How to bury the ashes after cremation? The horrors of crematoria: truth and fiction The dead in the crematorium waving their hands.

: "I would advise not to exaggerate the complexities associated with the betrayal of the earth"

– Father Vladislav, why does the Russian Orthodox Church disapprove of cremation?

– Negative attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to cremation is explained, first of all, by the fact that this method of burial is at odds with church tradition. There is also a certain theological problem here, because this way of burial does not correspond to the Christian teaching about the Resurrection from the dead. Of course, the point is not that the Lord is unable to resurrect the cremated. But on the part of the human community is expected respectful attitude to the remains of the deceased.

– The Church does not categorically prohibit cremation under the threat of excommunication of those loved ones who decided not to bury, but to cremate the remains of their relatives. The point is that there are different circumstances. There are difficulties. For example, in Japan. This, of course, is not the case for Russia, but Japan also has Orthodox people belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church. And there it is forbidden by law to bring the body to the ground. There is only one way, if I may say so, of burial - it is cremation. Only this method is allowed by the laws of the country.

– What, in your opinion, are the reasons for the growing popularity of cremation in Russia today?

– I think there is a common reason. It is connected with the fact that traditions are left and forgotten. After all, in Soviet time both believers and non-believers were nevertheless buried, as a rule, in the traditional way, that is, buried in the ground. Although, of course, there was cremation. She advertised. Traditions are being abandoned today. Urbanization plays a role. villagers, who are usually the most committed to tradition, is becoming less and less. If 50 years ago there were half of the city dwellers, now the connection with the countryside of the vast majority of compatriots is already relative, distant. Already grandfathers, grandmothers in the second, third generation are city dwellers. But, on the other hand, it would seem that the restoration of normal church life should have supplanted cremation. However, we observe what we observe.

– Father Vladislav, what counterarguments can there be that would allow a person not to make a hasty decision to cremate his relative?

– First of all, it is necessary to remind about church teaching, about the bodily resurrection from the dead and about church traditions and rituals. The fact that such a method of burial, although it is allowed by the Church, in the sense that it is not subject to prohibitions: they do not refuse a funeral service for those who themselves wanted to be cremated - but, nevertheless, the Church does not bless this method of burial. We can appeal to the ecclesiastical and Orthodox conscience.

– Often, supporters of cremation in Russia cite as an example civilized Europe with clean, well-groomed and tidy cemeteries where there is no place sad memories. Many do not want to think about the bad in the cemetery ...

The cemetery should be a place of reminder of the most important: of death, of frailty human life, about eternity

- The cleaner and tidy the cemetery, the better, of course. But this does not mean that the cemetery should not be a place of reminder of death, of the frailty of human life, of eternity. It is designed just to be a place of reminder of the most important. One of the Russian thinkers of the early 20th century said that the cemetery is a school of philosophy.

It's still different things. Yes, in fact, both roads and sidewalks in many Western cities (I would not say that in all, for example, Southern Italy is not at all so clean) are neater, cleaner and tidier, especially in Northern and Central Europe. Also, the cemeteries are cleaner and tidier there. But I don't think cremation prevails there. I think that still and there the remains of the dead are buried more often. Cremation has nothing to do with the cleanliness and neatness of cemeteries. No matter how clean and tidy a cemetery is, it should still remain a reminder of human mortality and eternity.

– How can one relate to the position of a person who supports cremation solely because of financial considerations?

- If this is a non-religious person, then what can I say to him ?! Only that in this case he also does not give a damn about traditions. Still, non-religious people are able to respect traditions. If he is a church person, then everything that we have already talked about should be authoritative and convincing for him.

– Father Vladislav, perhaps now our readers, who have lost their loved ones and native person but who cannot choose between traditional funeral and cremation. What advice would you give to people who find themselves in such a difficult situation?

Everything possible must be done so that church norms, church traditions are observed

- I would advise them not to exaggerate the difficulties associated with burying the body in the traditional way of burial. And I would remind you that they have a duty to their loved ones who have died. And this duty still relates most of all to the concern for the salvation of one's loved ones and the departed. Of course, we do not at all claim that it, salvation, is not available to those who have been cremated. Not at all. But for our part, we must do everything possible to ensure that church norms and church traditions are observed.

– There are times when already matured and churched Christians find out that one of their relatives was cremated. And a lot of people are starting to worry about it. They worry about the posthumous fate of loved ones. How can you calm them down?

- They should not worry, because in general any appeal back, regrets that it was necessary to do something differently than it was done, is unproductive. They should only work hard. It is not their fault if they were treated in this way against their will. And if they themselves wanted it ... Well, it was a sinful thought and deed. We must pray to God for the forgiveness of sins.

Keep up with the times?

The ideologists of Bolshevism today could give a standing ovation to the data published by Mr. Pavel Kodysh, President of the Union of Funeral Organizations and Crematoria of Russia. Let us quote once again his comment to the Russian News Service: “In Moscow and St. Petersburg, 60% of the dead are cremated.” Today, there are no banners calling for cremation; no one from a high rostrum is obligatory forcing the body to be burned after death.

The only deterrent that openly opposes the construction of new crematoria is the Russian Orthodox Church. So, in July 2015, Metropolitan of Izhevsk and Udmurt Viktorin sent an appeal to the head of the Udmurt Republic, Alexander Solovyov, about the inadmissibility of building a crematorium in Izhevsk:

“With deep sorrow, I received the news of the construction of a crematorium in Izhevsk. This is not my personal concern, but the concern of all Orthodox residents of the Udmurt Republic,” said Metropolitan Viktorin.

To those who believe that the Church should make concessions in this issue Let us recall the words of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' on this occasion:

“Of course, we are talking here only about, for the human body buried in the earth also turns into dust, but God, by His power from dust and decay, will restore the body of everyone. Cremation, that is, the conscious destruction of the body of the deceased, looks like a rejection of faith in the universal Resurrection. Of course, many who believe in a universal Resurrection still cremate the dead for practical reasons. In the event of the death of a person close to you, you can bury him, but if you have the opportunity to convince him not to insist on cremation, then try to do it!

Here are the words from the official document "On the Christian Burial of the Dead", which was approved by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on May 5, 2015:

“The Church believes that the Lord has the power to resurrect any body and from any element (Rev. 20:13). “We are not afraid of any damage in any way of burial, but we adhere to the old and better custom of burying the body,” wrote the early Christian author Mark Minucius Felix.

The Russian Orthodox Church still considers cremation to be undesirable and does not approve of it.

Attitude towards cremation in ROCOR

ROCOR is uncompromising on the issue of cremation, forbidding its children to burn the bodies of the dead in crematoria

Any person who reads the final document of the ROCOR Council of Bishops will see that the decisions of the Synod are fundamental and do not allow for different interpretations. The document is notable for its uncompromising attitude towards the cremation of the bodies of the dead.

“Proponents of cremation are atheists and enemies of the Church. The Greek and Serbian Churches also reacted negatively to this practice. The cremation of the bodies of the dead is contrary to what was established in the Christian Church from the very beginning,” the document says.

“Based on all the facts considered, the Council of Bishops forbids the children of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to burn the bodies of the dead in crematoria. Priests are required to explain to their parishioners the non-Christian nature of such funerals. They should not serve a church memorial service for those whose bodies are destined for cremation. The names of such dead Christians can only be commemorated at the Proskomedia.

The document discusses in detail the question of how Christians can relate to the will of a relative who wanted to be cremated after death:

“It may happen that some Orthodox believer, out of his ignorance, bequeaths to close relatives to cremate his body and then dies without receiving a blessing and without repenting of his intention ... If relatives promised the deceased to cremate his body, then they can be freed by the Church from this imprudent promises through the prayer established for such occasions. The soul of the deceased after death, seeing the stupidity of his desire for cremation of the body, will only be grateful to his loved ones for such a decision.

The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, at the session of August 20/September 2, 1932, on the issue of cremation of the bodies of the dead, decided: “In principle, the burning of the bodies of Orthodox Christians in crematoria is not allowed due to the fact that this custom is introduced by atheists and enemies of the Church. In all particular difficult cases, provide a decision to the diocesan bishop.

Attitude towards cremation of the Greek Orthodox Church

The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church in October 2014 stated that the Church would not bury those who bequeathed to be cremated. The Church also considers it her duty to notify the clergy and the pious people of the canonical consequences that the cremation of the bodies of the dead bears.

• Cremation is not consistent with the practice and Tradition of the Church for theological, canonical and anthropological reasons.
• In order not to fall into theological and canonical error, it is necessary to respect religious beliefs and clarify the own will of the deceased, and not to comply with the will of his relatives.

If it is established that the deceased allowed the cremation of his body, then the succession is not performed on him.

Why is burning a desecration?

Saint Nicholas of Serbia: “Burning the body of the deceased is violence”

Some Orthodox continue to sincerely doubt and wonder what is wrong with burning bodies, because the soul is incomparably more important than the flesh. For example, here is the comment of Anna, our reader, outraged that cremation is being questioned:

“It seems that everything comes down only to the opinion of the priests that the vessel of life must be treated with reverence. Is burning a body a disgrace? After all, old torn books are burned, and even icons that are completely out of use. What is the pollution here? In my opinion, this is all “straining a mosquito and swallowing a camel.”

These questions can be answered in the words of St. Nicholas of Serbia:

"You ask me why Christian church outraged by the burning of the dead? First, because she considers it violence. Serbs before today horrified by the crime of Sinan Pasha, who burned the dead the body of Saint Sava on Vracar. Do they burn people of the dead horses, dogs, cats or monkeys? I haven't heard of it, but I've seen them buried. Why, then, commit violence against the dead bodies of people - the rulers of the entire animal world on earth? Is the burning of dead animals, especially in big cities, can justify the burning of dead people?

Secondly, because this pagan and barbaric custom was driven out of Europe Christian culture almost 2000 years ago. Whoever wants to renew this custom does not want to bring in something cultural, modern, new, but, on the contrary, to return the long-obsolete junk. In America, I saw the graves of great presidents: Wilson, Roosevelt, Lincoln and many others. famous people. None of them were burned."

Elder Paisius Svyatogorets on the attitude towards the remains

It is difficult to find the statements of the holy fathers of the first centuries of Christianity about cremation due to the fact that at that time they wrote, as they say, “on the topic of the day”: the topics of their works dealt with the emergence of various kinds of heresies and false teachings, while disputes about the cremation of the dead had not yet acquired on the scale we see today. But we can find out what the respected modern spirit-bearing elders thought, many of whom are glorified as saints.

Athos elder Paisios Svyatogorets was told that in Greece "for reasons of hygiene and to save earthly space" they were going to burn the dead. His answer was simple and clear:

Elder Paisius Svyatogorets: “The fact that the whole atmosphere was polluted is nothing, but the bones, you see, interfered with them!”

“For hygiene reasons? Yes, just listen! Aren't they ashamed to say that? The fact that they dirtied the whole atmosphere is nothing, but the bones, you see, prevented them! And as for “saving the land”… Is it really impossible to find a place for cemeteries in the whole of Greece with all its forests? How can it be: they find so much space for garbage, but they don’t find it for sacred remains. Is there a shortage of land? And how many relics of saints can be in cemeteries? Did they not think of this?

In Europe, the dead are burned not because there is nowhere to bury them, but because cremation is considered progressive. Instead of cutting down some woods and making room for the dead, they would rather make room for them, burning them and turning them to ash. The dead are burned because the nihilists want to decompose everything - including man. They want to make sure that there is nothing left that would remind a person of his parents, of his grandfathers, of the life of his ancestors. They want to tear people away from Sacred Tradition, they want to make them forget about eternal life and bind them to this temporal life.

Instead of an epilogue

Recently, I specifically went to the Donskoy cemetery. I looked at the closed columbarium. It is located to the left of the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The building was very quiet. I did not see any living people. I caught myself thinking that I was not at all used to the fact that a grave could look like this: a pink wall, plastic flowers that will never lose their shape, and at a height of three meters there is a sign with a surname and a name. And there are hundreds of these. He drew attention to the new wall: something like a massive rack with glass doors. Apparently, a new one, since many cells are still empty. They reminded me - I beg your pardon for such a perhaps inappropriate comparison - boxes in the supermarket where you can put your bag. This was my first trip to the columbarium. And I hope it's the last one.

The church has always treated cremation as a blasphemous and ungodly matter. But the year 1917 came and the Bolsheviks who came to power thought differently.

They began to actively promote this "ideologically correct" way of burial, in their opinion, equalizing everyone after death.

1920 - a competition was announced in Russia for the design of the first crematorium, which was held under the slogan "The crematorium is the chair of godlessness." Who is right - the church or the atheists, was shown by a unique experiment of St. Petersburg scientists.

fire funeral

The custom of burning the dead in Europe appeared among the Etruscans, and after that it was adopted by the Greeks and Romans. With the advent of Christianity, cremation was banned. However, over time, a problem arose - the lack of places in cemeteries. Were forced to bury the dead in common graves, which were not buried for several days until they were filled. And of course, this has led to the spread of various diseases.

Then, in the 16th century, funeral pyres began to be organized in Europe, but they did not solve the problem. Several centuries passed, until in 1874 the German engineer Siemens invented a regenerative oven in which cremation took place in a jet of hot air. After 2 years, a crematorium began to operate in Milan, similar to modern ones, of which there are now about 14,000 in the world.

The first crematorium in Russia, which opened in 1920, was located in the building of baths on Vasilievsky Island in Petrograd. It should be noted that he worked for a short time, just over a year, and after that he was closed "due to lack of firewood." But in a little over a year, 379 bodies were cremated there.

1927 - in Moscow, in the Donskoy Monastery, in the church of Seraphim of Sarov, the same "department of godlessness" was launched. By the way, the Soviet government ordered furnaces for this crematorium from a German company, which later began to supply them to Auschwitz and other death camps.

Later, crematoria appeared throughout the country, and "fire burials" became commonplace.

strange experiment

1996 - a program was shown on St. Petersburg television that did not leave indifferent everyone who could see it (the show was in work time, there were no repetitions). St. Petersburg scientists of one of the research institutes conducted a unique experiment in the crematorium and filmed it on video.

Several sensors of an electroencephalograph, a device for studying the bioelectrical activity of the brain, were attached to the head of the deceased, lying in a coffin prepared for being sent to the furnace. In a living person, an encephalogram can determine the functional state of the brain and its various diseases.

It is clear that in this case the device remained at rest, since the subject died 4 days ago. The coffin with the deceased was placed on a special escalator tape, which was supposed to send him to the cremation oven. And the escalator moved. The stylus still didn't move.

As the coffin approached the stove, the pen began to tremble, "came to life" and began to barely noticeably draw broken curves on the tape of the device. After these curves turned into high teeth. The whole horror was that the brain of this man was already dead. It turns out that before the danger, he began to function again!

After deciphering the readings of the device, it became clear that the signals given by the brain of the deceased are identical to the signals of the brain of a very frightened person. The deceased did not want cremation, he was afraid, no matter how strange and ridiculous it may sound.

Of course, everyone would like to hear the comments of the participants in the experiment on such a phenomenon, but despite the promises to provide them in next gear, there was no continuation. Someone, apparently, was beneficial to close this topic.

And if there are no official comments, there are assumptions. Here is one of them. the integrity of the organism is violated, but the cells continue to live their lives for some time, until they exhaust the reserve - by analogy with lost limbs or organ transplants. And, like any living organism, cells react to danger. It was such a surge of the rest of the energy as a cry of danger that the device recorded.

Outlines above the chimney of the crematorium

Nikolai S. - doctor of the St. Petersburg hospital. Mechnikova told at all incredible story. On the one hand, what he saw defies any explanation and looks like a fiction or a hallucination, on the other hand, the doctor is, most likely, a man of material views. Nikolai assured that his story was true.

That February evening, he was returning home after a day's duty. It was already dark outside at that time. Seeing his bus at the bus stop, besides empty, the man hurried to get into it. And there he fell asleep in the warmth. The conductor woke him up at the last stop. It turned out that, in the dark and from fatigue, Nikolai got into the wrong bus. The end of this bus was just opposite the crematorium.

While he was waiting for the return flight, he smelled some kind of unpleasant smell. Smoke was coming from the chimneys of the crematorium, which means that corpses were burned there. Everyone knows a certain cynicism of doctors, and Nikolai was no exception. Having nothing to do, he began to count how many dead people would be burned until the bus arrived. And finally, a portion of smoke appeared from the chimney. What was the doctor's surprise when a human silhouette began to be seen through the soot.

Having missed his bus, Nikolai decided to wait for the next cremation. And again I saw the outlines of a human figure. Then suddenly the smoke began to go without interruption, and our doctor counted six silhouettes. Suddenly, before his eyes, a dark clot formed near the chimney of the crematorium, which Nikolai at first mistook for smoke. But this clot began to absorb smoky silhouettes.

Even the doctor, who had seen a lot in his life, felt uneasy. He would have kept quiet about this story, but he hoped that maybe someone else had seen something similar.

From the point of view of esotericists (by the way, many scientists also recognize this), each organism has an energy shell, in other words, an astral or mental body. This body attracts the microscopic constituents of smoke towards itself, thus forming a visible silhouette. Not very convincing, but without fish ...

Don't rush to burn

Let's remember the Russians folk tales, in which the villains (Koshchei the Immortal, the Nightingale the Robber) were not only killed, but also burned, and the ashes were scattered in the wind. They did it in such a way as to completely erase their traces from the face of the earth. That is, with the help of fire they got rid of negative energy. If so, then cremation is a guaranteed road to heaven. But where is the guarantee that together with negative energy will not perish in the fire and that positive, accumulated over a lifetime?

This is what Buddhism preaches. In the East, the dead were always burned, so that during reincarnation it would be clean, like a white sheet, devoid of everything accumulated in past life.

But Orthodoxy thinks otherwise. Man is made of the same matter as the earth. Therefore, after death, he must return his physical shell to her, not only preserving the energy given to him from birth, but also multiplying the information acquired throughout his life. In addition, slowing down this process (embalming) or speeding it up (cremation) is considered a sin that falls on relatives or those who did it.

All this, of course, is not only debatable, but also has no evidence. Therefore, everyone decides for himself what to do.

According to the ministers of the church, the cremation of a person is a blasphemous act and objectionable to God. With the coming to power, as a result of the revolution, the Bolsheviks, the situation began to change.

This method of burial, from the point of view of the new ideology, was correct and most preferable. After death, all living were equalized. In the early thirties, a tender was announced for the development of the country's first crematorium. slogan this project the saying became: "the crematorium is the chair of godlessness."

fire burial

The first Europeans who practiced the burning of the dead were representatives of the Etruscan tribes. Further, the tradition was adopted by the ancient Greeks and Romans. After the widespread adoption of Christianity, the tradition was gradually banned.

In conditions of overcrowding, medieval Europe there was an acute problem of lack of places for burial. Often, poor people had to be buried in common graves, which could remain unburied for several days. This led to the spread of diseases. In Paris, the remains of people from many cemeteries were transferred to the catacombs under the city. As a result, whole galleries of bones were formed.

With the advent of a terrible scourge in Europe - the black death - the plague, the practice of burning at the stake was again restored. But this was not enough to stop the spread of the disease.

Cremation oven modern style was invented by an engineer from Germany in 1874. The device had a regenerative chamber in which combustion took place. The working process took place under the action of a stream of hot air. A little later, the first crematorium was built in Milan. IN modern world there are more than 14 thousand stationary cameras of this type. There are also mobile devices.

The first crematorium in Russia was opened in the thirties, on Vasilyevsky Island in a bathhouse, in St. Petersburg. Although the establishment operated for less than two years, 379 bodies were cremated there. The crematorium stopped its activity due to the lack of solid fuel.

Later, the practice of burning the dead spread throughout the country. "The Last Fiery Path" became commonplace.

Unusual experiment

In the post-perestroika years. psychic practices began to spread widely in Russia. Many psychics conducted unusual experiments aimed at studying anomalous phenomena and the other world.

In 1996, during working hours, a rather strange program was shown on local television in St. Petersburg. A unique experiment related to cremation was shown.

An electroencephalograph, a device for studying brain activity, was used to track the post-mortem activity of the deceased. In the case of a living person, the device is able to diagnose various diseases and conditions of the brain.

Connected to the head of the deceased, by means of electrodes, the device, of course, did not give any signals. At the time of the research, it was already the fourth day after death. The coffin with the body was placed on the conveyor, the graphic device showed a straight line.

Gradually, as the coffin approached the combustion chamber, the recorder began to draw at first weak, and later, teeth with a high amplitude. The surprise and horror of scientists knew no bounds. The brain of the deceased, in the face of the flame, again began to show signs of life.

The decoding of the record showed the correspondence of the given signals to the state strong fear. From everything that happened, it appeared that, for some reason, the deceased was afraid of cremation. There were no comments on what happened. After the broadcast, the television project was quickly curtailed, and the topic was forgotten.

Due to the lack of an official statement, the version seems to be the most plausible. After death, the cells of the body retain their functions for some time. Thanks to this, transplantation of organs and limbs is possible. In the face of danger, the last reserve of forces in the cells is activated, which was recorded by the device.

Signs over the pipes of the crematorium

There is a lot of evidence of manifestations of otherworldly forces near the crematoria. Hospital Doctor. Mechnikov Nikolai S. told a story from his practice. Occupation and life-material position of the physician give grounds to trust his story.

According to the doctor, what he managed to see on the February evening on the way home, after a day of work, cannot be logical explanation. It gets dark early in winter, and that was the case this evening. The tired worker got into his bus at the bus stop and fell asleep in the warmth. Waking up at the final stop, awakened by the conductor, he realized that he had boarded the wrong bus. As it turned out, the doctor came to the crematorium.

There was a distinct unpleasant odor in the air, indicating that the this moment takes place in the crematorium. While waiting for the return flight, Nikolai, with the cynicism of a doctor, began to count how many times smoke would come out of the chimney - how many of the dead would be burned. When another cloud appeared from the pipe, the doctor was shocked. In the air, not far from the chimney of the crematorium, hung the distinct silhouette of a man.

Intrigued, Nikolai missed his bus while waiting for the next cremation. As expected, he was once again able to see the outline of a human figure. Apparently, the process accelerated further, and several outlines of the dead had already formed in the air. What happened next sent the battered doctor into a stupor. A huge cloud appeared from the pipe, which systematically swallowed up all the silhouettes.

Why burn the dead

In many legends of the peoples of the world, it is customary to burn the bodies of villains and let the ashes go to the wind. It is believed that in this way all the negative energy accumulated by the criminal during his life is destroyed. It could be assumed that burning opens a direct path to paradise. But, there is no guarantee that in the process of cremation, all the useful experience accumulated over a lifetime will not suffer.

In Buddhist belief, burning cleanses the body of all sins. The soul is reborn without the baggage of a past life, starting all over again.

Orthodoxy has a different point of view. It is believed that man was created from the matter of the earth. After death, he must return not only his physical shell to the earth, but the experience and energy accumulated during his lifetime. At the same time, preventing this process by embalming or cremation falls as a sin on the person who did this and his relatives.

There is no scientific confirmation of these hypotheses yet. Therefore, the decision how to go to last way rests entirely on the shoulders of each person.

The correspondent of "KP" found out how the dead are made up and how much the most expensive coffin costs

Those who, by misfortune, had a chance to visit the Barnaul crematorium, know only its outer side - farewell and memorial halls, a ritual store, a small temple and a columbarium. The entrance to the cremation shop and other utility rooms is strictly prohibited for outsiders. But not to KP correspondents!

Crematorium director Andrey Chumachenko arranged for the "Komsomolskaya Pravda" a whole tour of the mourning institution.

Andrei admitted that from the tenth grade he dreamed of working in the ritual business. And when he was offered the position of director, without hesitation, he moved from Novosibirsk to Barnaul.

Lots of controversy over cremation. Personally, I think that cremation is a more humane way than burial in the ground, our hero said.

The crematorium was opened in the regional capital in May 2015. Since then, about 200 people have been cremated here.

The range of prices for a complex of crematorium services - from

19.5 to 45.2 thousand rubles. The store, which is located at the institution, has a large selection of coffins, funeral linen, clothes for the deceased and other things.

The most expensive coffin here is a varnished cedar sarcophagus worth 124,000 rubles.

This one was bought last year by a traffic police officer who died in the line of duty in September, - Andrey noted.

It is impossible to cremate in such a coffin, only to bury (by the way, the crematorium also provides burial services - Ed.). Due to its large size, it will not enter the oven. According to the director, they mostly take wooden coffins. Their cost is from 2.5 thousand rubles.

Funeral linen is here for every taste and color.

There are budget sheets - hebash and satin - for 700 rubles, and more expensive options - for 3.6 thousand rubles, - Andrey said.

Two small pillows lying next to me caught my eye ...

These are children's, - the narrator explained. - Children are also cremated here, fortunately, rarely. It used to be that parents of stillborn babies turned to us. But due to the lack of certain documents, we cannot yet cremate them.

The crematorium has two farewell halls. The smell here is specific, apparently saturated with human grief. During the ceremony, the coffin stands in the middle, on the sides of it are soft comfortable sofas for relatives, there are others around the perimeter of the hall.

Soon we will install a spotlight here, which will highlight the area with the deceased with light, - Andrey said.

During parting, the lights are dimmed, the music sounds softly, as a rule, they choose the classics. There is a plasma TV on the wall where you can watch a film about the deceased. According to Andrei, no one has used this service yet.

But they ordered a video from the funeral. The deceased had relatives in Germany. Here we cut them. In the future, we are going to make it possible to watch the funeral online, - the director of the crematorium explained.

In order to get away from gossip that before sending the body to the oven, jewelry is removed from the deceased, there is a service in the crematorium - viewing the beginning of cremation. This takes 30 minutes. Relatives are behind the glass and watch as the machinist sends the coffin with the body to the oven.

Glass is armored, you know, death is always grief, so people can behave inappropriately, including hitting glass. We had such a thing, - the narrator shared.

Andrey said that they somehow cremated the deceased, to whom relatives from Buryatia came, as expected, with a shaman.

So they performed their rituals while watching the beginning of the cremation: they lit lamps, read prayers, - the director recalled.

The cremation oven was brought here from the Czech Republic. The price is about 18 million rubles. The operator controls it. At a temperature of 1100 degrees, the human body completely burns out in 1-1.5 hours. All this time the operator controls the process through a small glass window in the oven.

By the way, there are things that cannot be put in a coffin during cremation.

From the experience of colleagues from Novosibirsk, I know that phones are put down, and other things. Therefore, before the body is sent to the furnace, the thanatopracticist inspects the coffin so that there is nothing superfluous. It happened that pacemakers were taken out of the "cores" - since these are also prohibited items, Chumachenko said. - After all, they have batteries that can explode in a fire and damage the stove.

After the furnace, the remains of the body of the deceased (as a rule, these are small bones - Ed.) are placed in the cremulator room. There, in a ball mill, they are ground into a fine homogeneous mass.

Then, the operator pours all the ashes into a capsule (it can be buried in the ground) or into a special bag, which is then placed in an urn.

Relatives choose the urn in advance. The most expensive here costs 33 thousand rubles. It is made from solid stone.

If the room with the stove is always warm, then the morgue is eternally cold. Even the doors here are heat-tight.

Preparing a body for burial in the ground and for cremation is not much different. Only during the cremation of the dead, as a rule, they do not embalm, - Chumachenko explained.

The dead women in the crematorium can be combed, made up. There is a whole set of cosmetics for this: foundation, blush, shadows, mascara, lipstick and more.

A temple was built on the territory of the crematorium. They enter it to light a candle in memory of the deceased. Today a candle burned here....

A priest is assigned to the temple. By the will of relatives, he can bury the deceased.

A bell is installed on the alley of memory. After the farewell procedure, relatives and relatives of the deceased call him, thereby paying tribute to the memory of the deceased.

Behind him is the family crypt of the founders of the crematorium. Large territory crematorium, 2.5 hectares, allows you to install other crypts.

A columbarium rises nearby. It is designed for 9 thousand urns. So far, there are plenty of vacancies. However, there are - reserved. These people made sure that they were cremated.

You can draw up a contract during your lifetime, it costs 1.4 thousand rubles, pay for a range of services and appoint an executor who will monitor its execution, the narrator explained.

After the death of the customer, you will not have to pay anything extra for his cremation.

So a man came to us and said: “In two weeks I have a difficult operation, I’m afraid that I won’t survive.” We made a cremation contract.

A separate building is reserved for cremation of animals and biowaste. There are two ovens here.

They bring cats, dogs, rabbits and even hamsters, - Andrey shared.

The cost of cremating an animal depends on the weight. The minimum price is 2.5 thousand rubles.

There are also urns for animals. I found them pretty funny. Although, according to the director of LLC "Vetrituals" Mikhail Serdyukov, sometimes the owners of dead animals are killed more than people.

Years ago, my uncle owned a funeral parlour, and during the summer I worked part-time at his crematorium. The job wasn't exactly the most fun, but it paid well, and as a poor student, I definitely needed the money. Working with corpses was very scary at first, but after a few days I kind of got used to everything ... sort of ...

One morning I was sweeping the floor of the crematorium when a black hearse pulled up to the parking lot next to the building. A man in a black suit stepped out of it, and my uncle approached him to talk.

After a while he called me and told me to help him carry the coffin to the crematorium. I thought that was strange, because usually the coffin was first carried into the funeral home next door, but I did not ask any further questions.

We put the coffin on the floor, and my uncle began to prepare the oven for cremation. For a few minutes I was left alone with a man in a black suit. There was an awkward silence. I didn't know what to say. I assumed that it was a relative of the deceased who was lying in a coffin, but the man did not seem too upset to me.

When the oven was ready, my uncle lifted the coffin with me and laid it on a metal bench. We removed the lid of the coffin, and I saw that the corpse inside belonged to a man who appeared to be no more than 30 years old. Usually the corpses were very pale, but this one seemed to have a blush on his face.

My uncle started the fire, then pressed the button, turning on the conveyor belt. The coffin slowly went into the furnace. When he was inside, my uncle closed the door, and I just stood by and waited. It usually takes about an hour before the entire contents of the furnace are burned to the ground. After that, it was my duty to collect the ashes and put them in an urn, so that later I could pass them on to the family of the deceased.

My uncle and the man in the black suit went to the funeral home. I assumed they went to fill Required documents. I was left alone in the crematorium and continued to sweep.

After about 10 minutes, I heard a strange noise in the oven. It was like a faint knock. At first, I thought that I was just imagining, but then the knocking began to sound loud enough. I tried to convince myself that it was just the metal deforming from the heat.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

It was definitely the knocking of someone who was desperately trying to get out.

A chill ran down my back and the broom fell out of my hands. I was sure the person inside was still alive. Frightened, I ran to the funeral home and, trembling uncontrollably, told my uncle what I had heard. Returning with them back to the crematorium, I told them to listen.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"I can't hear anything," my uncle said.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Me too," said the man in the black suit.

I looked at them, shocked and stunned. I even began to doubt my own sanity. The uncle and the man in the black suit shrugged and returned to the funeral home. And I just stayed in the middle of the crematorium and listened.

I didn't know how to safely open the oven door, but even if I could, I was terrified of what I might find inside. How can someone stay alive after spending 10-15 minutes in a crematorium oven?

Gradually, the noise began to sound weaker and weaker, until, finally, it disappeared altogether. All I could hear was the hiss and crackle of the flames. No one else knocked.

My uncle returned an hour later to turn off the stove. Together we collected the ashes and poured them into the urn. The man in the black suit picked it up and with a big smile on his face got back into his car and drove off.