Typically, the deceased is celebrated by friends and family, as well as the Priest. The overview is to allow comfort to those in pain and sorrow, realizing the God has engulfed the dead into Heaven, and therefore everlasting life (Champlin, 1990)
The term "requiem" is the Latin form of the noun "to rest" and focuses on the idea of Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine ("Grant them eternal rest, O Lord." Numerous musical compositions have been composed for the Requiem Mass, following a strict Roman Rite (Introit, Kyrie eleison, Gradual, Tract, Sequence, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communion, Libera Me, in paradisum, Pie Jesu) (Curley, 2005)
In which death is viewed as taboo, discussion of it is regarded as morbid, and children are excluded" in the process of death rituals (Kubler-Ross, on Death and Dying, 1969, 140). Combined with a rather irrational fear and paranoia over a natural, inevitable event, humans seem more comfortable comprehending the death of thousands than the death of a single individual -- or are it that death in large numbers simply anesthetizes our cultural sensibilities? (Huttenback, 2007)
Because societies were far more connected with the cycles of nature, death was seen as part of the continuum of life -- a journey in which the participant is honored as they reach the stage in which life ebbs. Preparing for death, honoring the individual, and then celebrating their life was a ritual in which the community could reflect on the process of death, and also reaffirm the force of life (Kellehear, 2007)
Death and dying have lost all semblances of spirituality and reverence, instead becoming a mind-numbing set of products to market and industries to support. Author and grief counselor Elisabeth Kubler-Ross similarly asks, "are we becoming less human or more human" in terms of how we treat the dying? (Kubler-Ross, 2005)
Death and dying have lost all semblances of spirituality and reverence, instead becoming a mind-numbing set of products to market and industries to support. Author and grief counselor Elisabeth Kubler-Ross similarly asks, "are we becoming less human or more human" in terms of how we treat the dying? (Kubler-Ross, 2005)
In fact, we are more comfortable institutionalizing those who are dying, paying lip-service to their care, but really wishing their issues, their needs, and indeed the process, would simply disappear from our self-imposed sense of reality. Too, rather than allowing one to die with dignity, on their own terms, we legislate the morality of life and death decisions -- preferring that our elderly remain vegetative, on life-support, all dignity of personal decisions and private matters torn away, simply so we can justify that we did "everything possible to keep our loved one alive" (Messerli, 2007)
Philosophically, some see suicide as a personal right, a right of personal choice because no one should be required to suffer against their will -- especially from conditions that have no possibility of improvement. Proponents of this view reject the belief that suicide is irrational and that anyone who goes to such lengths should be denied religious comfort (Robonson, 2005)
The idea was to bring people together after a period of mourning to celebrate the life and toast the memory of the loved one. The Church Service is still common in England and Ireland today, but has fallen off in other parts of the world (Vidmar, 2005)
Elephants legendarily have "graveyards" of sorts where aging individuals go to die, and where the bones of many successive generations can be found; while the factual existence of these sites might be somewhat overblown, there is increasing evidence that elephants recognize and show great reverence for the bones of their species and may even recognize the remains of individual family members (Battacharya 2005; WNET 2010). Many other species also exhibit a recognition of the facts of death and how this impacts themselves as living creatures and their ongoing existence in social groups that must move beyond the deaths of individual members (Angier 2008)
Rather than being something natural and worthy of respect in its own right death -- and the promise thereof -- became something to be treated and shunned as if it were yet another undesired medical ailment (Filippo 2006). It is also during this period that various government bodies became intimately involved in the death and dying processes of many is not most individuals (Aries 1975)
This is true of many creatures in the animal kingdom, and is not limited solely to humans. Elephants legendarily have "graveyards" of sorts where aging individuals go to die, and where the bones of many successive generations can be found; while the factual existence of these sites might be somewhat overblown, there is increasing evidence that elephants recognize and show great reverence for the bones of their species and may even recognize the remains of individual family members (Battacharya 2005; WNET 2010)
This disrespect, however, did not extend to the whole of Roman society but was reserved for the lowest classes that existed therein. In the higher strata of Roman culture the dying process was attended to by physicians as well as religious figures, prominent community members, as well as the family and friends of the dying person (Bernstein 2000)
Death Throughout History The oldest known civilization with a true written record of its customs, traditions, and beliefs is the Mesopotamian culture from the part of the world now known as the Middle East. Death was a highly important part of this culture with death rituals serving to form kinship bonds and perpetuate familial dynasties in ways that were both personally and politically potent (Cohen 2005)
Death Throughout History The oldest known civilization with a true written record of its customs, traditions, and beliefs is the Mesopotamian culture from the part of the world now known as the Middle East. Death was a highly important part of this culture with death rituals serving to form kinship bonds and perpetuate familial dynasties in ways that were both personally and politically potent (Cohen 2005)
Throughout much of human history, as can be seen from the above descriptions, death and the dying process took place in the company of family and friends often in the comfort -- such as it may have been -- of ones own home. Starting in the nineteenth century with the advent of modern medicine, death became an institutionalized process that was directed and controlled by physicians and other medical professionals, generally with the prolonging of life in even the most undignified and painful of forms as the only or at least the primary focus of these professionals (Filippo 2006)
Even in the Middle Ages, a time that is traditionally thought of as one of the darker periods of Western society, the dying process and death itself were seen as important events for both the individual going through them and the larger community. New concepts instilled by the advent of Christianity had changed somewhat the tenor and trajectory of attitudes and perspective towards death but these only served to increase the reverence and moment associated with the end of life (Golden 2000)
New perspectives -- or in some cases, very old perspectives that have gained a new life -- have come to see death as still, perhaps, the end of and individuals existence but not something to be avoided at all costs simply by dint of this fact. Rather than focusing on forestalling death for as long as possible, medical and regulatory efforts as well as personal philosophies and even legal directives are increasingly concerned with improving the quality of life during the dying process (Hallenbeck 2003; Kinzbrunner et al
The process of dying was therefore not seen predominantly as an event leading to loss, destruction, or mere emptiness but was actually viewed in something of a celebratory manner (O'Brien 1999). Death was not always seen with the same level of respect by the ancient Romans, for whom great sport was made of watching political prisoner of various stripes meet violent and horrific deaths in venues such as the Coliseum (Kyle 1998)
Dying On Death and Dying: A Review of Historical Perspectives and Implications for Modern Society All living creatures must eventually die; this is one of the simple facts of life and one of the ways in which life and living can most clearly be understood and defined. That which cannot die cannot be alive, and even the most long-lived organisms -- some of which can persist for thousands of years -- suffer the deterioration and depletion of the cells and tissues of which they are made, and which sustain the functions that keep them alive (Luper 2009)