I am struck by the way women keep their pieces of clothing, wrapped in a sheet, or in travel bags, plastic bags, suitcases… One of the women, Jovana, who is 97 years old, pulled out a dusty old suitcase from underneath the bed and inside of it was a floral dress, long woollen socks (which she probably knitted), petticoat and many family photographs. It was as though she was preparing for a journey and needed to be ready at any moment…
The Orthodox priest told me that in his view, the custom of preparing clothes for death (or funeral as some also say) comes from the tradition of preparing one’s best suit or a dress for the Sunday mass and preparing for the meeting with God. A person needed to be ready and in its ‘Sunday’s best’ when meeting God…
This stayed with me and I think he has definitely touched on some of the religious background to this still mysterious custom.
I met a woman whose husband researched wedding and funeral customs in Nevesinje, in the 1950’s. She published his book posthumously and gave me one copy of the book as a gift, Obrad Micov Samardzic, “The Orthodox Weddings and Funeral Customs in Nevesinje” . Even though he focused mostly on the wedding rituals there is an interesting chapter relating to the preparation for the funeral. In it he writes that it is important to wear ‘a beautiful and new suit’ as after the funeral ‘the women will talk about the way he was buried’. Even though his text is written from a very patriarchal perspective it does give a clue as to why presentation even when dead is very important. This seems to be particularly at play in small places and communities, and in those traditions where body is seen by others.
