{"id":30586,"date":"2015-07-04T15:05:25","date_gmt":"2015-07-04T20:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=30586"},"modified":"2015-07-04T15:08:40","modified_gmt":"2015-07-04T20:08:40","slug":"remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/04\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering the Dead in the Abbey"},"content":{"rendered":"

We buried two beloved confreres at Saint John’s Abbey this week, Fr. Barnabas<\/a> on Tuesday and Br. Nicholas<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Our custom is to remember the dead by placing two candles by a\u00a0plate turned upside down in the refectory for 30 days after the death:<\/p>\n

\"WIN_20150629_085049\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This old monastic custom, which had been\u00a0dropped after the Second Vatican Council, was revived some years ago at the urging of Br. Frank Kacmarcik. When I told family and friends of the new (old) custom, the most common reaction was a bit of horror – almost as if we were drinking out of skulls as\u00a0some religious have done, I’m told,\u00a0to “keep death daily before one’s eyes” (cf.\u00a0Rule for Monasteries,\u00a0<\/em>ch. 4).<\/p>\n

My parents (my dad was alive then) recalled that there had been times of mourning in southern Minnesota many decades ago, but this too fell away. For a year after the death of one’s spouse, they explained to me, it was understood that one wouldn’t attend public entertainment such as a dance or movie. One still went out for Sunday Mass, but wore black. Then “they got it down to six months” and people were\u00a0seen sooner at things. Then it was reduced quickly, and then it was gone.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what psychologists would say about all this. But we Christians should take care to remember\u00a0the deadly with loving respect, and to pray\u00a0for them. We don’t want to be morbidly obsessed with the afterlife or unduly fearful about God’s judgment, and it is for good reason that the Second Vatican Council called for a reform of the funeral rites\u00a0to “express more clearly the paschal character of Christian death,” which includes the resurrection.<\/p>\n

But I for one am glad \u00a0that we once again remember deceased monks in the refectory for 30 days, and I hope there are people around to pray for my wretched soul when I go.<\/p>\n

What do you think about our ritualization of remembering and praying\u00a0for the dead, and about possible\u00a0ways to ritualize a time of bereavement and healing? I look forward to your thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hope there are people around to pray for my wretched soul when I go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funeralsburial"],"yoast_head":"\nRemembering the Dead in the Abbey - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/04\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remembering the Dead in the Abbey - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I hope there are people around to pray for my wretched soul when I go.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/04\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-04T20:05:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-04T20:08:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/WIN_20150629_085049.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1f253be22c50796444dc3d93f75cb50a\"},\"headline\":\"Remembering the Dead in the Abbey\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-04T20:05:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-04T20:08:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":365,\"commentCount\":8,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/WIN_20150629_085049.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Funerals\\\/Burial\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/04\\\/remembering-the-dead-in-the-abbey\\\/\",\"name\":\"Remembering the Dead in the Abbey - 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