When I die, do not cremate me!

[Anicette]

I agree. I want to be bury myself and my family member.
Cremation is not a christian thing. The fact that it is no longer forbidden does not change this fact.

Embalding is only optional. We can choose to not do it.

To have a coffin is often better for hygiene. How can we planned a burial after 5 days with a body only wrap in a sheet? In the church etc? Sorry but death has an odor.
If we want just a sheet, then to bury quick seems the only option.

 

[JanR]

God is perfectly capable of completely restoring cremated bodies. My mother was cremated, and I’m not the least bit doubtful that her body will be resurrected in a glorified state.

It’s perfectly understandable why the Church doesn’t object. To do so would be to doubt God’s infinite power, ability, and Love.

 

[catholiclala]

I would prefer a green burial as well. I did not even know about this until recently. I was always a bit put off by the artificial practices of the modern funeral industry. We are organic material, let our bodies do what they do naturally. It seems the most dignified and Catholic way to do it. It’s also cheaper. We don’t need to be buried in the Cadillac of coffins. Simple is beautiful.

 

[JanR]

Yes, indeed! I wonder if that would be legal in my state?

 

[otjm]

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.

The Trappists of New Melleray make simple caskets. As my mother was particularly fond of the local Abbey she had requested that one be provided for her burial. We had a simple shaped pine one, and many who attended her funeral remarked positively on it.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Shoulda won a Grammy
Buried in his jammies

 

[TheLittleLady]

To have a coffin is often better for hygiene. How can we planned a burial after 5 days with a body only wrap in a sheet? In the church etc? Sorry but death has an odor.

Modern funeral homes have refrigerated storage. The body can be cleaned and dressed and (in my state) an unembalmed body may have a private viewing. That viewing can happen anywhere, with as many people as you care to invite.

Until not that many years ago, we cared for our dead at home.

 

[OddBird]

Until not that many years ago, we cared for our dead at home.

My family still does, and keeps a wake for the deceased until their body is laid in the coffin and departs for church for the funeral. We have to take precautions so that the room where the body is laid isn’t too warm – like not warming the room and keeping the windows open most of the time, except in summer, or not using the main light on the ceiling if it’s not a LED light and produces warmth, and not being more than two people in the room for a protracted time. We use ice packs under the sheet and change them out regularly.

We do not do the cleaning and dressing ourselves, though.

From what I know, embalming is less frequent in Europe than in the US, and none of the deceased of my family were embalmed. There is a noticeable and pervading smell, but honestly, it’s not that bad.

 

[DeniseNY]

Not disparaging your decision, just laying out my reasoning for my own wishes in this regard.

Don’t you think you kind of are disparaging it? You also said “so if I treat my body as it is some throwaway thing…”.

I’m not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand what you mean.

 

[Hodos]

Don’t you think you kind of are disparaging it? You also said “so if I treat my body as it is some throwaway thing…”.

No, not really. I am describing what it looks like to someone who might not understand our doctrine of what happens when we die. Quite honestly, many even within the Christian community take that exact viewpoint, that we need to be “freed” from our bodies, and we go up to this other ethereal plane where the spirit is good and flesh is bad. But that isn’t what Christianity teaches. Christianity teaches that God made us body and soul, and that at the eschaton we will be raised body and soul, some to judgment, and others to eternal life. My point was that if we treat our bodies in such a way that we destroy them in our burial customs, we reinforce that belief rather than teach what we confess. This is why I prefer the custom of burial to cremation.

 

[EricF]

At the point of my death, my surviving loved ones will be free to do with me as they please. I will be beyond the point of worrying about it. I trust they will be honorable and respectful.

 

[KyPerson]

My mother wanted a burial, my father wanted to be cremated. We bought a crypt for them, and my mother’s coffin was placed in the crypt. A few years later when my father died, we placed the container of ashes next to the coffin.

 

[TMC]

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.

I respect your thoughts on this, but I would suggest this is an entirely cultural thing. Some view cremation as “throwing away” the person’s body, something you would do with garbage. But other cultures (and individuals) view cremation as a very respectful thing. Afterall, burying a body in a hole is also something you would do with garbage. To me its a matter of perspective.

Physically, of course, there is little practical difference. Most (nearly all) people who are buried are going to end up dust, just as the cremated end up ashes. Depending on what type of embalming is used, it may take a little longer. In my opinion, neither is more conducive to the idea of bodily resurrection.

 

[Tommy999]

Plus, in some places in the world there is not enough space - even now - to keep burying people in the ground indefinitely.

For example, I’ve heard about some cities and towns in Europe where a person rents a plot at a cemetery for like 5 or so years then the family (or a representative) has to take the body away somewhere - not sure where - to make room for recent burials. Cremation, when done respectfully and properly in accordance with Church guidelines, can help deal with this problem.

However, if you live somewhere with plenty of open space and money to spend, it’s not as big of a deal to change from the norm.

 

[BlueMaxx]

TheLittleLady:

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.

The Trappists of New Melleray make simple caskets. As my mother was particularly fond of the local Abbey she had requested that one be provided for her burial. We had a simple shaped pine one, and many who attended her funeral remarked positively on it.

Same here…the Benedictine Monks make caskets at the Abbey…they also make urns.

While I am a follower of the Benedictines, I kind of hope I do not need their product for a while

Home - Abbey Caskets & Woodworking

Caskets and urns Built on-site by local craftsmen. All proceeds support the prayer and works of the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Caskets And Urns Built On-Site By Local Craftsmen. Custom Made Furniture For Your Church, Home Or Office Caskets, Urns, and More In addition to building caskets...

www.abbeycaskets.com

 

[Hodos]

I respect your thoughts on this, but I would suggest this is an entirely cultural thing. Some view cremation as “throwing away” the person’s body, something you would do with garbage. But other cultures (and individuals) view cremation as a very respectful thing.

I understand where you are coming from. However, the question is not what other cultures think about our practice, but what does the Christian doctrine and culture say about our practice? Maybe our practice seems strange, but to a Christian a couple thousand years ago, incinerating the body like refuse would seem like something blasphemous. This is why we took such care to bury remains of the faithful after martyrdom, death, etc. Look at some of the reasons people in this room are giving for using cremation just as an example. “I want a green burial” translates to my body is just garbage left behind to be recycled. “It’s less expensive.” Maybe so, but it conveys the traditional understanding of Christian eschatology, and the hope that we have in the resurrection of the dead. Again, its not that I don’t think God can raise the body if it is cremated, it is more about the message we send to those who come after us. I have given it a bit of thought and that’s where I come down on it.

 

[TheLittleLady]

In America we have been trained to think that a dead person is dangerous and nasty

 

[TheLittleLady]

As someone who lost their spouse 9 months ago, who works at a Church and sees first hand the agony that survivors go through making the “what would he/she want??”, I advise you to sit down and decide what you want now.

Sit down and talk with a professional in the death care business, do your own research online, decide what $$ you want spent (you do not want your kids to spend 20K on a coffin do you?). Talk about what your wishes are, write them down. Specify if you want a Funeral Mass. Heck, you can even go to your church office, pick out your readings and songs!

 

[Nigel7]

Cremation for a Catholic is only legit in times of war or famine or some other calamity where the bodies are piling up and becoming a public health concern.

Yes, the Church asks today that if you insist on cremation that the ashes are NOT to be scattered.
We should not be cremating in the first place though, outside of the extraordinary circumstances I mentioned above.

 

[ArchStanton]

Never had the pleasure of seeing it, heard of it, I just now skimmed over the Wikipedia entry, didn’t read it all the way through, so as not to spoil the movie for myself. If it’s free on Amazon Prime, I might watch it.

Harold and Maude…

Great Cat Stevens [Yusuf] music as well!