A week after the regular Easter holidays, Moldovans celebrate the Easter for the Dead, a commemoration of the lives of their deceased loved ones. Families gather at the cemetery where a party atmosphere prevails as food, wine, and small gifts are spread out on the grave sites and on tables alongside. While there is some solemnity especially for recently deceased relatives, all in all, family members drink their home brewed beverages and eat their traditional party food, all the while sharing stories/memories of their departed relatives. It's all very colorful and pleasurable, not at all maudlin. I'm reminded of the Chinese custom to visit their families' grave sites as well - Ching Ming which occurs in the third lunar month. I noted a lot of similarities between the two cultures in terms of this particular observance.
We visited the cemetery on April 27, the one where Emilia's late husband is buried and some of his other relatives. His son picked us up and helped us cart several bags of food, gift bags for the relatives, and other commemorative tokens for the grave sites. Arriving at the cemetery we met lines of cars trying to enter the parking area, and throngs of people, walking in procession into the cemetery, laden with flowers and food baskets, making their way to their loved ones' grave sites. Each family plot has fencing around it which makes the space more private for these gatherings but you can still socialize with the neighbors over in the next plots.
Each family in the clan brings food and we were all snacking on dishes brought by others. It's also customary to share your food and drink with whoever comes by (strangers even) as you are honoring the deceased of that family. It is considered impolite to refuse to drink with the family, so you learn to pace yourself when drinking alcoholic beverages, of which there is much. The belief is that sharing the food with others is also spiritually feeding the deceased, hence the more food there is, the more bounty for their souls.
Besides the usual flowers laid over the grave site, bags of sweets (bomboane), a round bread loaf, placinta, and other foods are also placed there, along with a serving of wine and water. Bags containing small gifts such as towels, handkerchiefs, and children's toys are also set down, which will be distributed to the appropriate guests and family members at the end. Candles are inserted into the offerings and lit (until the breeze blew them out).
Emilia poses with her stepson Vlad (left), cousin of her stephchildren Elena, stepdaughter Dina with Vlad's daughter Alina standing in front of her. Emilia's sister-in-law Aurica and Aurica's son Vladimir as well as Dina's husband Maxim were also in attendance among others.
Priests make the rounds of the cemetery to offer blessings for the offerings being laid out for the deceased. The Balti cemetery is the largest in the city and several priests are dispatched to ensure sufficient coverage. Priest Nicolae was in our section, appearing around 11:30 to provide blessings to those families who wanted them. He chanted some verses at each gravesite, swung the censer over the tombs, and recited prayers for the dead. Emilia flagged him down and he performed those rites for the dearly departed in their family plot. I took some video, which you can check out here:
http://vimeo.com/94226273?email_id=Y2xpcF90cmFuc2NvZGVkfDZiYzZjNGZjMmM4NGI3OTdkN2UxOTdkODk5OTA3MGQxODA5fDI3NzM3MDI0fDEzOTk0MDUyNDN8NzcwMQ%3D%3D&utm_campaign=7701&utm_medium=clip-transcode_complete-finished-20120100&utm_source=email
That closes out the Easter holidays in Moldova for this year. During May, offices closed on May 1 (Socialists' Labor Day) and many will be closed on May 9, Victory Day when the Nazis surrendered to Russia after WWII.
June brings the new crop of Peace Corps volunteers to Moldova, and as I'm a mentor to two of the newbies, I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to report. It's difficult to believe that I've been in-country for almost a year, experienced all the seasons! I empathize with the new group coming in, who are asking exactly the same kinds of questions that I and my fellow M28s asked. Summer will be fun!
Poftim!
Barbara
We visited the cemetery on April 27, the one where Emilia's late husband is buried and some of his other relatives. His son picked us up and helped us cart several bags of food, gift bags for the relatives, and other commemorative tokens for the grave sites. Arriving at the cemetery we met lines of cars trying to enter the parking area, and throngs of people, walking in procession into the cemetery, laden with flowers and food baskets, making their way to their loved ones' grave sites. Each family plot has fencing around it which makes the space more private for these gatherings but you can still socialize with the neighbors over in the next plots. |
| Grave of Emilia's late husband Vladimir |
Each family in the clan brings food and we were all snacking on dishes brought by others. It's also customary to share your food and drink with whoever comes by (strangers even) as you are honoring the deceased of that family. It is considered impolite to refuse to drink with the family, so you learn to pace yourself when drinking alcoholic beverages, of which there is much. The belief is that sharing the food with others is also spiritually feeding the deceased, hence the more food there is, the more bounty for their souls.
Besides the usual flowers laid over the grave site, bags of sweets (bomboane), a round bread loaf, placinta, and other foods are also placed there, along with a serving of wine and water. Bags containing small gifts such as towels, handkerchiefs, and children's toys are also set down, which will be distributed to the appropriate guests and family members at the end. Candles are inserted into the offerings and lit (until the breeze blew them out).
 |
| Dina lighting candles |
Emilia poses with her stepson Vlad (left), cousin of her stephchildren Elena, stepdaughter Dina with Vlad's daughter Alina standing in front of her. Emilia's sister-in-law Aurica and Aurica's son Vladimir as well as Dina's husband Maxim were also in attendance among others.
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| Tables overflowing with food |
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| Priest Nicolae blessing offerings to deceased |
http://vimeo.com/94226273?email_id=Y2xpcF90cmFuc2NvZGVkfDZiYzZjNGZjMmM4NGI3OTdkN2UxOTdkODk5OTA3MGQxODA5fDI3NzM3MDI0fDEzOTk0MDUyNDN8NzcwMQ%3D%3D&utm_campaign=7701&utm_medium=clip-transcode_complete-finished-20120100&utm_source=email
That closes out the Easter holidays in Moldova for this year. During May, offices closed on May 1 (Socialists' Labor Day) and many will be closed on May 9, Victory Day when the Nazis surrendered to Russia after WWII.
June brings the new crop of Peace Corps volunteers to Moldova, and as I'm a mentor to two of the newbies, I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to report. It's difficult to believe that I've been in-country for almost a year, experienced all the seasons! I empathize with the new group coming in, who are asking exactly the same kinds of questions that I and my fellow M28s asked. Summer will be fun!
Poftim!
Barbara
