The burial process with funeral service is the most common and includes a series of services dedicated to the relatives, as well as to the care of the deceased.
Our associates take care of all practical matters, according to the wishes of the deceased’s family, as well as the deceased him/herself. This includes the preparation of the body, the decoration of the church, the planning and execution of the burial, the preparation of the last home, as well as the ensuing meal or coffee offering.
In the civil funeral ceremony, the farewell of the deceased is carried out without the presence of a religious representative and without any religious act.
Services provided by our office include the care and custody of the body, as deemed appropriate for any burial occasion.
As for the ritual followed, friends, colleagues and family members attend, mourn and honour the deceased in a suitably designed venue. The service usually ends with the funeral speeches. Depending on the wishes of the deceased or his/her family, the burial is performed in either the cemetery or crematory.
The practice of decomposing the body into its basic components through the cremation process has its roots in antiquity, where burning was treated as the only virtuous and acceptable final disposition of a dead body.
Increasingly, people’s environmental awareness and consideration of the problems caused by the burial of the deceased make cremation a more attractive option, as a more hygienic way of decomposition.
The rising demand for cremation, especially in the last decade, eventually led to the introduction of a modern crematorium in Greece, in Chalkida (Ritsona), which began operations in late 2019.
Our office can organize and implement the deceased’s body cremation in the crematoria of Chalkida (location Ritsona) in Greece, as well as in England, Bulgaria and any other preferred country, in the presence (or not) of the people close to the deceased.
Cremation of Remains may be an option following the bones’ recovery, provided that: the burial has taken place in either a three year grave (hospitality) or a family grave; or the bones come from an ossuary, replacing the most common options available to relatives or friends, which are the use of a cenotaph or ossuary.
Environmental awareness and understanding of the issues caused by the maintenance of bones in ossuaries and cenotaphs, have sensitized a large number of people by increasing the desire for bone incineration as a means of remediation and completion of the life cycle.
According to the ritual of our Church, the Memorial Service is a symbolic religious ceremony that is repeated in regular intervals, to ensure the deceased’s souls has rested. Memorial Services are scheduled at specified periods of time after death.
The symbolic reference to the memory of the deceased is made by a series of Memorials over the course of a year or more – if so decided. This process takes place either in a closed or extended circle, depending on the wishes of the family, publicly announcing the selected date and time for the Memorial Service.
The third day, the ninth day and the fortieth day after death have special significance. After forty days, memorials are celebrated at six months, one year and, most commonly, on the anniversary of the death. Memorials are held to commemorate the memory of a loved one and the rest of his/her soul, followed by lunch or coffee offered to relatives and friends who were present to honour the deceased. The Memorial Service schedule showcases the transitional stages of the human body, in line with Orthodox Christianity.
Our office is responsible for all the procedures required, depending on the wishes of the family, whether the ceremony takes place in a close or open circle. These include:
determining, in consultation with the Church or Cemetery, the date and time the Memorial Service will be held, its public announcement (announcement, press publication), decoration of the Temple and the grave, special dish preparation (‘koliva’), care of burial site, as well as the organization of the coffee or lunch room.
Exhumation is often a repetition of the painful process of the Burial Ceremony for the family and persons of the deceased. This process usually occurs when the burial does not take place in a family grave but the body is housed in a three year grave. The exhumation -after three years- mainly takes place in Athens and other urban centres, given the limited availability of burial sites in cemeteries.
This is a shorter and more procedural ceremony, usually attended by those who were very close to the deceased, should they wish to do so. Irrespectively, our office can provide updates on the exhumation process, provide assistance and carry out the exhumation process without participation of any family members.
As part of this process, the bones are either transferred – provided three years have passed- to a family grave where they are housed either in an ossuary or in a community cemetery or cremated in a crematorium. We have the opportunity to perform cremation of remains in the crematoria of Chalkida (Ritsona) in Greece, England, Bulgaria and any other country requested.
Transportation of Body, Bones and Ashes requires going through a series of complex and formal, bureaucratic procedures, especially in cases of transportation abroad or repatriation, given different state services are involved.
Our office undertakes to carry out all the required formal procedures ensuring the safe transportation of the body to any city, in any country. In the second case, our office cooperates with renowned funeral offices abroad, if and as necessary.
Our well-trained staff, experienced in luxury service provision, guarantees the safe and formal completion of all procedures, with a view to console as well as provide best-suited assistance to the relatives of the deceased, providing constant updates at every stage of the process.
The Personal Planning option for the Farewell Ceremony is common practice, particularly in Western countries. In this case, the interested party chooses to plan him/herself all details around his/her own funeral.
Personal planning is often chosen in cases where there is no offspring, when it is the person’s wish to not burden friends and relatives with any burial procedures or when it is the interested person’s wish to plan a ceremony according to his/her preferences.
The planning of a future ceremony is done under conditions of absolute secrecy, in agreement with our office. The planning of the ceremony can be agreed upon either with an informal personal agreement between our office and the interested party or by notarial deed in case the interested party wishes to have a formal arrangement.
Our extensive experience and accumulated knowledge of all aspects of this process, guarantees that the planning will be undertaken with absolute respect and in perfect alignment with the wishes of the interested party.