Sousannah “Susan” Moutsos

Wife of Pericles Nicholas Moutsos. I spoke with the funeral home on August 20, 2018 that arranged for Sousanna's body to be flown to Greece. Quite specifially, I was told by a representative of the funeral home that Sousanna was buried at "NEA ELBETIA", which translates into "New Switzerland". The only cemetery that is in the ΝΕΑ ΕΛΒΕΤΙΑ area (near Athens) is called "Cemetery of the town of Vyronas" (ΚΟΜΗΤΗΡΙΟ ΔΗΜΟΥ ΒΥΡΩΝΑ in Greek). This is why Sousanna's memorial was placed at this cemetery. It is highly likely that her remains are NOT at this cemetery, however, as it is a Greek tradition, several years after the death of a loved one, to dig up their remains and to place them in an ossuary. Greek Orthodox Christians, as a general rule of thumb, do NOT believe in cremation. However, on March 1, 2005, the Greek government passed a law allowing cremation. It is my understanding that this was done to accommodate the peoples of various non-Orthodox immigrants that die in Greece and do not forbid cremation. Since there is a limited amount of space for burials in Greece, both the use of cremation for non-Orthodox and the use of ossuaries by Orthodox seems to be a logical solution that allows the surviving families of the deceased to adhere to their religious traditions. The following article about the use of ossuaries was found on Wikipedia.com: "The use of ossuaries is a longstanding tradition in the Orthodox Church. The remains of an Orthodox Christian are treated with special reverence, in conformity with the biblical teaching that the body of a believer is a "temple of the Holy Spirit",[1] having been sanctified and transfigured by Baptism, Holy Communion and the participation in the mystical life of the Church.[2] In Orthodox monasteries, when one of the brethren dies, his remains are buried (for details, see Christian burial) for one to three years, and then disinterred, cleaned and gathered into the monastery's charnel house. If there is reason to believe that the departed is a saint, the remains may be placed in a reliquary; otherwise the bones are usually mingled together (skulls together in one place, long bones in another, etc.). The remains of an abbot may be placed in a separate ossuary made out of wood or metal. The use of ossuaries is also found among the laity in the Greek Orthodox Church. The departed will be buried for one to three years and then, often on the anniversary of death, the family will gather with the parish priest and celebrate a parastas (memorial service), after which the remains are disinterred, washed with wine, perfumed, and placed in a small ossuary of wood or metal, inscribed with the name of the departed, and placed in a room, often in or near the church, which is dedicated to this purpose." May your memory be eternal, Sousannah.