To the sound of a single tolling bell, the brothers of the Confrérie des Charitables de Saint-Éloi, in capes, white gloves and bicornes, lift the coffin from a wooden cart and lower it into the ground, reports The Guardian.
Standing over the grave they remove their hats, say “requiescat in pace” (rest in peace) in unison and bow their heads. It does not matter whether the deceased is rich or poor, the solemn ritual is the same and has been since 1188.
“We are all equal in death,” says the current chief brother, known as a “prévost”, Robert Guenot, 72, echoing the centuries-old precept of those known as “the Charitables” in the northern French town of Béthune.
“Our role is to be present to ensure the dead are given a correct, dignified burial, whoever they are. It is a role of paying respect to the deceased that the brotherhood has carried out for more than 830 years,” Guenot told The Guardian.
The Charitables trace their history back to 1188, when the north of France, along with much of Europe, was ravaged by plague and gravediggers found themselves overwhelmed by the number of corpses and fearful of being infected themselves.