On Sunday 12 May, Sarah and I left our apartment to see a queue of six or seven buses blocking the bus lane on the main road out of the centre. This was not, as is typical for Chișinău, a stationary traffic jam. Instead, a fleet of buses had been organised to take Moldovans to visit the enormous cemetery on the edge of the city.

‘Paștele Blajinilor’ or ‘Memorial Easter’ is one of the biggest events in the national calendar. Moldovans travel to their local cemetery to visit the graves of their deceased loved ones and adorn their tombstones with wine, food and flowers.

For some, this is a very religious exercise. Andrei Corobcean, lecturer at Moldova State University, sums up this perspective when he writes, ‘to achieve forgiveness of sins for the deceased, you need to sacrifice something to obtain God’s goodwill.’¹

For others, it is an enjoyable tradition that shows respect for family and culture. One Moldovan journalist writes that ‘reflecting on others’ lives helps us become better individuals and guides us on our own life paths.’²

And for others, it’s an excuse for a party. Orthodox priest Octavian Moșin reflects that over the course of the day, many Moldovans drift into ‘talking, eating, drinking, and other behaviour typical of those who do not live in humility.’¹ Anyone who’s spent more than a few days in Eastern Europe can read between the lines here!

While a lot could be said about the religious idea of praying for the forgiveness of deceased relatives, it would need a far longer article, and an apologetic for excluding apocryphal texts from the Bible (the Orthodox church accepts the apocryphal 2 Maccabees 12:46, as a case in point).

Here, it’s perhaps more worthwhile to think about those who follow the traditions without considering themselves religious. The idea of self-improvement and striving for good deeds is prevalent, particularly among young people in Moldova. Many have stepped away from the Orthodox church, but still long for a guiding principle in their lives.

However, Isaiah 64:6 puts a spanner in the works of our attempts to better ourselves – ‘All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.’ If we think that any amount of reflection, memorial or self-improvement can give us a leg to stand on before God, we have deeplymisunderstood the extent of our sin.

But we have also misunderstood the extent of God’s grace. Isaiah’s words do not appear in a vacuum, but in a book that opens with a chapter including this beautiful promise from God – ‘“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”’ (Isaiah 1:18). Our sin is taken away and we are made clean not by the prayers of our descendants or for our descendants, not by our good deeds and traditions, but by the precious blood of Christ, poured out on our behalf.

We are more sinful than we could possibly understand, and God is more gracious than we could ever dream. This is something we all need to hear and be reminded of, whether we’re a religious tradition-keeper, a respectable moralist, a wild hedonist – or an observer of another culture, often tempted to feel superior. What we all need is Christ, the cross and God’s amazing grace to undeserving sinners.

¹Mihailă, Patricia. https://www.moldova.org/ce-are-pomenirea-mortilor-cu-apa-sambetei-si-paganismul-tot-ce-nu-stiai-despre-pastele-blajinilor/ (Translated from Romanian)

²Vrabie, Elena. https://moldovamatters.substack.com/p/my-childhood-memories-from-the-easter

By Matt Gurtler, serving in Chișinău, Moldova