433-462

• Κοντογιάννης, Σπυρίδων Δημ.

The synoptic reference to the sacredness of burial monuments, given above, as indicative of the attribution of honors to the departed and their tombs in the Orthodox Church, highlights the ages-long and sacred tradition by which the Church feeds broad areas of her divine worship and of the spiritual life of her believers. Thus,Firstly: The meaning of death, of the burial of the dead and of the attribution of honors to the dead and their tombs have been sealed by the entire work of the divine economy in Christ, from the creation of the world to the last things for the salvation of the world.Man is related, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, to his archetype, the «uniquely immortal and supremely unchangeable God», through his «image». This is why the final end of man is not his death, but his communion with the uniquely immortal one whereby he too may be rendered immortal.Secondly: The arguments in favor of respecting the received ecclesiastical tradition concerning the burial of the dead, the ecclesiastical funeral and the sacredness of the burial monuments, as well as the attribution of honors to our dead on their tombs, can be summed up in the projection of the Orthodox teaching concerning the sacredness of the human person. This teaching is expressed in the entire spiritual tradition of the Church and in the her respect not only for the divine gift of life but also for the mystery of death, as this is impressively and realistically manifested in the Funeral Service and in the entire mystagogical ceremony of the ecclesiastical burial of Orthodox Christians.Thirdly: The burial monuments, or simply the tombs, constitute from the foundation of the Church the tangible symbols of the sacredness of life and death and are indissolubly linked with the saving message of the burial and the holy Sepulcher of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is extended as far as the Holy Altar in all the sacred churches, where the mystery of the Lord’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world is celebrated.Fourthly: The Church linked from the beginning the burial and tombs of her departed members with the archetypical burial and tomb of Christ, and thus provided another link between the resurrection of human beings and the Resurrection of Christ.Fifthly: The Church keeps alive the memory of her members that have fallen asleep and prays for them while honoring with continuity and consistency the memories of her saints and martyrs of the faith, considering their tombs as extensions of the Tomb of the Lord that radiate the divine grace to the faithful. This is why the first sacred Temples were developed around the tombs of the Martyrs of the faith as their center.Sixthly: According to the faith of the Church it is not only the saints that participate in the eternity of the life in Christ, but also all the faithful according to the measure of their strength or grace of God. This is why the Church prays on regularly appointed memorial days of their death, and also on weekly and yearly festal cycles (Mnemosyna). Indeed, Saturday is appointed as a memorial day for the dead and as a day of honoring them on their tombs.Seventhly: In light of this, one can understand the liturgical practice of the Church, her continuous prayer for those that have fallen asleep and also the indissoluble linking of this prayer with the tombs in which the bodies of the departed have been placed. Furthermore, one can understand why respect for the memory of the dead was indenti- fied with respect for the sacredness of the tomb where their bodies rest until the general resurrection at the end of the time. Finally,Eighthly: This indissoluble linkage between the sacredness of the dead and the sacredness of their tomb is characteristically expressed in the Church’s disapproval of desecration of tombs as irreverence to the memory of the dead, and vice versa, and also in the Church’s vehement condemnation of plundering or desecrating Christian tombs (graverobbing). This attitude of the Church is rooted in the conviction that every spoiling or desecrating of tombs, like every act of exterminating the corporeal element of human existence, as is the case with cremation of the dead, implies lack of faith in the Resurrection of Christ and of mankind.

• Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

• Θρησκεία

ταφικά μνημεία

Ή παρούσα μελέτη αποτελεί ανεπτυγμένη μορφή Είσηγήσεως στην Ημερίδα τοϋ Δήμου Αθηναίων, μέ θέμα «Ή προστασία τών Μνημείων τής Αθήνας. Α' Κοιμητήριο Αθηνών. Παρούσα κατάσταση - Νέες Τεχνολογίες - προοπτικές», που έγινε στις 13 Δεκεμβρίου 2000 στο ξενοδοχείο «DIVANI - CARAVEL», Περιέχει βιβλιογραφία