All about cremation. How is a person cremated? Crematoria Hydrolysis - an alternative to cremation

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Death is one of the most terrible events in the life of every person. Many people say that you can fix any mistake as long as you are still alive. This event brings a lot of grief to the families and friends of those who leave us. Different peoples have their own burial traditions. Christianity has also formed its own traditions. But in the modern world there are certain realities that dictate their own conditions. Since the prices for traditional burials are quite high, and the number of places is not so great, such a phenomenon as cremation is widespread. What does the church say about whether an Orthodox person can be cremated?

This procedure is called the burning of corpses in special ovens. Basically, it is carried out before burial. After cremation, the ashes are placed in a special burial urn, after which it can be buried in various ways.

The first memories of cremation were recorded in the ancient Paleolithic era. In Europe, cremation was widespread in ancient Greece. Then she was transported to Ancient Rome.

In Christianity, cremation was considered a sign of paganism. That is why burial in the ground has become widespread. Until the 18th century, cremation was prohibited in Europe under the threat of the death penalty. Over time, the number of deaths increased and the city authorities found it difficult to cope with the number of deaths. Fraternal graves began to appear in front of the houses.

Such cemeteries caused epidemics and mortality increased. After the discovery of microorganisms, it was determined that this is a source of danger to humans. That is why they remembered about cremation. Only this procedure had to be carried out in the same way so as not to offend the deceased or his relatives. Conventional fires were not suitable, and therefore they began to build crematoria.

The attitude of Orthodoxy to cremation

Cremating or burying an Orthodox person depends solely on the decision of the relatives or the last wish of the deceased. Currently, modern Christian denominations accept such a phenomenon as cremation.

They are based on the words of an early Christian church writer that he sees no harm in burning, but as before they got used to burying corpses in the ground. But Orthodox clergy say that when choosing cremation or burial, it is worth choosing the option of preserving the body in a coffin.

The answer of the Christian church to the question why it is impossible to be cremated is that cremation will not give the relatives of the deceased an opportunity for consolation and prayer. Although this is also a controversial issue. It all depends on the need for this procedure. The Church does not deny this process and does not prohibit it, she simply tolerates such a manifestation.

Why the Orthodox are not cremated

This question is wrong. The Church does not prohibit burning the body of a deceased person. For example, the Russian Orthodox Church disapproves of cremation, but nevertheless does not prohibit priests from conducting all services for the dead before burning.

The Bible says what should be read, but nothing specifically says about how to bury the body of the deceased. Often in sacred writings it was said about the burial of bodies in caves or in the ground. And the phrase “came out of dust and will turn into dust” is not about the method of burial, but about what the body turns into after death.

Different attitudes towards cremation are primarily due to different understandings of the purpose of the human body or death. This can cause the fear that in this way we can cause pain or disrespect to the body of the deceased.

Burial after funeral service

The question whether it is possible to cremate an Orthodox Christian after a funeral service can be answered positively. The Church allows all rituals to be performed after death before the burning of the body. That is why one need not think about the fact that Orthodox funeral rites will not be performed.

There are at least two different interpretations regarding the method of burial:

• Some consider the burning of the body as a belief in the peace of the sky, where the soul moves with the help of fire instead of being buried in the ground.
• The latter say that the burial of a dead body in the ground is related to pagan rites. Thus, Christians who come to the graves to honor the memory of the departed are also taken from paganism.

Which method of burial to choose depends on the wishes of the deceased or his relatives. But it must be remembered that the most important thing will be the memory that you will keep in your heart about them.

The Lord is always with you!

Rising before the difficult choice of the option of repose, many people seek to clarify in detail all the nuances of the proposed ceremony. And, if the traditional burial in the ground is more or less clear, then the process of how a person is cremated raises questions.

What is human cremation

The concept of human cremation includes material and moral-ethical, religious aspects.

V material (vital) understanding , cremation is a process of transformation of organic tissues (the body of a deceased person) into inorganic chemical compounds that can become an integral part of the soil. In other words, the essence of cremation, like traditional burial, is precisely to carry out the transition of the body of the deceased from an organic form of life back to earth. The main difference between these two variants of repose is only that the mineralization of the buried body and its inclusion in the general composition of the soil (under average (standard) conditions) takes about 20 years; cremation of a person can reduce the time of this process to one and a half - two and a half hours.

Moral and ethical side cremation of a person is built on a religious and philosophical basis. This type of repose is traditional for Buddhism and Hinduism. In Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Vietnam, India and many other countries, cremation is an ancient part of the culture and customs of the people. In these countries, as a rule, burials and tombs are arranged only for very significant people (rulers, ministers of religion, etc.) in order to leave their energy on earth; for a “simple” deceased person, cremation is understood in a number of national and cultural traditions as an opportunity for the soul to more easily and freely pass into another world. Until recently, Christianity and Islam did not accept cremation, but now this form of repose is becoming more widespread, as well as approval from the clergy. In addition, one should not forget that it was burning on funeral pyres that was an ancient custom, widespread throughout ancient times.

How is cremation of a person in the modern world

Today, the burning of the bodies of the deceased is carried out in specialized crematoria, which are complex engineering structures capable of maintaining an ultra-high temperature and ensuring 100% combustion of a deceased person along with a coffin and other ritual accessories.

The standard complex of a crematorium includes several industrial furnaces that provide heating of the internal space to 900-1100 ° C. At such temperatures, there is a complete disintegration of organic tissues and their transformation into ash.

The time for cremating a person, on average, is 1.5 - 2 hours. After burning, ashes with a volume of about 2-2.5 liters remain.

Brief sequence of human cremation

The process of how a person is cremated can be more easily presented in the form of the following sequence of actions:

• delivery of the coffin with the body of the deceased to the crematorium (it is important that the coffin and other mourning attributes are chosen correctly);
• placing the coffin on a hearse in the ritual hall of the crematorium;
• farewell ceremony;
• placing the coffin on the conveyor and moving it to the transit room;
• some time later, from the transit room, the coffin enters the cremation oven. At the same time, a special fireproof metal plate with an individual number is placed on top of the coffin;
• cremation furnaces, in the most common version, have 2 internal chambers: in the first one is burning in jets of hot air, in the second - afterburning up to 100% combustion of all organic tissues, as well as trapping impurities;
• then the remains go to the cremator, where they are crushed to the state of ash;
• from the resulting ashes, using a special magnet, remove metal objects (accessories for the coffin, unburnt parts of clothing, etc.);
• as a result of these actions, a non-combustible metal plate is inside the ashes and allows you to correctly identify the remains, avoid mixing them with ashes, after burning other bodies;
• the resulting ashes are placed in a metal capsule with subsequent sealing, or an urn given by the relatives and close people of the deceased is used for these purposes.

Crematoria provide services for the temporary storage of urns with ashes. The storage time is determined individually by crematoria. On average, it is 1 year. If, after the expiration of the specified period, the urn with the ashes remains unclaimed, then it is buried in a common grave at the crematorium.

Actions after cremation of a person

It is important to understand that the process of cremation is only one of the stages of repose. After completing this action, one of the possible options follows:

• burial of an urn with ashes in a cemetery (in a new or related site);
• placing an urn in a cell of one of the columbariums;
• other actions, in accordance with the will of the deceased and his relatives (for example, some prefer to scatter the ashes over the place where the deceased loved to be during his life, or where he dreamed of going, etc.).

Unlike ordinary burial in the ground, cremation of a person, from a sanitary and anti-epidemiological point of view, is safer for the environment. Urn burial sites require less space and do not require a quarantine period. In addition, this option of repose requires significantly lower material costs.

At the moment, the share of cremation on average in Russia is 10%, in large cities - 30-40%. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, due to overcrowding of cemeteries, the share of cremation is close to 70%.

How and where to order the cremation of a person in Moscow and the region

More details about the organization and ordering of these services can be found in the "Cremation in Moscow" section.

Specialists of the city funeral service "Ritual Service" are always ready to provide comprehensive assistance and support in the preparation of the funeral ceremony, explain how a person is cremated, and provide guidance in ordering the necessary supplies. Departure of the ritual agent is free of charge around the clock.

A crematorium technician from the UK shared the secrets of her work and answered questions people wanted to know about man's final resting place. Many speculations about the work of the crematoria were dispelled, but many new details appeared. For example, about what type of people burns faster than the room smells after cremation and whether crematoria really sell ashes.

The technician said that on average, the cremation procedure lasts a little over an hour, depending on the material from which the coffin is made. The bodies are burned at a temperature of 800 to 1,000 degrees until only one ash remains.

Cancers make cremation longer, older or fragile people also lengthen the burning time and burn more slowly than larger people with more fat. Very thin people do not have a lot of fuel, so it may take longer to cremate them.

An employee of the crematorium said that after the procedure she did not smell anything special. Ashes consist only of burnt bones and a coffin. Muscle and tissue are completely destroyed during combustion.

The technician said that sometimes bone particles still remain in the remains after cremation if there was a lot of calcium in them. Unburnt piercings and rings are also common. Jewelry, she said, melts into small balls during cremation. They are not removed from the deceased in advance, unless relatives ask for it.

Once I shoveled the ashes and after the cremation a book was preserved. We think it was a very densely packed Bible. Many years ago, funeral directors used Bibles as pillows for the deceased.

The specialist also dispelled rumors that the employees of the crematoria are trading in human ashes (it is not clear for what purpose).

They (the remains that are given to relatives) are absolutely 100 percent from the correct ashes. The identification card is attached to the remains and remains with them until the ashes leave our crematorium.

But I have no emotions, because I did not know this person. I am sad to see children or people my age, but I keep it to myself. This work makes me love life and live to my fullest.

Organizing a cremation or funeral is an unpleasant undertaking. Every person at least once in his life experiences mental pain from the loss of a loved one. But it is on these days of mourning that the relatives of the deceased need to collect their thoughts and deal with the issue of burying or cremating the body of a deceased person. If the deceased during his lifetime managed to convey his last will to loved ones about how exactly he would like to be buried, the situation in this case is unambiguous. It is not customary to act against the wishes of a deceased person. The burial option can also be spelled out in the will. When the relatives do not have such a document or the will of the deceased regarding this is not indicated in it, the decision on burial or cremation is made at the family council.

Cremation permit

The further actions of the relatives of the deceased person depend on what is chosen (cremation or burial). If a decision was made to bury the body to the ground, then it is placed in a coffin and a traditional burial in a cemetery is performed. If a different method is chosen, then people involved in organizing cremation should take into account some of the features and nuances of this procedure.

The cremation process does not require any special permission. In big cities, about 50% of the bodies are sent to the crematorium. This popularity is due to the lack of space in the cemetery for performing standard burials.

And the urn with the ashes can be buried in an already existing grave belonging to a close relative of the deceased.

Cremation in Russia is officially permitted. This method of burial was used as early as 1927. At that time, the first crematorium in Russia was opened on the territory of the Donskoy Monastery. This method of getting rid of the body is common in countries dominated by populations of Buddhism, Shinto, and Hinduism. This method of burying a person is not the main one among Catholics and Orthodox. The Church does not approve, but does not prohibit cremation either. However, even in the case of burning a human body, it is necessary to perform a mandatory funeral service over it beforehand.

Cremation decoration

Unlike conventional burial, the cremation procedure is a very new method, which has 2 significant advantages:

• insignificant material costs;
• environmental Safety.

Before taking the body of a person to the crematorium, the relatives of the deceased must complete some documents. First of all, you need to take care of obtaining a death certificate. Then you need to take clothes to the morgue, in which the person will be during the funeral service in the church, the civil funeral service and directly during the burning. As a result, it is imperative to agree on the delivery of the body on a specific day. When everything is ready, you can go to the crematorium. There you first need to decide whether it will be a general or individual cremation. The choice of option depends on the material possibilities, since a single burning is much more expensive.

Possible problems

Problems can occur at various stages of preparation for cremation. The crematorium will refuse to conduct the ritual due to the lack of a complete package of documents. In order for the body of the deceased to be taken to the crematorium, the accompanying person must bring:

• own identity document (passport);
• death certificate (copy);
• a receipt-contract confirming payment for services.

Of course, the brought passport is returned to the person back. If a person who has died a violent death or as a result of an accident is brought for cremation, it will be necessary to additionally provide a written permission from the investigation department.

The same document will be required if a person is brought to cremation without identification.

The lack of crematoria is another significant problem. It is especially relevant for residents of small settlements, where it is much easier to organize a ritual at a cemetery. At the moment, crematoria are available only in large cities:

• Moscow;
• St. Petersburg;
• Volgograd;
• Novosibirsk;
• Yekaterinburg;
• Yaroslavl;
• Khabarovsk;
• and in some others.

If the deceased person lived in a city where there is no crematorium, and relatives do not want to bury him in the cemetery, then they need to contact a company that carries out long-distance passenger transportation. It is better to order a car in which the body will be delivered for cremation in advance. In this case, it is necessary to make sure exactly at what hours the crematorium is open. There shouldn't be any other problems.

Cremation and delivery of an urn with ashes

The most important moment comes when relatives have to say goodbye to the body of a deceased person. Many are interested in how cremation takes place and what is appropriate to bring to the ritual of parting with the body. Currently, there is general and individual cremation. In the first case, the ritual of parting with the bodies of cremated people is practically absent. Several bodies at once are placed in a furnace and burned.

The ashes are placed in urns and given to relatives.

Individual cremation is an expensive ritual. Relatives of the deceased can bring flowers to the cemetery, say farewell speeches. After the individual cremation has been performed, the relatives are given an urn with the ashes of the deceased. If for some reason the urn was not taken away, it is kept free of charge in the morgue for 40 days. Then a fee of 5 rubles begins to be charged for each day of storage. If after a year the relatives do not take the urn, it is buried in the cemetery in a common grave.

On average, an individual cremation costs from 5 to 6 thousand rubles. The price depends on the region. For the performed ritual of general burning, you will have to pay from 3 to 4 thousand rubles. If the relatives themselves do not want to organize the cremation, they can contact the funeral agencies. The funeral service staff will take care of the paperwork and preparation of the body of the deceased.