**THE DEAD, VENERATION OF THE**
A complex of all the practices directed toward the dead among different peoples and in various religions.
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### OUTLINE
I. In non-Christian religions
II. Among the Jews
III. In the theological thought of the Catholic Church
IV. In the liturgy of the Church
V. In canon and civil law
VI. In medicine
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### I. IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
In non-Christian religions, veneration of the dead almost always took the form of worship. O. Schrader (*op. cit.*, p. 16) holds that this worship may be realized in three distinct ways, namely: the treatment of the corpse (burial, cremation, etc.) and the attentions paid to it during and after the funeral rite (for the latter form *v.* also ANCESTORS, CULT OF; FUNERARY RITES). The three forms may coexist to a greater or lesser extent, but all imply, even where the dead are neglected or regarded with fear or repulsion, precise beliefs about death, the soul, and the abode of the deceased (*v.* UNDERWORLD).
For prehistory, cautious inferences about the cult of the dead may be drawn from the not very numerous funerary remains that provide clear indications in this direction. Thus, while with regard to the proto-Neanderthals of the Lower Pleistocene (Amigdaloid, Elsterian, and Levalloisian cultures) nothing can be said that is more than hypothetical (the interpretation of the Ciù-cu-tien deposit, where skulls were found, is doubtful and has led some to think of a skull cult connected with the cult of the dead), the situation is relatively clearer for the Middle Pleistocene: in the Mousterian culture it was customary to bury the dead “in a resting position with the head resting on the forearm” or in a position that would seem to attest to the use (found among present-day primitives) of binding the corpse, placing beside them lithic tools (funerary furnishings?), which, together with supposed traces of cannibalism (a form of cult of the dead among peoples of a primitive nature), would bear witness to genuine cultural practices in honor of the dead. In the cultures of the Upper Paleolithic, individual and collective burials are found, both in the open and in caves, in artificial pits or on bare ground: the corpse (sometimes in a resting position, at other times curled up—an indication of binding?) is often sprinkled with red ochre or placed on a “bed” covered with this substance (is this meant to restore to the dead the blood, seat of vital energy, for the afterlife?), protected, particularly at the head and feet, by stone slabs, and accompanied by actual funerary furnishings, including weapons, ornaments, and objects of common use. Similar characteristics are found in the remains of the Epipaleolithic (in which, however, particular honor was paid to skulls, arranged in collective pits, always on a layer of red ochre) and of the Megalithic (*v.* also PREHISTORY, RELIGION IN; and, for the Neolithic and the Metal Ages, the history of the individual cultures of these periods).
Among primitives, the complex of beliefs about the dead varies, and so do the forms of worship.
Among the Australians, in addition to endocannibalism (the practice of eating the flesh of the dead to appropriate their qualities: cf. E. Volhard, *Il cannibalismo*, Eng. trans., Turin 1949, pp. 488-506), which is also found in Africa, various forms of burial are noted: inhumation (corpse laid out or curled up), deposition on trees or on special platforms (to achieve mummification of the dead, which is then preserved by relatives), and cremation. Peculiar is the practice of double burial, whereby, after exposing the corpse to decompose, the bones are collected and then buried or deposited in caves, or, in part, kept by relatives. It is a common belief that man continues to live after death: for this reason, the corpse is sometimes placed on a boat so that it may make its journey; for this reason, among the Arunta, an armed dance is performed at the place where the spirit of the dead is thought to linger, to induce it to depart definitively from the world of the living.
Among the primitives of Asia, the Andamanese behave similarly to some Australian tribes: they also cremate the corpses, whose skulls relatives then keep, after painting them with red ochre. While the Sakai and Jakun of the Malay Peninsula abandon the dead where they were at the moment of death (sometimes covering them with a layer of earth) and then leave the place. A return to double burial is found among the Dayaks and Torajas of Indonesia.
Like the Bushmen, the Pygmies of Africa believe in the survival of the spirits of the dead, who in the afterlife receive reward or punishment according to their conduct in life. The beliefs of the Zulu are not dissimilar. On the other hand, among many African families, there is the custom of abandoning the dead where they died and performing practices to hasten their decomposition: the reason for this is to be found in a “fear of contamination” thought to derive from the corpse.
The elevation of the corpse, cremation, and burial are also found among the Eskimos, along with the abandonment of individuals near death in a secluded place. Among the Algonquins—as among other American tribes—mummification was common; but among the primitives of America there was also the belief that the dead could not enter their realm until their mortal remains had been destroyed: hence practices designed to hasten the decomposition of the corpse or the use of cremation (*v.* also PRIMITIVES, RELIGION OF).
A precise description of the rites in honor of the dead is available for the pre-Columbian peoples of America. In Mexico, the treatment of those who died in war differed from that of those who died a natural death. The former were honored first with four days of funeral chants performed by widows and children in a procession accompanied by a special dance. Subsequently, “effigies representing the dead were constructed; they were covered with paper of magney or agave, dressed in tunics and sashes; vulture wings were attached to these effigies so that they might fly before the sun.” After offerings of food had been made to the effigies and another four days had passed, “the widows made the final offering of Neulhi, a native drink, scattered roses on the ground, and burned incense. Finally, all the effigies were thrown into the fire, and as they burned, the widows wept” (C. Crivelli, *La religione dei popoli che abitarono il Messico e l'America centrale*, in P. Tacchi Venturi, *Storia delle religioni*, I, 2nd ed., Turin 1939, p. 127). The latter, on the other hand, were cremated during a ceremony that involved human sacrifice, and the ashes were collected in a casket on which the statue of the deceased was placed. Human sacrifices followed at regular intervals for a total of eighty days. The spirit of those who died in battle enjoyed immortality, while that of those who died a natural death (excepting those who died of diseases sacred to Tlaloc) died definitively after a long journey in the afterlife (*v.* also MEXICO: Religion; PERU: Religion).
In no other country, probably, did the cult of the dead assume such importance and take on such concrete form as in ancient Egypt. From the earliest tombs, dating perhaps to the 5th millennium B.C., in which the corpse was buried in a shallow pit with various furnishings placed beside it, one passes to those of the Old Kingdom, consisting of much deeper pits surmounted by a small building with sloping walls. In the course of time, the tombs were enlarged by the addition of a varying number of chambers. The kings were buried in pyramids, and beside them a temple dedicated to the king was constructed, in which regular worship was maintained. The corpses were mummified with the greatest care and with the concern of preserving the dead person as he had been in life. The burial rite included the recitation by the priest of spells intended to restore to the dead the use of the senses; offerings of food were then made, which were repeated at regular intervals. The complex of rites is also preserved in the Middle Kingdom, in which, due to the increased economic level of the population, the number of tombs grew considerably. The system of inhumation did not change, nor did the offerings, which, however, especially in the New Kingdom, were preferably made in the temples. The persistence of faith in a life after death is evident; a faith which, however, changed in substance, passing from the belief in a simple survival, perhaps in the tomb itself, with needs altogether similar to those of earthly life, to that of the soul of the dead going to the “Kingdom of the West” (Amenti [q.v.]; cf. also EGYPT: Religion; BOOK OF THE DEAD).
Much less conspicuous was the cult of the dead among the peoples who inhabited Mesopotamia. Among the various forms of burial, only inhumation is known: in the earliest times the corpse was placed naked in the ground, probably beneath its own dwelling, or else placed in large clay jars. Later the dead appear in a contracted position, very often oriented. Beside them were placed food, weapons, and various furnishings. The funeral ceremony included lamentations in the temple, directed by a priest, animal sacrifices, and libations performed by the relatives on the tomb. In the time of the Sumerians there were also—perhaps—human sacrifices. In the poem which tells of the descent of Ištar to the underworld mention is also made of washing and anointing the corpse, of clothing it in red garments, and of music which would accompany the funeral; the meaning of all this, however, is not very clear (cf. also BABYLONIANS: III, Religion).
Inhumation, the burial in caves or stone tombs in which offerings of food, drink, and objects were placed, was common among the Canaanites, who believed that they could know the future through the spirit of the dead. Among the Phoenicians, it was the belief in the continuation of life after death, in which the soul is inseparable from the body, which must therefore be carefully buried in the tomb (“house of eternity”), preserved in wooden chests or in a sarcophagus.
In the Aegean world, traces of the cult of the dead are reconstructed in Crete (Mesara) as early as the Old Minoan period. Here were the great tholoi, perhaps family sepulchres capable of holding hundreds of corpses, in which the dead were placed on bare ground (though in some tholoi there were sarcophagi), and beside which were found mostly anonymous idols and small vases (at Mochlos) intended to contain food and drink. In the Middle Minoan period individual cemeteries or burials are found: above the dead, in a contracted position, are large vases, sometimes overturned (pithoi). And very often caves on the seashore were transformed into ossuaries: perhaps, as the sarcophagus of Haghia Triada suggests, it was believed that a sea voyage was necessary to reach the afterlife. There were also artificial ossuaries (at Malia, for example), built of masonry and divided into several chambers, in some of which—an unmistakable evidence of the cult of the dead—tables were found which certainly served as altars. But it is in the Late Minoan period that architecturally independent funerary constructions with rich internal furnishings are found (such as the “Double Axe Tomb” at Knossos). And so it is in this period that the number of larnakes increases notably, in which the dead are placed supine with the knees bent. Among these sarcophagi, the already mentioned one from Haghia Triada is famous, on which a veritable ceremony in honor of the dead is depicted: “three individuals clad in animal skins bring to the deceased, standing before the tomb, two calves and a boat.” On the other sides of the sarcophagus are represented the sacrifice of a bull, an offering by a priestess, and various other elements which lead one to think precisely of a funeral sacrifice (cf. also AEGEAN RELIGION).
The sacred texts of Vedic India give clear indications of a cult of the dead which was carried out in the most complete manner both in funeral ceremonies and in rites following burial on fixed dates. It was believed that the abode of the dead was the sky, the realm of Yama, but from the sky the dead could return in the form of a spirit to his house to seek food there (especially at the time of the new moon). A meal was therefore prepared and placed beside small pits filled with water which were to serve for the ablutions of the dead. This was followed by offerings of oil, perfumes, etc. Such offerings were repeated monthly and on the occasion of births, marriages, and the like. The texts also give a precise description of the funeral ceremony, during which the corpse was burned according to a ritual different according as it was that of a brahman, a kṣatriya, or a vaiśya (q.V. BRAHMANISM). The practices are preserved, though with no small changes, in Hinduism: the corpse is burned and the ashes, collected in an urn, are thrown into the Ganges or another sacred river. The change in direction is justified by the new and unquestioned beliefs: man will be reborn after death according to the law of Karman; everything must therefore be directed toward the attainment of purity to break the cycle of births (q.V. HINDUISM).
In the Zoroastrian religion the complex of practices in honor of the dead is regulated by the concept of impurity which is believed to emanate from the corpse: the dead are neither buried nor burned so as not to contaminate the earth and fire. Instead, they are exposed on the dakhma (a pit surrounded by stone beds arranged in concentric circles) to be devoured by vultures. The skeleton is then thrown into the pit. In the house of the dead, purificatory ceremonies follow to remove the impurity. This horror of the corpse is also found among the present-day Parsis (q.V. IRAN, Religion of the PARSES).
Traces of the cult of the dead in Greece are found as early as the Minoan age: of this period are the tholoi and pit graves; here—probably—a funeral sacrifice was performed and gifts and offerings were placed, the latter perhaps repeated on certain occasions. In this period cremation was also introduced alongside inhumation. References to a cult of the dead found in the epic all go back to the Minoan age: funeral games were also held in honor of the dead. In the classical age acts of cult were already performed for the dead, who was exposed in his house after death. A vessel full of water stood at the door so that visitors, on leaving, could purify themselves. In the tomb, in which the corpse was placed in a clay or wooden coffin, offerings were placed; a coin to be paid to Charon was placed in the mouth of the dead. After burial “a libation of wine, oil, and honey was poured on the tomb; and bloody sacrifices, human in the most ancient age, were not rare.”
After the funeral ceremony, a funeral banquet was held, and offerings were renewed (ἐννυχίαματα, χοῦ) at the tomb on the third, ninth, and thirtieth days. In addition, there were the δέντρα "Ἐκτάτης (v. ECATE) offerings left at crossroads in honor of spirits returning to earth in search of vengeance, as well as annual festivals: the Genesia (v.), the Nemesia (v.), and the Anthesteria (v.).
Among the Romans as well, burial was accompanied by sacrifices, and annual festivals were dedicated to the dead: Parentalia (v.) and the Lemuria (v.). During the Lemuria, "the pater familias, rising at midnight and having washed his hands three times with pure spring water, walked barefoot through the house, snapping his fingers and placing black beans in his mouth, which he then threw behind him while repeating a certain exorcism formula. It was believed that during this ceremony the spirits gathered the beans." During the Parentalia, on the other hand, sacrifices were offered by sons or heirs to the spirits of the deceased. Prehistoric finds also reveal the existence of a cult of the dead among the ancient Celts and ancient Germans. However, nothing precise is known about them, nor does it seem that the cult of the dead in general was practiced among the peoples of the Far East (China and Japan), where instead the cult of ancestors is reconstructible.
II. AMONG THE HEBREWS.
The burial system was inhumation, usually not in the ground but in caves or loculi, often family tombs, and this desire for cohabitation after death found its realization in subsequent Jewish cemeteries, carved into rock faces or even artificial ones (cf. for Abraham and Sarah: Gen. 23, 4-20; for Deborah: ibid. 35, 8; for Jacob: ibid. 49, 29-30; for Moses: Deut. 34, 6; for Joshua: Josh. 24, 30-33; for David: 1 Kings 2, 10; for Solomon: ibid. 11, 43; etc.). Exceptional and due to foreign influences was embalming (cf. for Joseph: Gen. 50, 25) and cremation, which occurred under contingent circumstances (cf. for Saul and his sons: 1 Sam. 31, 11-13; for a severe plague: Amos 6, 10).
The funeral toilet of the corpse consisted simply of washing (Acts 9, 37) and closing the eyes and mouth (Gen. 46, 4); at least in ancient times, it does not seem that any particular clothing followed: but the deceased was buried in his usual clothing and personal ornaments. The corpse was also wrapped in a shroud or sindon, bound with strips (cf. for Lazarus: John 11, 44), and perfumed with the addition of spices (cf. the burial of Jesus "sicut mos est Iudaeis sepelire" (John 19, 40) or burning them over and around it (Jer. 34, 5). The funeral procession was carried out by the deceased's friends and was preceded, accompanied, and followed by the recitation of biblical passages and lamentations. At minimum, the external manifestations of mourning were reduced to a funeral banquet ("the bread of mourning": Hos. 9, 4), abstention from work for seven days (the duration of mourning: Gen. 50, 10), cutting the hair, and sprinkling ashes on the head (Esth. 4, 1); customs neither simultaneous nor to be considered normative. For important persons, monuments were erected over the tomb (cf. for the Maccabees: 1 Macc. 13, 27-30); while the lack of burial and lying unburied was considered a misfortune or a punishment (1 Sam. 17, 44; 1 Kings 13, 22; Jer. 9, 22; 22, 19; etc.).
III. IN THE THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The maternal care of the early Church for the bodies of the faithful departed is guided by two articles of faith: the resurrection of the flesh (v.) and sacramental sanctification (v. SACRAMENT).
1. Faith in the resurrection, which Christianity defended against the onslaught of general unbelief (cf. Matt. 22, 23; Luke 22, 27; Acts 17, 32; St. Augustine: "In nulla re sic contradicitur fidei christianae, quam in resurrectione carnis" Enarr. in Ps. 88, 2; PL 37, 1134). From the outset, an atmosphere of peace, hope, and joy surrounded the bodies of Christians: the faithful is not dead, but has withdrawn from the earthly exile: recessit (Christian epitaphs) and has preceded others in the homeland: praecessit (Christian epitaphs); praecessit cum signo fidei (Roman Mass canon), because he has been called by the Lord: accersitio dominica (Cyprian, De mortalitate 20: PL 4, 596) and by the angels: accersitus ab Angelis (in two Roman epitaphs). He is therefore not lost, but rather sent ahead as if to prepare a place for the other brothers: non amissimus sed praemissimus (Cyprian, loc. cit.), and therefore the day of his death must be celebrated as a new birthday. His body is not stiffened by death, but composed in sleep, awaiting the trumpet of the resurrection: "In christianis mors non est mors, sed dormitio est somnus" (St. Jerome, Ep. 75 ad Theod.: PL 22, 685), hence the name of cemetery (κουμάω = I sleep) given to the sacred place where the bodies were laid to rest. Because of this sublime conception of death, the early Christians banned lamentations and weeping from their funerals: "Non ululatum, non planctus, ut inter saeculi homines fieri solet sed psalmorum linguis diversis examina concrepabant" (St. Jerome, Epitaphium Paulae: PL 22, 878) and St. Paulinus of Nola gives the reason: "gaudentemque Deo flere, nocens amor est" (Poem. 32, 44). In a 3rd-century epitaph, this delicate concept is expressed: let the groaning of hearts be restrained, for you, innocent child, have been welcomed by the Mother Church (Mater Ecclesiae) as you joyfully returned from this world.
2. Sacramental sanctification, of which the body was as it were the hinge—“caro salutis cardo” (Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis 8: PL 2, 806)—penetrates the entire human being, so that when the spirit returns to God, it leaves the corpse imbued with heavenly fragrances. The bodies of the faithful therefore are not impure, as the Jews held, nor are they sacred in the sense of the Twelve Tables, but they are a human remnant consecrated by divine charisms—“caro abluitur... caro signatur... caro ungitur... caro corpore et sanguine Christi vescitur” (Tertullian, loc. cit.)—and destined for the most coveted of fates: perfect reintegration at the end of time. Piety and humanity, sustained by this faith, surrounded the bodies of the faithful with the most delicate care:
a) Upon death, the eyes and mouth of the deceased were closed: “Oculos illos et ora claudentes” (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, 22: PG 20, 690), and after washing the body with warm water, it was modestly laid out in bed: “Exinde... manus componunt, oculos claudunt, caput directe statuunt, pedes reducunt, lavant” (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Iob.: cf. Tertullian, Apologeticum, 42: PL 1, 492).
b) Then, imitating the treatment accorded to the body of the Redeemer, it was anointed with precious aromas: “Thura plane non enimus; si Arabiae quaeruntur, sciant Sabaei pluris et carioris suas merces christianis sepelendis profligari quam diis fumigandis” (Tertullian, Apologeticum, 42: PL 1, 490). By the 4th century, a sprinkling of balsam and myrrh sufficed: “Aspersaque mirra, sabace corpus medicamine serva” (Prudentius, Cathemerinon, hymn., 10, 51: PL 59, 580). Sometimes the perfume was introduced through small holes drilled in the stone of the tomb, and often a row of fragrant essences was placed near the corpse so that its scent might continue even after burial.
c) The body was then wrapped in one or two shrouds, usually white: “Candore nitentia claro, praetendere lintea mos est” (Prudentius, Cathemerinon hymn., 10: PL 59, 870), and covered with a layer of lime. If the deceased was a member of the clergy, he was clothed in the vestments of his rank; martyrs were wrapped in rich garments. The wealthy sometimes displayed excessive finery for their dead, for which they were occasionally reproached: “Cur et mortuos vestros auratis obvolvitis vestibus? Cur ambitio inter luctus lacrymasque non cessat? An cadavera divitum nisi in serico putrescere nesciunt?” (St. Jerome, Vita s. Pauli Eremitae: PL 23, 28).
d) The body, thus prepared, was laid out in the home or in the church; vigils were kept around it with the recitation of prayers, especially psalms, which, when possible, were sung (cf. St. Gregory of Nyssa, Vita Macrinae, 41: PG 46, 992-93; St. Augustine, Confessions, 9, 12: PL 32, 776). The psalmody was interspersed with the joyful singing of Alleluia, as is still customary in the Eastern Church.
e) The transport of the body took on greater or lesser solemnity according to the circumstances. In times of peace, the body, carried on the shoulders or in special carts (carrucae), was accompanied by the clergy (cf. epitaph of Pascasius, at Viviers) and by the faithful bearing torches: “atque cereis calicibus funus duxerunt” (inscription of Chiusi). At times it took on the aspect of a triumph, especially when the bodies of martyrs and confessors were carried (cf. Victor of Vita, Historia persecutionis vandalicae, 1, 14: PL 58, 198).
f) At the place of burial, which was the cemetery (catacombs) or the attached basilica, the funeral rites were performed: psalmody, prayers, Mass: “Item antiquitus regalis corporis Christi et acceptam seu gratam Eucharistiam offerte in ecclesiis vestris et in coemeteriis atque in funeribus mortuorum” (Apostolic Constitutions, VI, 30). St. Augustine thus describes the funeral of St. Monica: “Cum offerretur pro ea sacrificium pretii nostri, iam iuxta sepulcrum posito cadavere, antequam deponeretur, sicut fieri solet” (Confessions, 9, 12: PL 32, 776).
3. St. Paulinus of Nola asked St. Augustine whether the care given to the bodies of the dead benefits their souls, and the holy Doctor responded masterfully in the celebrated treatise De cura gerenda pro mortuis (PL 40, 591-610). Directly, “curatio funeris, conditio sepulturae, pompa exequiarum, magis sunt solatia vivorum quam subsidia mortuorum”; nevertheless, these delicate attentions—“humanitatis officia”—are to be approved, for they signify respect for those bodies which, sanctified by the Sacraments, became instruments of the Holy Spirit “ad omnia bona opera” (cf. De Civitate Dei, I, 1, cap. 13). Indirectly, these cares benefit the souls of the departed, inasmuch as they revive the memory and prayer—“recordanti et precantis affectus”—which “cum defunctis a fidelibus carissimis exhibetur, eum prodesse non dubium est iis, qui cum in corpore viverent, talia sibi post hanc vitam prodesse meruerunt.” St. Thomas (Summa Theol., suppl. q. 71, a. 11) echoes the thought of St. Augustine, which has become the common doctrine of the Church (cf. can. 1203-42; Pius XII, encycl. Mediator Dei, 30 Nov. 1947, in AAS, 39 [1947], p. 530).
The funeral Mass is the little that precedes and follows. Its composition belongs to the late Middle Ages (the Libera me Domine dates from the 9th century); it is called the “funeral absolution,” a rite that has nothing to do with sacramental absolution, although the prayers are inspired by the same concept of the power to bind and loose conferred upon the Church. Proof of this is found in the classic formula “Absolve, quaesumus, Domine, animam famuli tui,” still in use today; the aspect of judgment was clearly evident in the Roman Pontifical of the Curia (13th century), where the celebrant, before proceeding to the absolution of a cleric, requested permission from the clergy standing around him. In any case, the ancients saw in the rite the remission to the deceased of the penalty due for his sins and the absolution from ecclesiastical censures. There was once a single formula of absolution, as still appears in the Roman Ritual. But the Pontifical assigns a more solemn one for the pope, cardinals, bishops, and distinguished figures of the state, introduced in Rome around the 13th century. On such occasions, the absolution is given by the celebrant and four bishops, who stand at the four corners of the bier, each repeating the incensation, while the schola sings a responsory with verses and recites an oration. The rite concludes with the fifth absolution by the celebrant, preceded by a sermon on the life of the deceased. In the absence of bishops, it may be performed by the dignitaries of the cathedral. The sermon may also be delivered by a simple priest.
Even though Tertullian and St. Cyprian already speak of a Mass for the dead, its form was not unlike the usual Mass; however, by the 4th century, proper formulary texts began to appear. The Introit Requiem aeternam is taken from 4 Esdras, which may have been considered canonical until the end of the 5th century; it is also found in the epitaphs of Ain Zara (Tripoli) from the 6th century and was always sung with Ps. 64, Te decet hymnis. The Requiem at the Gradual must be contemporary with the Introit and has a verse derived from Ps. 113. From the 2nd century, Alleluia was excluded from the liturgy for the dead; nevertheless, St. Jerome recalls it in the funeral of Fabiola (PL 22, 697).
The *Dies irae* (q.v.) is a medieval sequence rich in doctrinal content, religious sentiment, and dramatic lyricism; for this reason it was admitted into the liturgy. The Offertory *Domine Iesu Christe* has given rise to discussion on account of certain phrases that some have deemed even pagan, yet which in fact correspond to biblical expressions; this is true of the reference to the *signifer sanctus Michael*, which is of distinctly Eastern, perhaps Coptic, flavour; and of the hemistich *Quam olim*, repeated according to ancient usage and here preserved because it was long retained in the Mass for the dead at the offering by the faithful. It is thought to have been composed in Rome in the eighth century and modified in Gaul in the ninth, probably by an Irishman. The text once had not one but three verses. At the dismissal, the *Lux aeterna* already appears in manuscripts of the tenth century. In the Mass for the dead certain parts and ceremonies are omitted (Psalm 41 at the beginning, the blessing of water at the Offertory, the kiss of peace, the *Ite missa est*, and the blessing) either because they are inconsistent with the particular austerity of this Mass or because it was intended to direct the entire rite toward suffrage for the dead.
The burial rites “should not be accompanied by wailing and lamentation, as is customary among worldly men” (a reference to the *praeficae*, women hired to weep at funerals), “but by the singing of psalms” (St Jerome: PL 22, 898). Such was indeed the constant and universal intention, so that splendid antiphons, responsories, and psalms accompany the dead, as if borne by angels, to eternal peace—not to burial but to Paradise. Roman law forbade burial within the walls, but for various reasons this precept fell into disuse, and the dead were buried in cemeteries around the church and even inside the church itself; the brevity of the procession explains the survival of the complex formulae still in use.
A custom attested already by St Ambrose is to kiss the dead before burial, bidding farewell three times in accordance with an Eastern rite; later came the practice of sprinkling a little earth on the tomb with the words: “Sume terra quod tuum est, terra es et in terram ibis,” which survives as a popular usage in many places. Another widespread, though disapproved, custom was to place the Eucharist in the mouth of the deceased; in many places this was corrected by giving it only a few moments before death or placing it in the tomb, to protect the body from diabolical or sacrilegious influences. Likewise, in some places, down to the sixth century, the rite of *refrigerium* was practised—a libation of wine or a meal celebrated by relatives at the tomb of the dead, a custom borrowed from the pagans. It was forbidden because of the abuses that arose, as is attested by the well-known episode of St Monica (St Augustine, *Confessions*, VI, 2).
The dead are commemorated in every Mass (q.V. DIPTYCHS), but special care has always been taken to pray for them on designated days: in the East and in the Gallican regions of the West on the 3rd, 9th, and 40th days after death; in Rome, Africa, and Palestine on the 3rd, 7th, and 30th. This usage is inspired by biblical facts: on the third day Jesus rose from the tomb; the Jewish patriarch Joseph observed seven days of mourning for his father (Gen 50:10); and the Hebrew people mourned Moses (Deut 34:8) and Aaron (Num 20:30) for thirty days.
On these days and on the anniversary the funeral rites are celebrated with texts and ceremonies reminiscent of those of the burial, though clearly abbreviated.
The Ambrosian liturgy has an *ordo* for the funeral with a structure identical to the Roman but richer in elements and with a flavour of great antiquity; it has preserved the singing of the Passion of Our Lord, already in use at Rome, and adds other antiphons and responsories to the funerals of bishops, priests, and deacons. Also significant is the singing of the litany of the saints. In the reform carried out by St Charles Borromeo there were various Roman influences: until his time the commemoration of all the dead, introduced at Milan between 1120 and 1125 by Olrico, was celebrated on the Monday following the dedication of the principal church (the third Sunday after Easter). This usage has survived to some extent in the parishes of the diocese on the day after the dedication of their own church, or, if that date is unknown, on the day of the Office for the dedication of the lesser church.
II. HONOURS PAID TO THE BODY IN EASTERN RITES
In the Byzantine rite funerals comprise three stages: at the home of the deceased, in church, and at the cemetery. At the home of the deceased the priest celebrates a brief office accompanied by incensation, called when celebrated separately Ἀκολουθία τοῦ νεκρῶν Ἰω τρισαγίου, or more often “little pannychida.” It comprises the singing of three troparia, a short litany, an oration, and the *apolysis*, all applied to the deceased. During the procession the Trisagion is sung. In church the office varies according to the category to which the deceased belongs: man, woman, child, monk, priest. The final hymn is always a moving farewell that accompanies the kissing of the hand of the deceased. After the “little pannychida” has been repeated, the exclamation “Memory eternal” is heard three times. Meanwhile, a priest approaches the bier and recites a prayer of absolution. Then, if the deceased is a priest, the bier is carried three times around the church before being taken to the place of burial. There the celebrant casts a little earth upon the bier, pours blessed oil over it, and sprinkles it with ashes taken from the censer. As the bier is closed and the tomb sealed, the “little pannychida” is recited once more.In the other Eastern rites the funeral office likewise comprises a great number of chants, hymns, and rhythmic compositions of various kinds, of which the Eastern liturgy is so rich and which are applied to a wide variety of categories of persons. Priests are accorded particular rites (anointing with holy chrism in the Armenian rite, a procession in the sanctuary or striking the bier against the doors and walls of the church in the Syriac rites) that highlight the close bonds that united them to the altar. The farewell is always moving and is often expressed in tender dialogues between the deceased and those who remain. The Syrians have an office of consolation for the second and third days after burial; among the Copts prayers continue for seven consecutive days.
Commemoration of the dead takes place, in the Armenian rite, on the 2nd, 7th, 15th, and on the anniversary; in the Syriac rite on the 3rd, 9th, 30th, and on the anniversary; in the Coptic rite on the 3rd, 7th, 14th (or 15th), 40th, after one month, six months, and one year; in the Ethiopian rite on the 3rd, 7th, 12th, 30th, 40th, 60th, 80th, after six months, and one year.
The commemoration of all the dead is observed, in the Byzantine rite, twice a year, on the Saturday known as Meatfare Saturday and on the Saturday before Pentecost; in the Armenian rite, five times, on the day following the great feasts of Epiphany, Easter, the Transfiguration, the Assumption, and the Exaltation of the Cross, with the recitation of a special office at night; in the Syriac rite, three times, namely on the last three Fridays before Lent (the first for priests, the second for the faithful, and the third for strangers); in the Chaldean rite, once a year, on the last Friday before Lent.
Special commemorations for the dead are made several times during Mass, particularly in the preparation and offering of the Eucharistic Bread, more extensively in the diptychs and the prayer of intercession (before or after the Consecration), in many other prayers and litanies, or at certain hours of the Divine Office.
It should be noted that the color black for the liturgy of the dead is not known among the Eastern rites, except among some Catholics who have recently come under Latin influence; nor do funerals of themselves entail the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Several customs (e.g., oil or blessed bread among the Byzantines, funeral banquets, the kiss of farewell) are ancient and have precedents in pagan usages, sanctified by Christianity.
J. M. Van Sleb, Histoire de l'Eglise d'Alexandrie, Paris 1677, pp. 234-237; L. Villecourt, Les observances liturgiques..., in Muséeon, 36 (1923), p. 271; 37 (1934), p. 272; R. M. Woolley, Coptic Offices, London 1930, pp. 100-54; M. Cramer, Die Totentkaste bei den Kopten, Vienna 1941. Ethiopian Rite: I. Guidi, Il Mahaba Genzat, in Miscellanea Ceriani, Milan 1910, pp. 635-39; H. M. Hyatt, The Church of Abyssinia, London 1920, pp. 230-33.
III. THE OFFICE OF THE DEAD IN THE LATIN RITE
The oldest texts of the Office of the Dead date from the 11th–12th centuries and have been published by Tommasi (Op. omn., ed. Vezzosi, IV, Rome 1747–54, pp. 163–65), by A. Mocquereau (Paléographie musicale, IX, pp. 535–60), and by M. Magistretti (Manuale Ambros., II, Milan 1905, pp. 487–91). The form of the text corresponds to that indicated by earlier authors, e.g., Amalarius and St. Angilbert in his Ordo, composed in the year 800 at the new monastery of St-Riquier. Yet the Vespers and Nocturns do not conform to the Benedictine or Gallican or Ambrosian Breviary, but to the Roman use, i.e., with five psalms at Vespers, three psalms and three lessons at each Nocturn. Missing are the elements added to the canonical Office after St. Gregory the Great: the introductory prayers, the invitatory, the hymns, the chapter, and the final doxology (neither the Gloria nor the Requiem of the psalms).
Like the Office of the Sacred Triduum, that of the dead has preserved an archaic character. Amalarius already notes this similarity, which he explains by the mournful or grieving character that would have inspired the composition of this Office in the manner of that of the Sacred Triduum. In reality, this similarity indicates its antiquity. The Office of the Dead seems indeed to go back to a time before St. Gregory the Great, hence its Roman origin. From the texts, such as the Ordo of St. Angilbert, the prescriptions of the Council of Aachen (817; cann. 12, 50, 66, 73), and Amalarius (De eccl. Off., I. IV, cap. 42; De ord. Antiphon., cap. 65), it appears that the Office of the Dead was already in use in Gaul before the reform of St. Benedict of Aniane, so much so that Amalarius notes no differences between the Gallican books and those recently arrived from Rome. From the Ordo Romanus of John the Archchanter (ed. Silva-Tarouca, Mem. della Pont. Acc. Rom. di Archeologia, I, Rome 1923, p. 211 ff.) it may be concluded that this Office was already in use at Rome before the year 680.
Originally the Office of the Dead consisted only of Vespers, with three Nocturns and Lauds. Later additions and variations were introduced: e.g., as early as the 9th century at St. Gall the invitatory with Psalm 94, which came into general use in the 13th century (corpse present); St. Pius V made it obligatory. From the 10th century a distinction was made between a major funeral Office with three Nocturns and nine lessons, and a minor Office of a single Nocturn, chosen from the three preceding according to the day. The lessons were also changed: instead of being taken from Job, they were drawn from Ecclesiastes 7, “Melius est ire,” or from the book of St. Augustine, De cura gerenda pro mortuis (as today on 2 November). The text of Notker (d. 912), “Media in vita,” was often sung at the Benedictus instead of the original antiphon “Ego sum.”
The Office of the Dead was recited on the 3rd, 7th, 30th days and on the anniversary of a death (for the Office with the corpse present, ancient rubrics prescribe the recitation of the psalms in the order of the Psalter). Gradually this Office remained the sole official prayer of the Church for the suffrage of the dead. It was also recited at funerals (independent of the canonical Office of the day) on the first free day of the month, every Monday of the week, or even daily, except during Easter and Christmas time, for all the dead. In the reform of the Breviary under Pius X, Compline and the minor hours were added for the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (2 November), and the lessons were changed, while in common use the Office remains unchanged.
IV. COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
Evidence of a collective commemoration of the faithful departed is found in St. Augustine, who, in De cura gerenda pro mortuis, ch. IV, speaks of prayers that the Church makes in a general commemoration of all the faithful departed: “supplications for the spirits of the dead, which the Church undertakes to make for all who have died in the Christian and Catholic society, even when their names are not mentioned, under a general commemoration.” Prayers for the dead in general are already found in a very ancient fragment of the liturgy of Mark from the time of St. Athanasius (295–375): “Give rest, O Lord, to the souls of the departed” (Rev. des scienc. relig., 8 [1928], pp. 489–515), and in the Euchologion of Serapion of Thmuis (after 359), prayer IV: “Sanctify all the departed in the Lord.” The Roman Church had in the prayer of the faithful (Oratio fidelium), before the Offertory, a special supplication for all the faithful departed. In the Ambrosian rite (from the time of Gelasius I) the prayer for the dead was replaced by the Memento after the Consecration, where one prays first for the specially commemorated dead, then for all; yet until the 12th–13th centuries this was done only at Requiem Masses and ferial Masses, not on Sundays. The earliest witness to this Memento is found in the so-called Missal of Bobbio (PL 72, 434) in its Missa Romana cotidiana (8th century). But perhaps the Memento goes back already to the time of Gelasius I (492–96), who with the Memento replaced the commemoration of the dead in the prayer of the faithful.
A special day for the commemoration of the faithful departed first appears in the *Regula monachorum* attributed to St Isidore of Seville (d. 636), fixed on the Monday after Pentecost (PL 83, 894), ch. 24 no. 2: “An offering shall be made to the Lord for the souls of the departed on the day after Pentecost.” This custom of a special commemorative day is found as a rule in the fraternity of prayers among convents; for example, among the convents of Reichenau and St Gall in the 9th century (Monumenta Germ., *Libri confraternitatum*, ed. P. Pieper, Berlin 1884). The day was established on 14 November: “a commemoration of all once and for all… Memory of the departed. On that same day the priests shall say three Masses and the other brethren shall recite the Psalter.” Later other convents joined this fraternity, which thus spread through Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and Austria. Another centre was Fulda, where 17 December was fixed as a day of prayers, on which the anniversary of the first founding abbot, Sturmio, was celebrated together with the memory of all deceased brethren (PL 105, 400, no. 25). In other places different days were fixed, as noted by Mabillon for 26 January (Acta SS. Ord. S. Bened., VIII, p. 584, no. 111) and by Martène for the first day after the Octave of Epiphany, 14 January (De antiquis ecclesiae ritibus, Antwerp 1738, I. IV, c. 15 no. 16).
At the same time, documents multiply the legacies with the obligation of prayers for all the faithful. From this custom of foundation Masses or prayers there derives at Cluny the “pious invention” of choosing 2 November, the day after the feast of All Saints, for the special commemoration of all the faithful departed. Already Amalarius in the *De ordine Antiphonarii* had brought together the two Offices, of the Saints and of the Dead, but without establishing a special day for the commemoration of all the faithful departed. It was St Odilo, the great abbot of Cluny (994–1048), to whom is owed the choice in the Cluniac Benedictine calendar of 2 November as a day of special prayers for the dead of all the world and of all times: “in festive commemorative manner for all faithful departed, who from the beginning of the world were until the end” (PL 142, 1037, 38). By virtue of the statute of St Odilo, abundant alms of bread and wine were distributed, as on the day of the Lord’s Supper, to 13 poor persons and others, and the Vespers of the Dead were sung on the preceding evening, after the Vespers of All Saints. On the day itself all the bells were rung, as on feasts, the Office of the Dead was recited and the Mass was celebrated with great solemnity. All priests said Masses for the dead.
Besides this custom of 2 November for all the dead of the world, St Odilo established certain prayers for an anniversary of deceased brethren. Among these confreres is named also the emperor Henry (d. 1024). The date of the statute of St Odilo is uncertain, but in his chronicle Sigebert of Gembloux (d. 1112) fixed it to 998, narrating under that date legendary events which would have given rise to it (PL 160, 197–98). However, to determine the time, it is better to adhere to the *Consuetudines Farfenses*, written by Guido of Farfa (cod. Vat. 6808), which note this innovation on two occasions: the first, a shorter recension without the name of Odilo and without the statute of fraternity (with the name of the emperor Henry); the second, a longer one, attributes the statute to St Odilo and contains also the prescriptions for the fraternity itself. Mortet and Wilmart date the *Consuetudines Farfenses* to the years 1039–1043; Hauréau to 1024–33, from the fact that the imperial insignia donated by Henry to St Odilo after his coronation were carried in processions. In 1033 they were almost all sold to aid the needy in a great famine. A single manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (lat. 17716), somewhat late, fixes the decree of St Odilo to 1030–31, a date which corresponds to that indicated by the *Consuetudines Farfenses*.
With the name and authority of St Odilo, this “pious invention” of 2 November was definitively introduced into the Cluniac calendar and spread to all the dependencies of Cluny, and even during the lifetime of St Odilo, as far as Farfa. From John of Avranches (d. 1079) it is known that it was accepted in Normandy. Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury (1070–89), prescribed in his decrees that the monks should observe it both in monasteries and in cathedrals: “on that day all priests shall celebrate Masses for all faithful departed” (PL 150, 477). Besides the Benedictines, the Carthusians also accepted the new custom (Consuetudines Guigonis, c. XI: PL 153, 655). The secular clergy gradually followed the example of the monks, both on their own initiative and by imposition of the bishops. At Milan it was introduced in 1120 by Archbishop Udalric, for 16 October, the day after the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral; St Charles Borromeo moved it to 2 November. Sicard, bishop of Cremona (d. 1215), in the *Mitrale*, bk. IX, ch. 50 (PL 213, 426), speaks of it as already in use in the territory of Cremona. At Rome it was certainly known and in use at least by the time of the *Ordo Romanus*, XIV (1311), where at nos. 98 and 101 it is indicated as “Anniversarium omnium animarum”; no sermon is preached and no consistory is held. In the *Ordo Romanus* XV, however, according to Cardinal Schuster (*Liber Sacramentorum*, IV, Turin 1932, p. 85), there are traces of a much older liturgical custom, since on 8 July there is indicated an “Officium defunctorum pro fratribus (the cardinals) et Romanis Pontificibus” (PL 78, 1343), precisely as in the *Ordo* of Farfa of the 10th century.
A new phase in the commemoration of the faithful departed begins towards the end of the pontificate of Pius X. By decree of 25 June 1914 (AAS, 6 [1914], p. 378) a plenary indulgence “Toties quoties” was granted for 2 November, previously granted to the Benedictine Church. With the bull *Incruentum* of 10 August 1915, Benedict XV granted to every priest the privilege of saying three Masses on 2 November: the first according to the particular intention of the celebrant, the second for all the faithful departed, and the third according to the intention of the Pope, that is, to satisfy the most neglected Mass intentions which over the centuries have become insoluble, lost or unsatisfied. All altars are privileged.
This privilege was already in use in Spain, from just before 1500. In 1540 Paul III granted to the churches and chapels of the diocese of Orihuela in Spain the privilege of saying two Masses both on the feast of All Saints and on the following day, that is 2 November, to satisfy the great number of Masses requested by the people for suffrages for the dead. Likewise Julius III confirmed “vivae vocis oraculo” in 1553 the ancient privilege in force in the province of Aragon (including Catalonia, Valencia, Navarre and the islands of Majorca, Sardinia and Ibiza), and in the Dominican Order, of celebrating three Masses on 2 November for the same purpose. And on 25 June 1571 Pius V confirmed the same privilege for the Dominican province of Spain (with Navarre separated from the province of Aragon). King Ladislaus IV of Poland (1632–48) obtained on the day of his coronation for his kingdom the same privilege, but it was later forgotten. At the request of the kings of Spain and Portugal, Benedict XIV extended the privilege of three Masses to the regular and secular clergy of their kingdoms and colonies (Benedicti XIV Bullarium, II, Venice 1748, no. 225); Leo XIII granted it to all Latin America in 1897.
As a consequence of the privilege of the three Masses, Benedict XV raised (28 Feb. 1917) the day of 2 November to a double feast for the universal Church.
V. IN CANON AND CIVIL LAW.
Canon and civil law take into consideration here not only the human body, intact or mutilated, deprived of life with at least an apparent organization, but also the parts separated from the human body, such as bones and ashes (S. Congregazione del Concilio, 10 Dec. 1927, in AAS, 20 [1928], p. 261; S. Uffizio, 3 Aug. 1897, in P. Gasparri, Fontes iuris canonici, IV, Roma 1926, n. 1100).
I. CANON LAW
In conformity with Roman law (Law X of the Twelve Tables: *Hominem mortuum in urbe ne sepelito, neve urito*) Christians in the early centuries buried the dead outside the city walls along public roads, both above and below ground (catacombs). Only from the 4th century onwards did burial within cities begin, around churches; subsequently (6th–13th centuries), as a privilege increasingly extended and eventually becoming common practice, cadavers were buried also in the naves and even inside churches, though always at a certain distance from the altar and never beneath it (c. 15, CXIII, q. 2; can. 1202 § 2).Cadavers must be buried in cemeteries (v.) or in tombs blessed with a special rite (can. 1205–1206); only the remains of persons holding ecclesiastical dignity or of royal blood may be buried in a church (can. 1205 § 2). Burial may not take place until sufficient time has elapsed to remove any doubt regarding death (can. 1213), and exhumation of a buried corpse may not occur without the permission of the Ordinary (can. 1214). The corpse is carried to the church for the funeral rite by the priest and then to the place of burial (can. 1224 sqq.). Regardless of the dignity of the deceased, clerics are forbidden to carry the corpse of a layperson on their shoulders or by hand (can. 1233 § 4). While all cadavers must be treated with reverence, only those whose bodies the Church has raised to the honors of the altars may lawfully and dutifully receive liturgical veneration and cult (v. RELIOUIE).
The Church professes respect for all cadavers but excludes from ecclesiastical burial those who do not belong to it or, though belonging to it, have rendered themselves unworthy (v. SEPOLTURA ECCLESIASTICA).
To safeguard the respect owed to the corpse and to the place where it is laid, the CIC considers a violation of this respect—whether committed for theft or any other evil purpose—to be a crime and punishes it severely (can. 2328).
II. ITALIAN CIVIL LAW
Italian legislation, like that of almost all countries, permits both inhumation and cremation (v.), though the latter only if the deceased has expressed in a will the wish to be cremated and there is no suspicion of death by crime (art. 59 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880). Burial, as a rule, must take place in a cemetery (v.), or in private or family chapels not open to the public, situated no less than 200 meters from inhabited centers; however, the Ministry of the Interior may authorize burial in other locations when special honors are to be accorded. Cremation is carried out in crematoria authorized by the prefect; and the cinerary urns containing the residues of complete cremation may be placed in cemeteries, or in chapels or temples belonging to moral bodies, or in private columbaria that have a stable designation and are protected against any profanation (arts. 337–43 of the Consolidated Text 27 July 1934, no. 1265).No corpse may be placed in a coffin, nor subjected to autopsy, embalming, preservative treatments, freezing or refrigeration, nor inhumed, entombed or cremated, before 24 hours have elapsed since the time of death, except in cases of decapitation, crushing, or other absolutely certain traumatic causes verified by the medical examiner; in cases of sudden death or where apparent death is doubted, observation must be extended to 48 hours, unless the medical examiner ascertains earlier signs of incipient putrefaction; in cases of death from infectious-contagious disease, or if the corpse shows signs of incipient putrefaction, or when other special reasons require it, the mayor, on the proposal of the health office, may reduce the period of observation to less than 24 hours (arts. 7–8 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880).
Burial may not take place without the authorization of the civil status officer, who may grant it only after the prescribed period of observation has elapsed and upon verification of death by the medical examiner not earlier than 15 hours after death (arts. 141 of Royal Decree 9 July 1939, no. 1238, and arts. 4–6 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880). The cadavers of persons who have died in hospitals, or of those who, having died elsewhere without medical attendance, are transported to a hospital or an observation depot or a morgue, are, with certain exceptions, subjected to diagnostic examination, which is primarily for scientific purposes (art. 32 of the Consolidated Text 31 Aug. 1933, no. 1592; art. 85 of Royal Decree 30 Sept. 1938, no. 631; arts. 34–36 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880). Cadavers whose transport is not borne by relatives within the sixth degree of kinship or by associations that may have assumed responsibility for funeral transport of their members, and cadavers arising from medico-legal examinations (excluding suicides) not claimed by relatives within the said degree of kinship, are reserved for teaching and scientific investigation; thus, after the prescribed period of observation, they are handed over to university health services, and, after the necessary studies and investigations have been carried out, are, as far as possible, recomposed and transported to the cemetery for burial (arts. 37–39 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880).
Other regulations govern: a) the requirements for coffins and funeral hearses (arts. 15–16, 27–29, 32–33, 53–54 and 56 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880); b) autopsies (art. 16 of Royal Decree 28 May 1931 no. 602, and arts. 40 and 66 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880); c) embalming and treatments for temporary preservation of the corpse (art. 41 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880); d) exhumation and disinterment (art. 16 of Royal Decree 28 May 1931 no. 602 and arts. 61–67 of Royal Decree 21 Dec. 1942, no. 1880).
The Penal Code (arts. 410-12) then protects the public interest in ensuring respect for the sentiment relating to piety toward the dead, imposing severe penalties on those who: a) commit acts of vilification against a corpse or its ashes (imprisonment from 1 to 3 years; and from 3 to 6 years in cases of disfigurement, mutilation, acts of brutality, or obscenity); b) destroy, suppress, or remove a corpse or any part of it, or remove or scatter its ashes (imprisonment from 2 to 7 years); c) conceal (i.e., temporarily hide) a corpse or any part of it or its ashes (imprisonment from 15 days to 3 years); d) dissect or otherwise use a corpse or any part of it for scientific or educational purposes in cases not permitted by law (imprisonment from 15 days to 6 months or a fine from 400 to 40,000 lire).
VI. IN MEDICINE
From the standpoint of hygiene, the removal of the corpse from the social community is carried out in all human groups through various forms of burial, cremation, or exposure of the body.
From an emotional perspective, the most obvious arrangement that can be made for a corpse is undoubtedly preservation, the simplest form of which was that of entrusting it to the earth, almost forgetting that this, obeying the laws of nature, inexorably reclaims the matter it once lent to life.
However, there are not infrequent special cases in which the earth deviates from this law, preserving the corpse intact for a more or less extended period.
In such conditions, the corpse undergoes a process of saponification (adipocere) or spontaneous mummification, caused by natural processes due to particular environmental and climatic conditions. For example, in the Strait of Magellan, between Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, as in the African deserts, the degree of dryness is such that corpses, even left on the surface of the ground, rapidly mummify and remain undecomposed for years. In Ferentillo (Spoleto), in the parish of Precetto, in a cemetery of about 200 years located in a structure from the 11th and 12th centuries, the bodies deposited there, after about a year, appear mummified in such a way as to retain clearly recognizable features, with the body weight reduced by about six-sevenths and thus very light; this occurs due to a natural process of rapid withdrawal of bodily fluids (dehydration), thanks to the particular hygroscopic qualities of the soil, rich in calcium and clay, and strong ventilation. However, apart from such and other cases of spontaneous preservation, since ancient times men have attempted methods that would better ensure the preservation of the corpse, particularly in cases where the deceased was a person of high rank.
Examining the various methods of preservation, mummification presents itself as the most ancient process, widely diffused among the Egyptians, who were its inventors. It is based primarily on the desiccation of tissues, a drying process that constitutes one of the most effective means of preserving organic tissues. The Egyptian mummification process, though varying according to the expense that the deceased’s relatives could afford, essentially consisted of the removal of the visceral cavities (skull, thorax, abdomen) by mechanical or chemical means (caustic solutions), their careful washing with antiseptics, their filling with balsamic and resinous substances (myrrh, cassia, bitumen, asphalt), and the careful drying achieved by keeping the body for many days (Herodotus speaks of seventy days) immersed in a dehydrating powder composed of sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate, and sodium chloride. The bodies of the rich and high-ranking individuals, after further washing, were tightly wrapped in strips of cloth glued and varnished with gum and other resins.
The art of embalming flourished in Italy and particularly in Rome from the 16th century onward, reaching its highest perfection. Subsequently, the methods attempted increasingly oriented themselves toward the concept of complete imbibition of the corpse with balsamic and antiseptic substances incorporated into more or less inert media, forcibly introduced into the circulatory system to replace the circulating fluids.
While methods based on vascular injections aim to preserve in the body a flexibility similar to that of the living, another series of methods seek to achieve the preservation of the corpse by drying it, hardening it, almost petrifying II.
The most famous among the methods of petrification is that associated with the name of Girolamo Segato (1792-1836) of Vedana (Belluno).
It seems that Segato, who took the secret of his discovery to his grave, had achieved the goal of the perpetual preservation of organic bodies. However, today at the Museum of the History of Science in Florence, one can see his works, including the famous mosaic table, which are moth-eaten and have a leathery appearance.
Many others attempted the petrification of corpses, seeking to replace organic matter with inorganic matter; thus, the Florentine Andrea Cozzi in 1837, the Pisan D. Mori and the Roman D. Comi in 1839; Dr. Paolo Gorini of Lodi in 1849, whose preparations can still be observed in the museum of the hospital in his city. Efisio Marini of Cagliari, who died in Naples in 1900, seemed to have mastered the secret of the petrification of bodies, but the secret was not revealed and is still guarded by his living daughter. Among the most recent in our century, the names of Antonio Lotteri, C. Gregory, G. Chiarella, A. Maggia, N. Pianotti, O. Nuzzi, and finally that of Prof. Francesco Spirito, current director of the obstetrics and gynecology clinic and Rector of the University of Siena, should be remembered; his method of corpse preservation guarantees, in addition to complete petrification, a perfect persistence of form and satisfactory color. A secret method of embalming corpses is that employed by the Russians Zbarsky and Vorobiev to preserve the corpse of Lenin, a method that, however, requires periodic inspections, continuous care, and repairs of the cadaver (G. P. Arcieri, op. cit.).
Taking a different approach, Variot succeeded in metallizing corpses through electroplating, infiltrating them with gold and copper; the process, however, does not penetrate deeply and thus fails to prevent decomposition for long.