When I die, do not cremate me!

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimG
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I sympathize with this view of creation. I think what we do in how we take care of our dead says a lot about what we believe about the eschatological reality. We believe in the resurrection of the body, so when we cremate our loved ones, it seems to me to communicate that we believe in more of a dualistic, gnostic view of the material body.
 
Yes, that’s sort of the worrisome part of it. On the other hand, something so mundane as the high cost of funerals may play a part.
 
Hodos said:
it seems to me to communicate that we believe in more of a dualistic, gnostic view of the material body.
Click to expand...
The Church does not forbid cremation.

When I die, I would prefer to have a “green” or natural burial. Wrapped in a shroud of cotton or linen and placed directly in the ground to decay.

As there is not such a burial place in my area, I will likely be cremated. My ashes will be interred and I will wait the resurrection on the Last Day.

For more and more people, the idea of modern embalming does not treat the body of the deceased with respect. It is an unnecessary expense, and the chemicals even put the embalmers in danger. Nope, not for me!

Fascinating book:

https://www.amazon.com/Here-Eternit...7&sr=1-3-795edd5f-cc24-47c7-9173-701523fd4bcf
 
Last edited:
TheLittleLady said:
When I die, I would prefer to have a “green” or natural burial. Wrapped in a shroud of cotton or linen and placed directly in the ground to decay.
Click to expand...
There are some Catholic cemeteries in my area which do offer such an option.
 
Cremation does not deny the resurrection of the body. You could scatter me into a trillion pieces across the cosmos and God can put me back together. With God all things are possible. From dust you were made and to dust you shall return.
 
TheLittleLady said:
The Church does not forbid cremation.
Click to expand...
I didn’t say it did. My point is that what you do communicates a certain message. So if I treat my body as if it is some throwaway thing, it communicates that God doesn’t care about my material body. This is a similar view taken by the early docetics, and gnostics. We believe in the resurrection of the body which is why we treat the burial of the body with such respect. That is why I want to be buried. My reasoning is as much a catechetical reason as it is for anything else. Not disparaging your decision, just laying out my reasoning for my own wishes in this regard.
 
TheLittleLady said:
When I die, I would prefer to have a “green” or natural burial. Wrapped in a shroud of cotton or linen and placed directly in the ground to decay.
Click to expand...
Same here. As I mentioned in a post the other day, due to family circumstances and sensibilities, I have had to agree to more conventional methods. But if not for that, they could just clean me up, dress me with dignity, either wrap me up or put me in a simple wooden box, and bury me freely to the earth, with the traditional Latin rites of the Church.

The Jews and the Muslims have the right idea. They bury totally naturally. That’s what we should do.
Limoncello4021 said:
We have “green” burial options here as well, and that’s my preference. I have always thought the embalming process was bizarre, frankly, and I never understood the fancy coffin idea. It is many years old now, but the book The American Way of Death is fascinating. And Jessica Mitford has updated it: https://www.amazon.com/American-Way...35461&sprefix=the+american+way,aps,200&sr=8-1
Click to expand...
Great book! Loved it!

When my wife and I were together, we were both interested in this sort of thing, and we discussed it very frankly — kind of like a real-life Gomez and Morticia Addams! Historically, they have generally not embalmed in Europe. I agree with them on this.
 
Last edited:
I live in a country where burial ground is scarce and expensive. Over 90% of people, including Catholics, choose cremation instead.

I remember a conversation about cremation with a dear friend who was dying from a cancer which had metastised everywhere. She said she wanted to be cremated, because she couldn’t bear the thought of the tumors, which to her were like invaders from outside, staying there. She saw cremation as “curing” the cancer, and the best way of honoring her bodily integrity and reappropriating her own body, until resurrection.
 
Now when I die,
Don’t want you to think I’m nuts,
Don’t want a fancy funeral,
Just one like old King Tut’s.
 
I understand the Catholic position is that it’s ok to cremate so long as the ashes are buried in one consecrated place out of respect for the resurrection.

I’m ok with that, as that’s what my parents did. I probably will choose cremation too, although I respect folks who choose traditional burial as well. I will probably go the columbarium route myself at my church.

I hope there is special dispensation for unusual circumstances, such as 9/11 victims whose ashes could not be kept together.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top