The Orthodox and Embalming

[JesuXPIPassio]

Is it true that the Orthodox don’t do embalming, but instead rub myrrh on the corpse?

If so, is it pure myrrh or do they use something more like chrism? I looked it up and myrrh seems to be a sort of hard resin; I can’t firgure out how one could coat a body with it.

 

[StMarina303ad]

Is it true that the Orthodox don’t do embalming, but instead rub myrrh on the corpse?
I don’t know, but if I find out I will let you know. I do know that we are not to be cremated as our bodies were created in the image and likeness of God and as such are to be honored and respected as Icons of God.

If so, is it pure myrrh or do they use something more like chrism?
Something else I don’t know. I am a convert and no one I’ve known who is Orthodox has died - well I baptized by Grandpa on his death bed, but the family went ahead with the burial arrangements he’d previously made - cremation, but my priest did do the 40 Day Prayers since he was baptized Orthodox.

I looked it up and myrrh seems to be a sort of hard resin; I can’t firgure out how one could coat a body with it.
Well, all the myrrh, I have seen and touched is pure oil which smells so beautifully! There are plenty of miraculous myrrh streaming Icons like the ones from Hawaii: orthodoxhawaii.org/icons.html - I’ve never heard of myrrh coming in another form other than oil - but just because I’ve never heard of it, certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t.

 

[JesuXPIPassio]

That’s funny, I didn’t know we had any myrrh-streaming icons in Hawaii, and that place is only two towns over from me. Thanks for showing that to me. It’s great when God works miracles like that but it’s sad that no one here seems to even know about it. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing – it prevents people exploiting it.

I got myrrh from a supposedly-myrrh-streaming icon in some monastery in Blanco, Texas, but it turns out it was a rogue monastery that faked it and their “monks” were later accused of child sex abuse. It smelt wonderful too, but I noticed it began to smell like regular olive oil after a few days.

Is that how they make the myrrh in the Orthodox Church? It’s some mix of myrrh resin and olive oil? I wonder how the body would react to being drenched in olive oil. I would have thought that would hasten decomposition, but I don’t know anything about that field.

 

[StMarina303ad]

That’s funny, I didn’t know we had any myrrh-streaming icons in Hawaii, and that place is only two towns over from me. Thanks for showing that to me. It’s great when God works miracles like that but it’s sad that no one here seems to even know about it. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing – it prevents people exploiting it.

That is so funny! I didn’t know you lived in Hawaii! Go figure. Perhaps you could visit that Church. The Icon visited our parish here in Sacramento, CA. It had such a beauftiful smell of roses. The myrrh has healed some people physically.

I got myrrh from a supposedly-myrrh-streaming icon in some monastery in Blanco, Texas, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/9587/shrine.html but it turns out it was a rogue monastery It was a part of ROCOR (Russian Church Outside of Russia) at the time of the miracle & when the monk was accused. that faked it They are no longer part of ROCOR because they refused to provide financial records, but I’ve not heard that the miracle was been proven false. and their “monks” were later accused of child sex abuse. It smelt wonderful too, but I noticed it began to smell like regular olive oil after a few days. That’s too bad.

Is that how they make the myrrh in the Orthodox Church? I don’t know that it’s “making” as much as it is “getting” myrrh and I don’t know where the bishops/priests/etc. get it. It’s some mix of myrrh resin and olive oil? I don’t know. I wonder how the body would react to being drenched in olive oil. I would have thought that would hasten decomposition, but I don’t know anything about that field. The Church isn’t concerned about whether or not doing something hastens or doesn’t hasten decomposition as long as the body is respected by not being cremated. Sometimes, years after some of the Orthodox Saints bodies have been dug up and found to be incorrupt - then sometimes they are reburied and years later redug up & they are still incorrupt and are taken out for veneration. To try to purposely prevent decomposition seems weird, like that person trying to do that has more love for the body than for God who created it. I don’t know, just rubs me the wrong way when I think about it.

 

[JesuXPIPassio]

The Austin American Statesman (a newspaper in Austin, Texas) reports that one of the monks admitted faking it. You could view the article on the Statesman’s website, though it requires a subscription. This web page though posted it pokrov.org/resource.asp?ds=Article&id=235

Sad, sad story. Though I don’t know if pokrov.org is reputable, I’d presume that the statesman is, like any other newspaper (adjusting, of course, for bias, which doesn’t seem to be a concern here since it’s just reporting on the guy’s confession).