Posted on 04/18/2007 1:57:05 PM PDT by kawaii
For those who have these two concerns, you might want to look into "green cemeteries" instead of cremation.
the orthodox church views them the same though i suspoect your milage may vary amoung western converts...
the vast majority of respoonses underscore why folks prefer cremation and its all wordly tripe.
given the loaded pagan fascination for it, and the worldly idiocarcy a buriel sans open casket and sans disfuration makes sense.
plus for those who defer to the church, and in this case very Orthodox See, it makes sense to leave it up to the Holy Spirit which speaks through the one true church.
well said kolo, and i’m very happy that the greek article i found articulates clearly and with much substantiation the orthodox reasoning, and much more articulatly than the oca or orthodoxinfo stuff i found...
I’m not a great fan of funerals either.
However, I do recognize that most of us need some sort of closure on a relationship with a loved one. And, for many, the funeral serves that purpose as no other event does. And, that’s OK with me.
I am most hostile to the GROSSLY UNNECESSARY charges and actions of the funeral folks. Embalming serves no eternal and even no greatly lasting purpose in this life. It mostly helps things smell tolerably at the funeral viewing.
In Taiwan, they have refrigerated glass coffin sorts of things that serve a similar purpose.
My mother, hearing her in-laws who managed the oldest cemetary in town—bringing it up to speed in a list of hard work ways—realized that EVERYTHING decays sooner or later—and was quite willing to put her mother in a cardboard coffin that we both picked out. That would be fine with me.
And, they can have a large recent pic at the funeral vs an open casket viewing. No need to embalm me. Take me from wherever I fell or am found straight to the hole in the ground. Though I may fall on some distant field somewhere and the birds take care of me.
Burial at sea would be tolerable though there’s a family plot for me here and I could be buried at a vet cemetary.
But I really DO APPRECIATE AND REJOICE IN AND WITH THE TRULY CHRISTIAN SERVICES where someone’s life is TRULY CELEBRATED AND WHERE IT IS CELEBRATED THAT THEY REALLY HAVE GONE TO THEIR HEAVENLY REWARD AND ARE IN A FAR BETTER PLACE THAN WE MORTALS. Some of those can be hymn singing, toe tapping glorious times of worship, laughter and uproariously great stuff amidst loved ones of the departed.
So, I guess I have a range of feelings. But personally, for me, the less hoopla, the better. And, I want whatever happens to be real and authentic. No phoney fluff and whitewashing.
And, I’d rather God be glorified somehow in the whole process.
In the last 4 1/2 years I've lost both of my parents. To this day, I haven't been back to the cemetery to visit their graves since the funerals, although I pray for their souls on regular basis. I don't believe they are in those boxes that were planted in the ground. I like to believe their souls are in heaven.
Am I being disrespectful by not visiting their graves? Placing flowers or talking through the ground to a decaying body in a box isn't something I personally feel is necessary or even something I want to do, although I completely respect those that find comfort in such rituals.
Are my beliefs I outta line with the teachings of the Church?
I think they do more than all the talking.
?
Whgat’s the question, kawaii?
made the mistake of reading posts in reverse, made sense in chrnological order...
Apply to poor souls that lost their flesh over ages in the ground, too?
I agree. I guesss what I don’t like are the fake,phoney, sham funerals where people who couldn’t stand you in real life show up.
Never thought of that.
I actually do not like funerals that are all about the dear departed. They’re often frivolous, trivial and do not seem to have any understanding of either Christian death or the Resurrection. Sometimes, in fact, they are practically embarrassing to attend.
The thing that I like about a very formal Orthodox (or traditional Catholic) funeral is that it’s about life, death and the Lord. That’s it.
Much agree. Thx.
I don’t mind a life review of the departed. I think they need to be a BIT more honest than usual.
And, for Christians, I think the emphasis needs to be on Christian values and The Resurrection.
is there any way you could get permission or something for the orthodox rite?
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