Visiting the graves of deceased relatives and acquaintances is a religious duty of the love of living people to the deceased. The people there are many traditions regarding behavior in the cemetery. Some of them are mistakenly credited with a Christian interpretation. The practice of leaving sweets, cookies, or other food on the grave is no exception. This tradition has already firmly entered our lives.
The Orthodox Christian must know that food cannot be left on the graves of the deceased. This tradition has its origin and the strongest distribution in the post-revolutionary years. During the time of godless power in our country, there were several substitutions of concepts. So, if earlier they went to cemeteries to commemorate the deceased with a prayer, now commemorations are performed in the form of a meal on the bones of the dead. This is prohibited. And after the meal they put food on the grave itself, share it with the deceased.
Leaving any food does not make sense at all. The people believe that we give it to the dead. But the deceased has already passed into another form of being and does not need material food. In such our actions, ignorance about the teachings of the Orthodox Church about the human person and his soul is manifested. Accordingly, one cannot do what is contrary to the foundations of Christianity.
In addition, you can not leave food in order to maintain cleanliness in cemeteries. A person can lay flowers, tidy up the grave, but not litter it with food. It's not beautiful. And the food itself can then be eaten by dogs, who, in this case, will walk on the graves of the dead. And each of us would not want this, because the place of rest is holy.
