The relatives spend dozens of thousand lei on the burial of a person. In such moments, the people do not care how much they pay, while those who provide funeral services profit from this. The people also want to obey the local traditions and organize the ceremony with pomp even if they have to pay more than they can afford. The burials for the families on low incomes cost a fortune. The cheapest coffin and cross alone cost almost 1 000 lei, while the embalming of the body – almost 600 lei. The price of a place at the cemetery is up to 2 500 lei, depending on the settlement. The price of a commemoration meal varies between 150 and 300 lei per person, depending on the menu. The costs amount to thousands of lei if one also gives gifts in memory of the dead person. The funeral agencies can organize the ceremony partly or fully. The costs start from 1,500 lei, if one wants the cheapest cross and the cheapest coffin. But this money does not include the prices of the place at the cemetery, the commemoration meal, the transport and the religious ceremony. A small part of the costs are covered with the allocation from the social budget. The family can present the death certificate to the National Social Insurance House or the local social worker to receive about 1 000 lei in aid. If the family is in a difficult financial situation, the mayor’s office or the local council can provide additional financial assistance. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, priest Pavel Borshevski, of Saint Dumitru Church based in Chisinau, said giving gifts to people while the dead person is taken to the cemetery is not a Christian tradition. “The people keep this tradition as they think that if they give something to people who are alive they give it to the buried person. In fact, the people should pray for the soul of the dead, not give presents,” he stated. He also said that the Church recommends giving alms to the poor and hungry people and not transforming the commemoration meals into feasts. The tradition of the life tree is very old. In the past, the elderly people were buried in the garden of the house, where there was planted an apple tree. The life tree given now at burials is a part of that tradition. [Elena Nistor, Info-Prim Neo]