Sin-eater

A sin-eater is a person who, in some cultures, eats a meal (often bread and salt) to take on the sins of someone else. It's an old tradition that is believed to bring a good fortune to the person whose sins are sin-eaten. In the past, a sin-eater would be asked to eat a meal at a funeral for a person who had died, to help their spirit pass on to the next world without the burden of their sins. The sin-eater wasn't paid, but were given food in exchange. People once thought that by eating the meal, the sin-eater took on all of the deceased's sins so they wouldn't have to go to the afterlife carrying them.