the church teaches that the departed benefit spiritually from this action more than any other on their behalf. Consecration of a Cemetery In the Orthodox Church there is a ritual for the "Consecration of a Cemetery", found in the Euchologion (Slavonic: Trebnik). A large cross is erected in the center of the cemetery. The ritual begins with the Lesser Blessing of Waters. Then the cross and the entire property are consecrated with prayers, incense and the sprinkling of holy water. Persons for whom a funeral service may not be chanted (see paragraphs above) may not be buried in a consecrated cemetery without the blessing of the local bishop. If it is not possible to bury an Orthodox Christian in a consecrated cemetery, the individual grave may be consecrated, using the rite called the "Blessing of a Grave". Burial confraternities Even from the period of the catacombs such associations seem to have existed among the Christians and they no doubt imitated to some extent in their organization the pagan collegia for the same purpose. Throughout the Middle Ages the guilds to a very large extent were burial confraternities; at any rate the seemly carrying out of the funeral rites at the death of any of their members together with a provision of Masses for his soul form an almost invariable feature in the constitutions of such guilds. But still more directly to the purpose we find certain organizations formed to carry out the burial of the dead and friendless as a work of charity. The most celebrated of these was the "Misericordia" of Florence, believed to have been instituted in 1244 by Pier Bossi, and surviving to the present day. It is an organization which associates in this work of mercy the members of all ranks of society. Their self-imposed task is not limited to escorting the dead to their last resting-place, but they discharge the functions of an ambulance corps, dealing with accidents as they occur and carrying the sick to the hospitals. When on duty until recently the members wore a hood which completely disguised them. See also Veneration of the dead Fate of the unlearned Funerary art Cemetery Cremation Requiem References External links Let's Talk About Death by a Nun of the Orthodox Church Christian Funeral Rituals by Funeral Services Singapore Burial Death customs Christianity and death