from The Shepherd
Brookwood, Surrey, England
" . . . when the body is one of an Orthodox Christian it is a holy thing. It is that body which was washed in Holy Baptism, anointed with holy Chrism, which partook of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, which was anointed with holy oil, which received the tonsure at Baptism, at Ordination or at monastic profession, which was crowned in marriage, which made the sign of the Cross, which looked at and kissed the holy icons, which reverenced and touched the sacred relics, which stood in prayer, which made prostrations, which listened to the chants and readings, which read the Scriptures and prayers, which smelled the incense and fragrances, which went on pilgrimage, wept, suffered illnesses and pains, suffered in child-birth, which struggled against the passions, which gave alms, which fasted, restrained itself, tried to keep itself pure,—indeed which participated in the true worship of the True God. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? (I Cor. 6:19). It is, of course, this reverence for the body of a departed Christian as something sacred which, among other considerations, forbids us as Orthodox Christians to countenance cremation."
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