Word: christiane
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...chosen them before his death; like him, they were modest, realistic and hopeful. Yet, in a nation whose overblown funeral rites were once the proper subject of mockery in Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death, such a straightforward farewell is no longer the exception. Christian funerals in the U.S. are changing, and they now tend to emphasize the simple, yet triumphant qualities that characterized the Eisenhower rites...
...change makes sound religious sense. To the believing Christian, death is a moment not of annihilation but of resurrection, when a soul's turbulent earthly journey comes to a happy end in eternal life. American Protestant funeral rites traditionally reflected this belief in such comfortable old favorites as the 23rd Psalm ("The Lord is my Shepherd") and the promises of Jesus ("I am the Resurrection and the Life"), at least until the more unctuous funeral-parlor euphemisms began to avoid any confrontation at all with the idea of death. Roman Catholic rites, on the other hand, were infected...
...most visible changes in the mood of funerals are being made by Catholics. Charged by a decree of the Second Vatican Council to put greater emphasis on "the paschal character of Christian death," more and more bishops are allowing an experimental "white funeral," a service as different from the old requiem Mass as Easter is from Good Friday. Dressed in white vestments instead of the traditional black, the priest meets the coffin at the church door, recalling the rite of baptism that ties the Christian to Jesus. "If in union with Christ we have imitated his death," declares the priest...
...spiritual has little or no place. Not surprisingly, some undertakers are disturbed about the rising frequency of what they disdainfully dub the "run-in" or "disposal" funeral: the briefest memorial service, no embalming, just a quick transfer of the body to the crematorium. Obviously, the problem for the Christian is to strike a balance in which death can be faced as the mystery it is, with neither false confidence nor excessive grief. Ideally, says the Rev. Dr. Albert J. Penner, president of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, death should be accepted as "a natural part...
...story-as in the case of NBC's report on religious bigotry in Northern Ireland and CBS's caustic look at Palm Beach millionaires-it can just as easily be gratuitous. Last week the First Tuesday segments dealt with a weight-reducing "fat farm" and a Christian anti-Communist crusade. Both fell into the void between irony and farce. Harry Reason-er's 60 Minutes visit with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor was stretched for 20 minutes- and then its mood was shattered by one of the show's sophomoric "Digressions," involving inane wisecracks from...