Christian burial
Today this opposition has all but vanished among Protestants and Catholics alike, and this is rapidly becoming more common, although Eastern Orthodox Churches still mostly forbid cremation.
[2][3] In the light of the dogma of the resurrection of the body as well as of Jewish tradition,[4] the burial of the mortal remains of the Christian dead has always been regarded as an act of religious import.
St. Jerome, in his account of the death of St. Paul the Hermit, speaks of the singing of hymns and psalms while the body is carried to the grave as an observance belonging to ancient Christian tradition.
These writings include: St. Gregory of Nyssa’s detailed description of the funeral of St. Macrina, St. Augustine’s references to his mother St. Monica, the Apostolic Constitutions (Book VII), and the Celestial Hierarchy of Dionysius the Areopagite.
[3] Probably the earliest detailed account of funeral ceremonial which has been preserved to us is to be found in the Spanish Ordinals of the latter part of the seventh century.
Though the church always taught that the destruction of the earthly remains posed no threat to the bodily resurrection,[6] many Christians risked their lives to prevent this desecration of the relics of the saints.
Furthermore, the bodies of Christians were considered to have been sanctified by baptism and the reception of the sacraments, and thus were to be treated with dignity and respect, as befits a "Temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 3:16–17, 6:19).
[5] The revival of cremation in modern times has prompted a revision of this opposition by many Christian churches, though some groups continue to discourage the practice, provided there is no intent of apostasy or sacrilege.
During the Middle Ages a practice arose among the aristocracy that when a nobleman was killed in battle far from home, the body would be defleshed by boiling or some such other method, and his bones transported back to his estate for burial.
In response, in the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII promulgated a law which excommunicated ipso facto anyone who disembowelled bodies of the dead or boiled them to separate the flesh from the bones, for the purpose of transportation for burial in their native land.
If the traditional three-part funeral rites are celebrated, they proceed as follows: The first stage involves the parish priest and other clergy going to the house of the deceased.
As they leave the house, the priest intones the antiphon Exsultabunt Domino, and then the psalm Miserere is recited or chanted in alternate verses by the cantors and clergy.
"A man ought so to be buried", he says, "that while his head lies to the West his feet are turned to the East…"[13] For clergy, however, the idea seems to be that the bishop (or priest) in death should occupy the same position in the church as during life, facing his people who he taught and blessed in Christ's name.
[citation needed] In the ordinary form of the Roman Rite (the Mass of Paul VI) the order of choice for liturgical colors is white, or violet, or black.
The absolution of the dead was removed from the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, and replaced with the Final Commendation and Farewell, when the new Order of Christian Funerals was promulgated following the Second Vatican Council.
However, a mausoleum erected above ground or even a brick chamber beneath the surface is regarded as needing blessing when used for the first time.
[3] In the Tridentine tradition, the priest intones the antiphon "I am the Resurrection and the Life", after which the coffin is lowered into the grave and the Canticle Benedictus is recited or sung.
Nevertheless, since the beginning of the Western Christianity, but especially after the 11th century, a considerable part of the doctrine, as well as the Canon Law itself, accepted a rightful compensation for the work of the minister.
This compensation had to be based on local "laudable customs" or on a voluntary payment,[17] but many parishes turned these fees into a standard scale of charges.
Moreover, in contexts where parishes hosted a vestry (such as in England and France), the parishioners had to pay a certain amount to the wardens for the use of the churchyard or the church itself, when the burial took place inside it.
As each vestment is placed on him, a Protodeacon swings the censer and reads the vesting prayers, exactly as was done for him when he served the Divine Liturgy.
For Orthodox Christians the wake consists of continuous reading of the Psalter aloud, interrupted only by the occasional serving of Panikhidas (brief memorial services).
Throughout the service, upon a table close to the coffin stands a dish containing kolyva, made of wheat—symbolic of the grain which falling to the ground dies and brings forth much fruit (John 12:24)—and honey—symbolic of the sweetness of the Heavenly Kingdom.
The funeral service is called in Greek, Pannychis, meaning vigil, and it originally lasted through the entire night and into the next morning.
It is also chanted during panikhidas (memorial services) which are conducted both before and after the funeral: Kontakion: With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Thy servant where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.Ikhos: Thou alone art immortal, who hast created and fashioned man.
At the end of the funeral service, the spiritual father of the deceased will read the Prayer of Absolution, which is printed on a separate piece of paper.
After the last kiss, the choir chants, "Memory Eternal" (Slavonic: Vyechnaya pamyat) three times, to a slow and solemn melody.
After the remains were lowered into the ground, the bishop's mitre would be removed, and his monastic klobuk placed on his head so that the veil covered his face.
[35] Even from the period of the catacombs such associations seem to have existed among the Christians and they no doubt imitated to some extent in their organization the pagan collegia for the same purpose.
Their self-imposed task is not limited to escorting the dead to their last resting-place, but they discharge the functions of an ambulance corps, dealing with accidents as they occur and carrying the sick to the hospitals.
