• A photograph on the headstone is common.

The family return to the grave on the third, ninth, twelfth and fortieth day to pray for the soul of the person who has died.

What do we help with?

We coordinate with the parish and keep to the timeframe, which is the part that gets tight when the funeral is to take place as early as the third day.

The content of the ceremony belongs to the family and the congregation. We make sure that everything around it is in place in time: collection and transport, day or night, coffin and urn, contact with the cemetery authority, the death notice and the online memorial, and all the paperwork for the authorities.

What does it cost?

The same price list applies whatever the tradition. See what a funeral costs, or call us and we will work out the figures for your situation.

Where can we read more?

Sveriges Begravningsbyråers Förbund, the Swedish Funeral Directors Association, describes the tradition at begravningar.se.

We arrange funerals according to several different traditions.