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Why do we only have kolifa at memorials and not funerals?
Answer to Question 499 But we do have kolifa at funerals as well. Normally a plate of plain wheat is prepared but by tradition people do not eat the kolifa, they are throw into the coffin accompanied with a prayer said by the priest in connection with the resurrection. The Kollyva are symbolic of the resurrection of the dead on the day of the Second Coming of the Lord. St. Paul said, "what you sow does not come to life unless it dies" (I Corinthians 15:36), and St. John, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). Thus, as the wheat is buried in the soil and disintegrates without really dying but is later regenerated into a new plant that bears much more fruit than itself, so the Christian's body will be raised again from the very corruptible matter from which it is now made. The Kollyva then, symbolize the hope in the resurrection of the dead.
Same member Thank you for clarifying but why do we have a different type of kolifa which we eat and includes pomegranate nuts etc? Is that so it’s more appealing to eat?
Reply Basically the answer is yes, In many places in Cyprus it is customary not to eat the kolyfa from the funeral, the third day mnymosino and the ninth day mnymosino so these are prepared very simply and they only make the traditional kolyfa with all the trimmings from the forty day mnymosino. There is no religious reason for this, I think it is just another silly superstition that somehow if they eat the kolyfa of the memorials before the fortieth day then somehow they will be partaking in that death. Like I said silly and stupid superstitions
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