Which is the proper way to mourn the dead?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures contrast two ways of mourning the dead.

The picture above, by Jean Fouquet, shows the funeral of Étienne Chevalier, in the 15th century.  The picture below is a funeral car used in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  (Thankfully, most funeral cars here are more solemn.)

In the medieval scene, the coffin is carried and escorted by people who walked slowly and expressed sadness in their faces.  The general atmosphere is grave and solemn, a fitting expression of the terrible majesty of death.

The social costumes of the time show that man had a deeply Christian attitude about death; he did not flee in panic, nor did he camouflage death as  something nice and rosy.   This is because they were sons of the Church and believed in the Redemption and the Resurrection.

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Modern funerals are different.

The trend is to make death look like a minor accident, and to erase any traces of its terrible aspect from everyday life.

The fact that our society is well advanced in technology, by singular coincidence, favors this trend. 

The funeral van shown above looks like a delivery van.  Remove the Cross and the curtain and it could just as well be a flower delivery van.