A question about Eastern European/Orthodox tradition

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

I should know this but I haven't been to church in, oh, 33 years. Plus I e-mailed the priest at the church my family attended a week ago but he hasn't responded. Slacker.

A couple of weeks ago I went to my parents' grave. I left flowers and stayed for a few minutes in quiet contemplation. As I was about to leave I noticed a stone placed on top of their grave stone. I also noticed stones on top of other headstones with the Eastern Orthodox cross. I know that it's a Jewish tradition to place stones on top of headstones but I didn't know it was an Eastern Orthodox tradition. Could it be an Eastern European tradition that the Jews adopted? Anyone?

[PapaBear]

I don't work again until Tuesday, but I'll ask the Eastern Orthodox woman at work about it.

[deepinthewoods]

To stop zombies, of course.

Actually there are some traditions which believe interring the deceased under cairns (piles of stones) DOES help prevent the dead from rising. In the Jewish tradition leaving stones on top of a grave site is a hold over from days when visitors would also maintain gravesites by replacing stones that may have falen away from old cairns. It also simply represents that someone has been to visit the grave. Not sure how that fits into E/O trad.

[topless_mike]

my wife is from romania, is greek ortho (supposedly), and has never heard of this.

[PhishHead]

since I am Greek orthodox, but did not know. I asked my dad since he grew up in Greece, here is his answer:

"A stone left on top of the headstone signifies that someone visited, prayed and/or remembered that person. It is more a Jewish tradition than a Greek one but since there are quite a few Jews in Greece it may have been adopted by the Greeks as well."