Abbey-Roads2

Thoughts on death for All Hallows Eve.

I think our culture is scared of death, hence the refusal to say when someone has died that they died.  We say things like passed away, passed on, or just “so and so passed“.  Passed what?  As everyone knows, we deny that abortion or euthanasia is killing as well - for instance, to be pro-abortion is referred to as pro-choice - very clean and easy.  Innocent victims of war are referred to as colateral damage.  Reading obituaries, people who died from terminal cancer are said to have “passed away after a courageous battle against cancer.“  Often, when we attend a Catholic funeral, one hears this, “They are in a better place” or “they are still with us” or “they are home with God” and so on.

We deny death, fear death, resist death, yet our culture is entertained by it, which may be one reason why we have so many horror films.  Halloween is often a time to mock death - which also seems to be another expression of denial.

Remembering our end.

The saints are often shown contemplating death as seen in the above painting of St. Jerome by Carravagio;  memento mori- remember death, is a traditional Christian maxim.  It’s purpose is much like that of the blessing we receive on Ash Wednesday during the imposition of ashes, “Remember thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return”.  The remembrance of death helps the Christian to order his life through repentance, conversion, mortification and detachment.  It reminds us that we are exiles on earth, and that we must prepare for eternal life.  It is a good thing.

Catholic veneration of the saints and their relics, is a pious custom dating back to the first martyrs and before.  Remember the Israelites carried with them the bones of Joseph in the Exodus.  In Churches throughout the world, there are wonderful reliquaries containing body parts of the saints; skulls, arms, fingers and so on.  This can strike the non-believer as macabre, while some Catholics think the practice is grotesque and medieval.  (I don’t - I have dozens of first class relics.)  Yet most traditional Catholics have no problem whatsoever with the bodies or body parts of the saints venerated as relics.  The bodies of the saints, once tabernacles of the Holy Spirit, are holy - not scary.

Capuchin catacombs.

This year I used skulls to decorate the front of my house for All Hallows Eve, in the tradition of the Mexican Day of the Dead, as a reminder of death, in the same spirit as the saints shown contemplating a skull.  (These props have nothing to do with devils and witches as some fundamentalists might suggest they do.)  Catholics ought to remember that in some monasteries, skulls were placed in the refectory to remind the religious of death; as such, the skull served as an exhortation to temperance.

The European Capuchins had an intriguing custom of keeping the bones of the dead in an ossuary, or underground cemetery in the crypts of their churches.  (I believe the custom dates back to ancient times, and especially amongst early monastics, such as the monks of St. Catherines’s in Sinai.)  Anyone who has been to Rome surely must have visited the Capuchin cemetery on the Via Veneto, decorated entirely with the bones and skulls of deceased monks, many dressed in their habits. Some of the photos shown in this post are from the Capuchin ossuaries of Rome and Polermo.  To the contemporary person, or most unbelievers, these displays seem gruesome and distasteful - which seems to me another example of our repugnance and fear of death.

The incorruptables.

In some of the European Capuchin catacombs, a few of the bodies appear to be incorrupt - although they are said to be mummified.  Interestingly enough, these bodies resemble some of the saints bodies that are said to be incorrupt.  The bodies of St. Clare of Assisi and St. Catherine of Bologna come to mind.  The skin of these saints is dark and leathery, adhering to the skull and bones, similar to the photo shown above from the Palermo catacombs.  Nevertheless, their state of incorruption is viewed as miraculous and a sign of their purity and holiness.  In the case of the unidentified man shown above, the preservation would be considered natural.

When the Church canonizes saints, the matter of incorruptibility is not taken into consideration, in fact the recently discovered incorrupt body of Blessed John XXIII has been largely regarded as a natural phenomenon by the Vatican.  However, for the “little ones” amongst the faithful, the state of incorruption is a sign of the person’s holiness.

Having said that, most bodies of the saints corrupt, as all other bodies do.  Which reminds me of Dostoevsky’s novel, “The Brothers Karamazov”.  When Fr. Zosima died, his body began to decay almost immediately, and some of the other monks believed it to be a sign that Zosima was not a good monk.  Yet Fr. Zosima was a very holy monk.  Just so, St. Therese of Lisieux predicted her body would decay, so has to give hope to all the little ones.  It seems to me incorruption is not the irrefutable sign of holiness we believe it to be.

The meaning of All Hallows.

The day of the Dead and All Hallows reminds us that death comes to us all, reminding us it is how we have lived that determines our fate.  It is also a time to remember those who have gone before us in death, some immediately to glory, all of the saints; and some awaiting the beatific vision in purgatory, all souls.  Understood in that context, Haloween is not the bad holiday fundamentalists make it out to be.

For a good history of Halloween, go to Pro Ecclesia and read Jay’s post.  I found Jay’s post while reading Fr. Longenecker, who also has a good bit of advice concerning the holiday. 

Yeah - just my thoughts on All Hallows.  Don’t forget to have fun.