Sin-Eater ?.

[syrup]

Doe's anyone know if Sheffield had a Sin - Eater.

Believers thought the sin-eater taking on the sins of a person who died suddenly

without confessing their sins would allow the deceased's soul to go to heaven in peace.

[RichardB]

Doe's anyone know if Sheffield had a Sin - Eater.

Believers thought the sin-eater taking on the sins of a person who died suddenly

without confessing their sins would allow the deceased's s oul to go to heaven in peace.

Never heard of a sin-eater; what year/century are we talking here please ?

I might have once been a major Pie-eater .... removring pies from tempting others

[syrup]

Never heard of a sin-eater; what year/century are we talking here please ?

I might have once been a major Pie-eater .... removring pies from tempting others

I found this by chance and thought it could have been a common pratice but it seems to be frowned upon

Last 'sin-eater' celebrated with church service.

The restored grave of the last known "sin-eater" in England has been at the centre of a special service in a Shropshire village churchyard.

Campaigners raised £1,000 to restore the grave of Richard Munslow, who was buried in Ratlinghope in 1906.

Sin-eaters were generally poor people paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a corpse, in the belief they would take on the sins of the deceased.

Frowned upon by the church, the custom mainly died out in the 19th Century.

It was prevalent in the Marches, the land around the England-Wales border, and in north Wales, but was rarely carried out anywhere else.

Believers thought the sin-eater taking on the sins of a person who died suddenly without confessing their sins would allow the deceased's soul to go to heaven in peace.

While most of the sin-eaters were poor people or beggars, Mr Munslow was a well-established farmer in the area.

This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it”

The Reverend Norman Morris, the vicar of Ratlinghope, a village of about 100 residents on the Long Mynd near Church Stretton, led the "God's Acre" service at St Margaret's Church.

Mr Morris said: "It was a very odd practice and would not have been approved of by the church but I suspect the vicar often turned a blind eye to the practice."

Locals began the collection to restore the grave, which had fallen into disrepair in recent years, believing it would be good to highlight the custom and Mr Munslow's place in religious history.

It took a few months to raise the £1,000 needed to pay for the work, carried out by local stonemason Charles Shaw.

Mr Morris said: "This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it.

http://www.liverpoolwired.co.uk/news.php/91484-Last-sin-eater-celebrated-with-church-service

[Guest SuzyC]

I found this by chance and thought it could have been a common pratice but it seems to be frowned upon

Last 'sin-eater' celebrated with church service.

The restored grave of the last known "sin-eater" in England has been at the centre of a special service in a Shropshire village churchyard.

Campaigners raised £1,000 to restore the grave of Richard Munslow, who was buried in Ratlinghope in 1906.

Sin-eaters were generally poor people paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a corpse, in the belief they would take on the sins of the deceased.

Frowned upon by the church, the custom mainly died out in the 19th Century.

It was prevalent in the Marches, the land around the England-Wales border, and in north Wales, but was rarely carried out anywhere else.

Believers thought the sin-eater taking on the sins of a person who died suddenly without confessing their sins would allow the deceased's soul to go to heaven in peace.

While most of the sin-eaters were poor people or beggars, Mr Munslow was a well-established farmer in the area.

This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it”

The Reverend Norman Morris, the vicar of Ratlinghope, a village of about 100 residents on the Long Mynd near Church Stretton, led the "God's Acre" service at St Margaret's Church.

Mr Morris said: "It was a very odd practice and would not have been approved of by the church but I suspect the vicar often turned a blind eye to the practice."

Locals began the collection to restore the grave, which had fallen into disrepair in recent years, believing it would be good to highlight the custom and Mr Munslow's place in religious history.

It took a few months to raise the £1,000 needed to pay for the work, carried out by local stonemason Charles Shaw.

Mr Morris said: "This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it.

http://www.liverpoolwired.co.uk/news.php/91484-Last-sin-eater-celebrated-with-church-service

The sin-eater saves the dying not only from hell, but also from wandering the earth as a ghost - thereby performing a service for the living as well. In some traditions, sin-eaters perform their work for the moribund, while in others, the ritual takes place at the funeral. The sin-eater is usually associated with the British Isles, but there are analogous customs in other cultures as well.

A sin-eater typically consumes bread as part of the ritual of taking on the dying person's sins. He or she may also eat salt or drink water or ale. Sometimes, special breads are baked for the purpose of the sin-eating ritual, perhaps featuring the initials or image of the deceased. The meal is sometimes passed over the dead or dying body or placed on its breast to symbolize its absorption of the person's sins. The sin-eater may also recite a special prayer.

There is also a film out with Heath Ledger playing a priest seeking a sin eater (which I haven´t seen yet. )

[Guest funkydory]

As the location of the particular grave in question is in my local area (West Midlands and Rural counties), quite a few local history websites here items can be expected to hosting various discussions.

In the meantime, the BBC religious affairs programme "Sunday" did a feature on the grave hosted by the local vicar (23 May 2010 edition) although the programme at present is off the BBC i-player.

The BBC arts and entertainments correspondents representing BBC Local Radio in the area did a number of reviews of the 2003 Heath Ledger film, one such review can be found here.