A Christian Ending – A Handbook for Burial in the Ancient Christian Tradition by J. Mark and Elizabeth J. Barna (Authors) Paperback Book -2018 -all NEW 2nd Edition! -Enlarged and Enriched!! A handbook for burial in the ancient Christian tradition. While aimed at Orthodox Christians, this book would be a very helpful guide to anyone who is interested in preparing for a funeral within the context of community, without the use of corporate funeral homes, and using green and sustainable methods. From the foreward: “How should Christian people prepare for death, their own and that of loved ones? No question can be more important than this, since death is the final reality of our earthly life. Yet particularly in the United States, we tend to avoid the question as much as we can. We consider death to be brutal and tragic, whatever its circumstances and causes. It marks an end to our ambitions, while it underscores the ephemeral nature of our existence. Therefore we treat it like a “last enemy” from which there is no escape, no salvation. Death appears as a specter, a menacing evil, that evokes a reaction of dread. Written in a genial, conversational style, this book offers the Christian reader a solid foundation in both the theology and the psychology of death: its place within God’s creative and saving work, and the personal impact it makes on those facing death and those who grieve for them. It also clarifies a great many misconceptions held by most people concerning professional funeral practices, making clear that a truly “Christian ending” to our life can mean beauty and utter simplicity both in the rituals that surround it and in the burial itself. Many readers will be surprised to learn that it is not at all necessary, legally or practically, to use the services of a funeral home. There is indeed “another way,” one more in keeping with the Gospel imperative to honor the physical body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. This work includes a section on the actual preparation of the body of the deceased, together with prescribed readings of psalms and prayers, all of which can be accomplished with or without the participation of clergy. Finally, an extensive bibliography is followed by a list of items needed for preparation, as well as various post-mortem forms the reader will find indispensable.” -Fr. John Breck A Christian Ending is a handbook for burial in the ancient Christian tradition. Whether you are an Orthodox Christian or not, this book provides details on how to legally prepare a body for burial, perform a vigil and funeral. The book grew out of a life-long aversion to the American funeral industry and the American cult of body preservation. From an early age the whole thing just seemed quite warped and very un-Christian. In short, “it gave me the willies.” I always thought that it would be much better to be “planted” among the roots of an old oak tree than to have my remains pumped full of chemicals and sealed in a metal box. It turns out I was right. As Christians we are constantly seeking to know the truth of things. Over the years we realized that the American funeral industry is built upon a mountain of lies. Working in a hospital many years ago, I learned that hospital personnel are trained to handle the death of Jews much differently than they do Christians. I learned that Jewish burial rituals are much closer to my idea of a proper burial than the funeral industry would have us believe. Knowing that the first Christians considered themselves to be Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Christ, I surmised that early Christian burial was probably much the same. So what happened to those traditions? A trip to the library enlightened me. I learned that the American funeral industry is unique. In most of the world burial is still a quite organic, natural part of family and community life. Here we have turned it into a grotesque art form at best, or a macabre cult of greed and profit at the worst. One day in 2005, in a discussion with my parish priest I said, “I have all this information on ancient Christian burial. Surely you can find a seminarian who is looking for a thesis. Have him write a book.” His response was, “No, you write it.” The first version was simply a step by step description of how to prepare a body for burial with an explanation of “why” written only with Orthodox Christians in mind. This early version was circulated among friends and fellow Orthodox Christians via photo copy.While writing this first draft and working out details of the “process” in our heads, tragedy struck. A good friend and parishioner died suddenly and unexpectedly. He left three teenaged orphans. Our church family quickly pulled together, donated a coffin, dug his grave on a friends farm and prepared his body at the hospital morgue. During this tragic time everything went “by the book”. This was also the first time I signed for receipt of a body as “funeral director”. Since then we have prepared numerous bodies of family, friends, parishioners and perfect strangers.The favorable reactions and suggestions lead us to rewrite the book to broaden the scope to include other Christians who might not be familiar with Orthodox Christian tradition and eschatology. This version also got favorable reviews and we were encouraged to seek a publisher. We then embarked on a third version to include anyone interested in “natural”, “green” or “new age” burial in the potential audience.Still, we knew a book like this is not a profitable undertaking for a publishing house and therefore it would probably never see the light of day. We continued sending bound photocopies free upon request. Finally, a copy found its way to the Monastery of Saint John of San Francisco where Abbot Jonah (now Metropolitan JONAH of all America and Canada, Orthodox Church in America) agreed to publish it through Divine Ascent Press, the monastery imprint. We are very much indebted to His Beatitude and the monks for all the work that went into editing and printing this book. Obviously, as Orthodox Christians we approach our death as we do our entire life, as Christians. However, if you are not a Christian, you will still find lots of valuable step by step information inside. -Mark Barna Product details: Paperback: 198 pagesPublisher: Divine Ascent Press; 2nd edition (2018)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0986401107ISBN-13: 978-0986401107 Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches Shipping Weight: 14 ounces —————————————– Shipping:Dear Buyers, PLEASE BE PATIENT for your packages to be shipped and to arrive! 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