Cremation versus the Holy Tradition of Christian Burial
There is a myth in this modernist, anti-Christian age, that it is more convenient, and cheaper, to cremate the bodies of our loved ones. The fact that many cemeteries occupy prime real estate property which has attracted the attention of greedy speculators, has also served to further the idea that we should all take on the practice of cremating the remains of our loved ones. Yet the ultimate result of following this line of thinking is the loss of respect for the holy tradition of the Church. From the Old Testament, the Church has regarded the bodies of her members as sacred, for they where the temples of the Holy Spirit, and are to be respected until that great day of the General Resurrection.
We Orthodox Christians must resist the looseness of Western Christianity, and its deviations from Holy Tradition, regarding the disposal of our dead. The nexus between belief and practice, and the symbol and spiritual reality of the relationship between the body and soul of the Christian, is a basic difference between our Christian faith, and the faith of the pagans. It is through our practice of the burial of our dead, that we affirm that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The holiness of the flesh when we are restored in Christ and become one with Him in theosis, is a basic precept of our Faith. Orthodox Christianity teaches that we are saved body and soul, not just as some abstract energy separate from our bodies and persons, for the latter are made new in Christ.
Since Western Christianity has by and large lost respect for the holiness of relics, it has forgotten the evidence that these relics show forth the profound impact grace has upon the human body, as well as the soul. It is this very teaching of the Church that has led her to oppose cremation. This practice of cremating the bodies of the deceased, is just a step towards surrendering to the paganism of our age, and a materialistic view of man.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: My friend, Koshin Christopher Cain, Abbot of the Puget Sound Zen Center (on the right), visited the monastery, together with Shingen Jan Gaensslen, Guiding Teacher of the Rinzai Zen Center, in Berlin, Germany.
Thursday July 23, 2015 / July 10, 2015
8th Week after Pentecost. Tone six.
The Placing of the Precious Robe of the Lord at Moscow (1625).
Holy 45 Martyrs at Nicopolis in Armenia, including Leontius, Maurice, Daniel, Anthony, Alexander, Anicetus, Sisinius, Meneus, and Belerad (Verelad) (319).
Venerable Anthony of the Kiev Caves (1073).
New Hieromartyrs Peter ans Stephen priests, Gregory and Nestor deacons (1918).
Venerables Eumenes (1920) and Parthenius (1905) of Gortyna.
Venerable Silouan of the Far Caves in Kiev (13th-l4th c.).
Martyr Apollonius of Sardis (3rd c.).
Martyrs Bianor and Silvanus of Pisidia (4th c.).
10,000 Fathers of the desert and caves of Scetis martyred by the impious Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria (398).
“Konevits” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Translation of the relics (1609) of St. Basil, bishop of Ryazan (1295).
St. Gregory, bishop of Assos near Ephesus (1150) (Greek).
New Hieromartyr Archpriest Joseph of Damascus and Companions (1860).
Synaxis of All Saints of Vatopedi Monastery, Mt. Athos.
The Daily Scripture Readings
1 Corinthians 10:28-11:7
28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” 29 “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? 30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
11 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Head Coverings
2 Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. 6 For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
Matthew 16:24-28
Take Up the Cross and Follow Him
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Few Evangelicals have preached against cremation. The only sermon I’ve seen was preached by a Singapore Presbyterian Pastor. I personally am profoundly disturbed by the thought of cremation. It is a pagan practice and should not be done by any Christian.
I was profoundly disturbed to discover that my parents made arrangements to be cremated…right after I flew in too late to say goodbye to my mother. I knew it was the wrong time to put up a fight about it and it was probably too late.They are Roman Catholics, but my mother was originally Greek Catholic.The Roman approach to many things is very reductionist. Their rationale for permitting cremation in latter times comes from Aristotle’s maxim anima forma corporis, or the soul is the form of the body, implying that our bodies will reanimate from our immortal souls at the resurrection of the dead.
I really dislike even bringing this very personal subject, but I regard the permission to cremate a slap in the face to tradition, not to mention to a generous Creator.We know some martyrs died by fire, and perhaps Aristotle’s maxim holds true, but why on earth should that maxim be a rationalisation for what is obviously a contradiction to an age-old practice rooted in a theological anthropology as Abbot Tryphon noted above?