The month of November is an appropriate time to reflect on the important but neglected topic of care for the dead. As Catholics, we are accostomed to think of praying for the dead, especially on the Feast of All Souls. We don’t hear as much about our obligation to bury the dead, but this is one of the corporeal works of mercy. (Praying for the dead is one of the spiritual works of mercy.) In Scripture and in early Christian history, the faithful went to great lengths and endured danger and persecution to make sure their loved ones received proper burial. It is important to understand why.
We have basically three motives for giving proper attention to Christian burial and to the funeral liturgy. First, Christians honor the body as essential to the human person and as redeemed and belonging to Christ. Second, honoring the bodies of the dead should lead us also to pray for their souls. Third, the bodies of God’s holy ones, the saints, are themselves vessels of grace, relics to be venerated and through which God extends mercies to the Christian community.
The Body Belongs to Christ. In the Old Testament, we read of the great care given to honoring the bodies of the dead. Even God himself attended to the burial of Moses. (Genesis 47:30, 1 Samuel 31, Deuteronomy 34:6) The most striking Old Testament story is that of Tobias, who risked his life to bury the bodies of his kinsmen. (Tobit 1). In the New Testament, our motive is stronger for we learn that the body belongs to the Lord. “The body is made for the Lord,” St. Paul tells us, “and the Lord for the body.” (1 Corinthians 6:13) Our bodies are a “living sacrifice.” (Romans 12:1). Christ has redeemed the body, and will give it life on the last day. (Romans 8)
Many pagans believe that the body is only a temporary dwelling for the immortal soul. As such, it can be dispensed with. This is not the Christian doctrine. Scripture and tradition teach that the body is an essential aspect of the human person. Belief in the sanctity of the body and its eventual resurrection is one of the principal reasons that Catholic law traditionally forbid cremation. Even today, the Code of Canon law expresses a strong preference for burial of the intact remains over cremation (and cremated remains must be interred, not kept on the mantlepiece):
The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine. (CCL 1176.3)
Proper Burial Should Induce Us to Pray. Catholic funeral rites are not simply for mourning or grief. They are an act of worship. The Order of Christian Funerals explains that “the Church gathers with the family and friends of the deceased to give praise and thanks to God for Christ’s victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God’s tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery.” Prayers for the dead are an integral part of Christian worship, with roots in Hebrew religion. (2 Maccabees 12). We find such prayers in the earliest liturgies of the Church, and commended by the earliest Christian writers as a sacred obligation.
The Rite of Committal (the conclusion of the funeral) is an important part of this tradition, because it “expresses the hope that, with all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, the deceased awaits the glory of the resurrection.” Even when there is to be cremation, it is appropriate for the body of the deceased to be present and intact at the funeral . “This allows for the appropriate reverence for the sacredness of the body at the Funeral Mass: sprinkling with holy water, the placing of the pall, and honoring it with incense. ” Furthermore, cremated remains are not to be scattered, kept at home, or divided among family members. They must be reverenced in the same way one would reverence a body in a casket. The Church columbarium is an appropriate place to keep such remains. (Order of Christian Funerals)
The Relics of the Saints are a Treasure to be Venerated. We also attend to the body because it is (potentially) a treasure to be venerated. God makes himself present to us in a special way through the bodies of the righteous dead. (2 Kings 13:20-21). The tomb of St. Martin of Tours includes this inscription:
“Here lies the body of Martin the bishop, of holy memory, whose soul is in the hand of God; but he is fully here, present and made plain in miracles of every kind.” (From Peter Brown, The Cult of Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity)
One of the earliest accounts of Christian martyrdom is the Martyrdom of Polycarp (mid-second century). After describing the death of the saint, the anonymous author writes:
Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place.
Such sentiments are repeated throughout early Christianity. The bodies of the righteous dead are not simply memorable keepsakes. They are moments of divine encounter.
The Church tells us we have an obligation to offer funeral rites and proper burial to the dead. Have a Catholic funeral at which the body is present. Have a traditional burial if possible. If you choose to cremate, commit the remains in a respectful way, such as a Church columbarium. Pray for the dead.