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<v Speaker 1>One of the most obvious ways that our Western society,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm speaking now particularly as an American, has been

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<v Speaker 1>decimated and secularized, torn literally from its historical roots in

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<v Speaker 1>the Christian faith, is in our attitude towards a sickness, dying,

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<v Speaker 1>death and burial. We have lost our traditional Christian orientation

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<v Speaker 1>towards death, and I'd like to speak about that. It's

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<v Speaker 1>manifest in many particular ways. The outsourcing of death to hospitals,

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<v Speaker 1>which was so grotesquely revealed during the time of COVID,

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<v Speaker 1>but it had been going on in our country for

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<v Speaker 1>a very long time, for at least fifty sixty years.

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<v Speaker 1>The outsourcing of death to hospitals, the sad overdependence on doctors,

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<v Speaker 1>as though when you're sick and you're facing threatening illness,

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<v Speaker 1>you are tempted to turn to the doctors, as though

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<v Speaker 1>somehow that's the most important thing. It may buy you

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<v Speaker 1>an extra week, it may buy you an extra month

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<v Speaker 1>or a few months, But the hubbub associated with that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of orientation as death drawn nears, is often very

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<v Speaker 1>foolish and a massive waste of resources.

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<v Speaker 2>In time.

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<v Speaker 1>I think most Americans know that the vast majority of

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<v Speaker 1>our healthcare money is spent in the last year of

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<v Speaker 1>life by people trying to hold on because they're not

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<v Speaker 1>prepared for the next life. They're certainly not looking forward

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<v Speaker 1>to it, not anticipating it, and therefore will be willing

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<v Speaker 1>to do almost anything and spend almost any amount of

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<v Speaker 1>money in order to have just a few more days,

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<v Speaker 1>a few more months. It is all completely grotesque, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>and a massive manifestation of a lack of traditional Christian faith.

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<v Speaker 1>Besides this that overdependence on doctors, we have a catastrophic

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<v Speaker 1>rise in cremation, which has nothing to do with the

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<v Speaker 1>Christian faith, is a complete violation of all traditional Christian

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<v Speaker 1>norms on how you treat the body and how you

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<v Speaker 1>love and care for the departed. It has a pagan origin,

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<v Speaker 1>nothing to do with Christianity at all. Sorry, and the

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<v Speaker 1>accommodations that Protestants almost wholesale have made, and even the

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<v Speaker 1>Roman Catholic Church, which has what shall I say, over

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<v Speaker 1>assimilated and not stood fast against the embrace of cremation.

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<v Speaker 1>Even sadly our Catholic brothers have gone way too far

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<v Speaker 1>and accommodating in the culture. We Orthodox don't believe in cremation.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't permit cremation under any circumstances. It's simply pagan

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<v Speaker 1>and has nothing to do with our faith. I'll tell

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<v Speaker 1>you I've had a number of just very personally disturbing

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<v Speaker 1>experiences at Catholic funerals of friends, dear friends, and to

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<v Speaker 1>see the normal structure of a traditional funeral with the

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<v Speaker 1>sensing of the body stripped of the body. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>very strange thing to come into a Catholic funeral and

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<v Speaker 1>to see a priest sensing a little tiny box full

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<v Speaker 1>of ashes. The incense is to honor the body. How

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<v Speaker 1>can you incense what you've just disgraced. You've thrown a

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<v Speaker 1>body that will be raised from the dead into fire,

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<v Speaker 1>turned it into ash, and then you're going to sense

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<v Speaker 1>it as though you revere it, as though the body

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<v Speaker 1>itself contains the grace of God, which it does. Can

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<v Speaker 1>you imagine if the Virgin Mary took down the body

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<v Speaker 1>of her son off the precious cross and threw him

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<v Speaker 1>into the fire because it was less expensive.

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<v Speaker 2>No, there would be no pieight if that was the case.

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<v Speaker 1>No, We instead are inspired by the Virgin holding the

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<v Speaker 1>broken body of her son in outer devotion, loving him,

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<v Speaker 1>weeping over him, caring for him, preparing his body, cleaning him,

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<v Speaker 1>washing him, adorning him, wrapping him, putting him into a tomb,

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<v Speaker 1>and then lamenting.

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<v Speaker 2>This is what we do.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what we do, the idea that somehow will

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<v Speaker 1>keep the external structures while gutting the core sensing which

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<v Speaker 1>you've just disgraced.

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<v Speaker 2>What a said thing? What a said thing.

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<v Speaker 1>And on top of that, there's the commercialization of the

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<v Speaker 1>death industry. This is both in the cemeteries and in

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<v Speaker 1>the mortuaries, which have become massive, big business. I had

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<v Speaker 1>the numbers some years ago, maybe ten years ago. I

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<v Speaker 1>was talking to an Orthodox Christian mortician, and he told

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<v Speaker 1>me that it was an eighty five billion dollar business

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<v Speaker 1>now in America. And that has certainly been my cases

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<v Speaker 1>I've witnessed during the years of my pastor, and the

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<v Speaker 1>complete commercialization of the death industry, so much so that

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<v Speaker 1>it to bury someone these days it costs more than

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<v Speaker 1>a buying a fancy new car.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, you might as well buy a portie.

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<v Speaker 1>That's about how much it costs these days to bury someone.

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<v Speaker 1>It's really utterly and totally and said one of the

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<v Speaker 1>first things that I did when I became a preistomino

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<v Speaker 1>sort of presiding or senior pastor in my parish is

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<v Speaker 1>I went and met all the morticians locally. I went

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<v Speaker 1>and I interviewed them, and I told them, look, if

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<v Speaker 1>you tell me the truth, I promise I'll respect you

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<v Speaker 1>and I'll use you, and I'll use your services.

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<v Speaker 2>I said, but I want to know what you pay

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<v Speaker 2>for things.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to tell me what the wholesale price is,

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<v Speaker 1>what you actually pay, and what you're charging me and

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<v Speaker 1>my people.

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<v Speaker 2>No one would show me that. I went from mortuary

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<v Speaker 2>to mortuary.

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<v Speaker 1>No owner would tell me the truth except one, and

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<v Speaker 1>that man I respect, and for the last thirty years

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<v Speaker 1>I have used him for all my funerals, and he

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<v Speaker 1>has become really a part of the family and a

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<v Speaker 1>part of our parish's catharsis around bearing our loved ones,

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<v Speaker 1>a very dear, dear friend. Now, after all of these years,

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<v Speaker 1>I respect him so much because he was serving from

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<v Speaker 1>the heart. His mortuary and his burial chapel were not

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<v Speaker 1>just fundraising, not just income for him.

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<v Speaker 2>But he really cares about people.

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<v Speaker 1>And he told me he called up on his computer,

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<v Speaker 1>this is exactly how much I paid for the coffin.

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<v Speaker 1>This is how much I'm charging you for the coffin.

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<v Speaker 1>I was completely blown away and I asked him, I said,

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<v Speaker 1>I said, Dean, do you think I said, we orthodox,

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<v Speaker 1>We're used to taking care of our own. I said,

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<v Speaker 1>do you think you could train a small group of

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<v Speaker 1>women and it's group, a small group of men to

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<v Speaker 1>do the basic preparations, basic body preparations for our departed

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<v Speaker 1>loved ones? And he said, one hundred percent, I can,

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<v Speaker 1>and he did, and we were able to create for

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<v Speaker 1>the first time in our parish, a traditional burial society,

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<v Speaker 1>a society of a number of men and a number

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<v Speaker 1>of women who know how to care for the deceased.

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<v Speaker 1>And we take our dear loved ones often from hospice

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<v Speaker 1>right into as soon as they repose, if they repose

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<v Speaker 1>on hospice here in California. That means we don't have

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<v Speaker 1>to wait for a corner days to get a death certificate,

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<v Speaker 1>a burial certificate. And Dean gets that for us. We

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<v Speaker 1>have a very simple contract worked out with him where

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<v Speaker 1>he will transport our loved ones. If we need transport,

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<v Speaker 1>he will bring them to our burial chapel, to our

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<v Speaker 1>chapel here at church, our funeral chapel, our ladies. If

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<v Speaker 1>it's a woman who has reposed, we'll meet him and

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<v Speaker 1>our loved one who's departed, or the men if it

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<v Speaker 1>was a man who was reposed, And then we, having

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<v Speaker 1>been trained, very simple, very easy, we of course prepare

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<v Speaker 1>the body.

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<v Speaker 2>We read the psalms.

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<v Speaker 1>While that's going on, vigils can be held so that

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<v Speaker 1>the loved ones family can be with them and saying

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<v Speaker 1>prayers and reading scripture. Then we can perform the funeral

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<v Speaker 1>and then the mortician comes back. We transfer the person

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<v Speaker 1>to the cemetery, We do the cemetery prayers after the funeral,

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<v Speaker 1>and then the burial prayers for a mercy meal.

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<v Speaker 2>This is how it's done. This is the normal way.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'll tell you having the Burial Society has been

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<v Speaker 1>simply an inspiration for us, an absolute inspiration, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>reduced the cost of a burial by about eighty to

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<v Speaker 1>ninety percent, and so we are able now to help

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<v Speaker 1>even people who are financially challenged. We are able to

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<v Speaker 1>help bury their loved ones because each burial, each funeral,

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<v Speaker 1>is not twenty five thousand dollars. There's a very encouraging

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<v Speaker 1>book that really motivated me. It was written by a

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<v Speaker 1>very beloved deacon, Deacon Mark Barna. I met Deacon back

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<v Speaker 1>in the Carolinas many years ago. He had just published

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<v Speaker 1>a book called a Christian Ending, a Christian Ending, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's all about traditional Christian practices of caring for the departed.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a great inspiration for me.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, it led me to my own study, and

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<v Speaker 1>some years ago, I don't know, maybe fifteen years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>I published a seven part series called a Christian Ending

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<v Speaker 1>to Our Lives, Death, Burial and Christian Customs at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of Life. You can find that on the Patristic

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<v Speaker 1>Nectar app. If you go to the app and you

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<v Speaker 1>just go under theological lectures and look for a Christian

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<v Speaker 1>Into our Lives, you can find it there. I also

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<v Speaker 1>serialized it in the course of seven articles that were

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<v Speaker 1>published in the Word magazine of the antiochy arch Diocese.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm hoping to bring it out as a small book

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<v Speaker 1>that can be used to encourage people to recover what

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<v Speaker 1>has been lost in our understanding of the end of

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<v Speaker 1>life and the sacred customs that the Church has always

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<v Speaker 1>embraced on the care for for the departed. Why not,

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<v Speaker 1>dear ones, why not recover our traditional customs around death.

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<v Speaker 1>And by the way, these aren't just orthodox Christian customs.

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<v Speaker 1>These aren't just traditional Catholic customs. These are traditional Protestant

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<v Speaker 1>customs too. This is what how we used to do

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<v Speaker 1>it here in America. We used to dig our own graves.

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<v Speaker 1>We used to wake our own people in our living rooms,

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<v Speaker 1>on our couches. We would orient them towards the east.

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<v Speaker 1>We would invite people to come and pay their last

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<v Speaker 1>respects in the home. We would dig the whole ourself.

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<v Speaker 1>We would prepare the bodies. We would bury our loved ones.

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<v Speaker 1>We would dress them and send them off to paradise

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<v Speaker 1>with our fervent prayers.

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<v Speaker 2>This is what we did. This is what Christians have

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<v Speaker 2>always done.

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<v Speaker 1>Why not start a burial society in your own church?

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<v Speaker 2>Why not?

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<v Speaker 1>Why not incorporate this incredible love for the departed and

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<v Speaker 1>recover a Christian disposition towards the most sublime period of

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<v Speaker 1>one's life, when they are loosening their tether to this

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<v Speaker 1>earthly life and are moving into a place that we

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<v Speaker 1>trust and pray for, of paradise in the presence of Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>Why not? Why not?

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<v Speaker 1>May God help you to apply your Christian faith to

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<v Speaker 1>the death and burial of your loved ones. And may

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<v Speaker 1>you be inspired, May you be inspired, God be with you. Hey, everyone,

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you've downloaded the Patristic Nectar app on your phone.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a treasure trove of soul nourishing content and

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you'll consider becoming a regular donor to Patristic

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<v Speaker 1>Nectar today