How the cremation of the deceased occurs: the time of the procedure, the attitude of the church to cremation

Often, human people looked for ways and opportunities not to find themselves in the damp earth: some are scared, others are afraid of decomposition, and someone just wants to try the funeral "novelty", although they can’t tell about the sensations. How cremation occurs and why it is needed is described and described in detail in the article.

What is cremation?

Cremation is the transformation of the body into ashes. This is done in a very specific sanitary environment using equipment that "helps" to turn the human body into ashes when exposed to heat. When the process is completed, the cremated remains can be stored in an urn, turned into jewelry, scattered in a favorite place or buried in a cemetery. These are some of the most common locations for cremated remains, but some families actually have more options, including creating tattoos with ashes.

This is mainly common in the United States. Cremation in Russia is a rare pleasure for the deceased and relatives due to pricing policy.

What are the benefits of cremation?

There has always been a constant debate: cremation versus burial. The graph below shows how cremation has grown in popularity in the United States over the past 50 years. In 2015, the level of burned bodies for the first time exceeded the level of burial. Also, the forecast on the graph does not show a slowdown in the popularity of cremation. By 2035, it is predicted that more than 75% of Americans will choose this kind of farewell to the world instead of burial.

Many people consider cremation a “greener alternative” than burial, because they know how cremation occurs: there is no decomposition in the procedure:

1. The burial site often uses harsh chemicals to embalm the remains for the funeral service. This leads to concerns that chemicals may pollute the environment.
2. While the crematorium does emit emissions, new equipment is constantly being developed to reduce pollution and environmental impact.
3. The cremation service offers a much simpler process than the burial service. As a rule, when people prefer to bury their loved one, they order traditional funeral services along with the accepted ritual ceremonies.
4. Some people still prefer to hold traditional funerals along with cremation, conduct memorial services.

With burial there are two options - burial underground in the area or placing the coffin in the mausoleum. Cremation provides several options in terms of what can be done with the ashes of a loved one. You can scatter ashes in a special place, store it in a beautiful urn, some in memorial decorations. The Americans even launch fireworks from the ashes of the deceased.

Training

The process of cremation of a dead body is carried out at a temperature in the range from 1400 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit (+ 760-982 ^⁰ ). Strong heat helps bring the body to a state where bone fragments are dried.

The process takes place in a cremation chamber, also known as a crematorium retort. It is preheated to a predetermined value, and then the human body is placed and quickly transferred inside through a mechanized door to avoid heat loss.

Here is a video showing the cremation of the human body.

The duration of the process usually depends on certain factors. They are:

• body weight or size;
• body fat percentage for muscle mass;
• equipment performance;
• working temperature of the cremation chamber;
• the type of cremation container or box in which the body is located.

Based on this, it can be assumed how cremation proceeds and how responsible this work is. Judging by the video, one cannot be sure that the entire human body will be burned and placed in an urn.

What is the sequence of the procedure?

During burning, the body is exposed to a column of flame formed in a furnace operating on natural gas, oils, propane. When a corpse is placed in a coffin or container (preferably made of combustible material), the container burns out. Then heat dries the body, burns the skin and hair, contracts and envelops the muscles, evaporates the soft tissues and calcifies the bones so that they eventually crumble. The gases emitted during the process are discharged through the exhaust system. Features:

1. The bodies are mostly burned one at a time. There is no smell, because the emissions are treated with special solutions to suppress the formation of any by-products.
2. Some crematoria have a secondary afterburner where the body is re-burned. Otherwise, the cremation technique will require additions - crushing scorched bones of the skull. The remains are ground to dust.
3. Tiny residues can still remain in the chamber and mix with particles from subsequent cremations. However, they also contain unspent metal objects such as screws, nails, hinges, and other parts of the coffin or container.
4. In addition, the mixture may contain dental materials, dental gold, surgical screws, prostheses, implants, etc. These items are removed using strong magnets and / or forceps after a manual examination. All metals are subsequently disposed of in accordance with local regulations.

Mechanical devices, in particular pacemakers, are removed in advance because they can explode due to extreme heat and damage equipment and personnel. How this happens, the cremation of man and his remains is already clear. The final point follows.

The final stage of cremation

Finally, the dried bone fragments are further ground to a finer sand-like consistency. The machine used for this grinding is called a cremulator.

These remains are placed in an urn and transferred to a relative or representative of the deceased. If there is no urn, the crematorium can return the ashes to the plastic box or container by default. Now it is known how this happens. Human cremation also has alternatives that are similar in procedure.

How long has cremation been "invented"?

Of course, burning the dead is not a new concept, it was a long time ago. Cremation began in the Stone Age and was widespread, although not universal, in ancient Greece and Rome. In some religions, such as Hinduism and Jainism, cremation is not only permitted, but also preferred.

The emergence of Christianity impeded practice in the West. Back in 330 AD, when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, Rome banned cremation as a pagan practice.

The theological reason for the ban was related to the resurrection: it was good to keep the body whole or in one place. Through the Reformation, the Catholic Church “frowned” or banned cremation, although the procedure was used for reasons of punishment and hygiene. Jewish law also prohibited this practice. By the 5th century, the procedure had almost disappeared from Europe. Understanding how cremation occurs, there is only one concern for the environment. Then they did not think about her, relying only on personal considerations, trusting in God.

How long does the procedure take?

On average, the cremation of the human body takes from one to three hours, reducing it to 1.5-3.2 kg of cremaline (ash). Residues are usually grayish in color. You can find out how long cremation lasts, but the exact time can be said after the death of a person.

The cost of the "dear" death

Not every modern person knows how much cremation costs. In the United States in the last century, the family was ready to pay about $ 5 for it. Now the price has increased to 500 units. In Russia, crematoriums evaluate their work at tens of thousands of rubles. Cost (in rubles) is formed from several indicators:

In fact, the minimum price for such a service does not reach 10 thousand rubles. Now, knowing how much cremation costs, you can compare the prices of funeral homes. True, the ethical side of the issue is still unresolved, and families have no idea where they can come to "chat" with a deceased relative (if the dust is dispelled).

One day, in 2016, a reporter journalist called the cremation center of the Arkhangelsk region, who, under the guise of a client, was interested in the price of services.

He was called the amount of 7,100 rubles - for music and registration. Additionally, for the transfer of the coffin, a farewell funeral service and some additional services. Separately, you need to buy only the urn. It is necessary to buy transport. The final price will be reported in the Unified Ritual Service. Everything is “turnkey” here.

Later, the cost of services increased and amounted to 18,000 rubles - this is a coffin and transportation of a corpse. Separately, you need to buy a pillow and slippers, as Christians are customary to bring to cremation in slippers. On average, you need to spend about 30,000 rubles.

Only here the place for the urn is not free. It is like a sarcophagus made of stone, round and in several rows. The lower ones cost from 70,000 rubles. The latter is at the mezzanine level in the corridor, even more expensive, away from the ground. Separately, you need to pay for a tablet - 5,000 rubles, and engraving on a monument the size of 2-3 standard printed photos - almost 10,000 rubles.

Funeral services "from the outback" offer for 20 000 rubles to organize a family funeral for several people at once. And this is taking into account digging, and the place is free.

Hydrolysis - An Alternative to Cremation

The cremation of the deceased is not the last thing that can be considered modern in Moscow. There is also hydrolysis of the body of the deceased, when the "dissolved in eternity" fall into the water element. This is a resumption: the body goes to the resomator, where it decomposes in 3-4 hours. No gas emissions, environmentally friendly procedure and quite inexpensive. A chamber is filled with a solution of potassium hydroxide, in which the pressure rises to 10 units, and the temperature to 180 ° C. There is demineralization of hard tissues, dissolution of the soft.

After cooling, the remains are removed and dried in an oven in 10 minutes. They also grind into powder if there are undissolved particles.

Cannot be buried: church opinion

The Orthodox Church was skeptical of this method of burial. It was not clear what to do after the person was cremated, how to come to him at the "grave". You can’t just bury the urn. If relatives share the dust and let it go, then no memory will remain.

Here is what the Council of Bishops says:

If we consider that in ancient times a Christian treated the temple of the Holy Spirit reverently, today the Holy Synod allows only one burial rate - burial in the earth. Cremation is outside the Orthodox tradition. At the end there is a resurrection. If cremation is allowed, then we abandon God, who allowed Christ to be resurrected both in body and soul.

It turns out that it is all a matter of faith, because it is she who makes us believe in life after death. If you delve into the Bible, it prohibits thinking that there is something after physiological death or reincarnation. And here it is stated that a person by cremation refuses to worship, because he has ceased to believe that he will be able to resurrect. These contradictions push citizens not only to move to a more “convenient perspective of farewell,” but also to take the side of environmentalists.

Attitude to world traditions

In Europe, the attitude towards cremation is still twofold: someone believes in death and the end of life, someone does not want to rot in the earth for 10-20 years, and others are afraid of the dark. Although after life everything will be different (no one knows how). Young people in Russia want to use the burial method as an alternative: to stand on a shelf for admiring, because the mausoleum is too honored a pleasure. The price is almost the same, but you can find a cemetery where they agree to place the urn with the ashes on a shelf without plates, inscriptions and photos.