Monks Persecuted for Burying the Dead. Works of Mercy, Religious Freedom and Economic Liberty
These Monks have been making caskets for over a hundred years.
The State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors subpoenaed Abbot Justin Brown and Deacon Mark Coudrain. If found guilty, the Abbot and Deacon will be subject to 180 days in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.The Monks of St. Joseph Abbey did not back down. They sought legal help. The lawyers from the Institute for Justice stepped in. "The state is trying to require them to abandon their calling as Benedictine monks. ... They want to sell wood boxes, not become funeral directors."
This March, the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors subpoenaed two members of the Saint Joseph Abbey - Abbot Justin Brown and Deacon Mark Coudrain. If found guilty, the Abbot and Deacon will be subject to 180 days in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.
PrintCOVINGTON, LA (Catholic Online) - Those who read me know that I have a special place in my heart for Monks. I am not alone, the Lord does as well. In fact, any honest student of the history of the Christian Church should share this admiration and esteem. They have always been a source of great spiritual inspiration, renewal and encouragement for the entire Church. They have also played a prophetic role throughout Christian history, calling every baptized Christian to live their Christian vocation - no matter what their state in life - with heroic virtue.
This is part of the reason I took a special interest in the challenge faced by the 36 prayerful and hard working monks of St, Joseph Abbey just outside of Covington, Louisiana. They are followers of the Rule of St. Benedict, the father of Western Monasticism. On All Saints day in 2007, they prayerfully decided, in response to the clear teaching of the Church to bury the dead, to begin making handcrafted caskets to sell to the public. As a Deacon of the Church in my 15th year of diaconal ministry, I know the importance of such tasks within the apostolate of the Church. I have the privilege of ministering to those who are dying and burying the dead. I know the importance of every detail concerning the passage from death to life.
As I have shared in my writing, I am a "revert" to the Catholic faith. My journey home led me through a Protestant Bible College and into a Benedictine Monastery as a very young man. There I not only recovered my Catholic faith, studied the early fathers of the Church, and fell in love with the ancient and ever new faith handed down to use from the apostles, but I studied Church history and lived the Rule of St. Benedict. That wonderful Rule makes it very clear in Chapter Four under a section detailing the "instruments of good works", that one of the "Corporal Works of Mercy" is "To bury the dead". Monks must bury the dead! In doing so, they stand as a prophetic sign of the call of every Christian to do the same.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church in a section concerning the "Works of Mercy" reminds us, "The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God: (CCC #2447).
The Catechism summarizes the longstanding teaching of the Church concerning respect for the bodies of the dead. This is rooted in our absolute Christian claim that these bodies shall be raised from the dead : "The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy; it honors the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit." (CCC#2300)
The Monks of St. Joseph Abbey crafted caskets from wood to bury their dead brothers. They have done this for decades. On their website they explain: "For more than 100 years, the abbey has maintained and cultivated an abiding spiritual presence in southern Louisiana that is manifested in our daily rhythms of prayer and witness through a life of simplicity. One physical symbol of the simple Benedictine life of prayer has been the pine caskets in which we monks are buried.
"Over the years, the abbey has been asked to produce these caskets for individuals and has done so only on a very small scale and to select friends. Today, in an effort to support the needs of the abbey and to help maintain its communal life and apostolates, we are beginning to make available to the general public a line of cypress caskets under the name Saint Joseph Woodworks. We also hope that this enterprise will serve as a witness, to educate the greater community to the true meaning of death as taught by our Catholic faith."
In 1992 one of their wooden caskets became the place of repose for Bishop Stanley Ott of Baton Rouge. Then in 1997 Bishop Warren Boudreaux of Houma-Thibodeaux was buried in another Abbey-crafted coffin. The beauty of the monk's craftsmanship touched the faithful who began to request their beautiful product. In 2007 they built St. Joseph's Woodworks and began to offer caskets to the public. The proceeds from this work helped the Monastic community provide for themselves and thus live the motto of the Benedictine vocation "Ora et Labora", prayer and work.
This kind of initiative and charity should be welcomed in a Nation which respects the Free Exercise of Religion and ...
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Why a license for building simple coffins? So they'll learn how to hide remains in storage sheds instead of giving them a proper burial? Or maybe so they'll learn how to put the wrong body in the coffin? Or to place fireplace ashes in urns instead of human ashes? I'd rather use a wooden crate from monks than have my body "lost" somewhere leaving an empty fancy coffin.
The statement:"The competitor cited a statute and insisted that no-one could sell "receptacles ... where human remains are ... placed for disposition 'without paying fees, passing an exam, serving an apprenticeship and obtaining a funeral director's license.' " raises a question for me. Are all of the "receptacles", sold by the funeral directors, made by manufacturers that have passed exams, served apprenticeship and in possession of a funeral directors license? Where are these receptacles made that are sold by funeral directors? Are the manufacturers located in other states or do they only sell "receptacles" made in Louisiana? Do the states the funeral directors purchase their merchandise "receptacles" require that the sellers be licensed funeral diectors? Maybe the funeral directors need to find a mirror and check their eyes for a "beam" that reposes within.
Well, the devil is having a hey-day here, lots of court cases, litigation, etc, just he likes to do - make complicated things out of simple things. Growing up in the funeral home business, we bought our caskets from other companies. I didn't know all of the rules and regulations about these things, and don't know the rules in Louisiana. I do wonder if the monks researched all the information they needed before establishing their new enterprise, and if it's incorporated in the state (if need be?). Hopefully they got permission from someone in the state to establish this business, and if so, there really shouldn't really be a problem. The funeral homes, instead of complaining, should set up an agreement with the monks to "buy" their caskets and sell them at the funeral home, a "win-win" situation. Also, maybe the monks can get a funeral home to "sponsor" them, that is, work under the name of a local approved funeral home so that they don't have to go through all of the application and approval process. There are certainly some options here.
The ghouls who run the "for a lot of profit funeral homes" are just angry because they think the monks are stealing business. I say leave the monks alone and let them build and sell all they want. The money helps them in many ways. What a disgusting crooked country we have become.
Another example of how common sense has been trampled by government regulations. It's wonderful to hear of beautiful, but simple wooden caskets being made. I am so sick of the typical, tacky funeral home caskets. They are so phoney looking and can be a financial hardships to families. May God bless and defend these monks!!
Yup, sure sounds like a monopoly to me. Crooked politics. They are not interested in the fact that they are Monks. They only care about the money. Always follow the money and you will find the reason for these types of cases. The Monks need the money to support themselves, the funeral directors need it to continue supporting themselves. You might like to question the huge cost of the coffins sold by funeral directors. It is very obvious that the funeral directors are the only group profiting by the law. Unless you count those upholding it!
I love Guy's idea! When the time comes, how can I make a donation?! It makes me think, also, of Jesus walking into the temple and disrupting the moneychangers...
It's ridiculous....you don't need a funeral directors license to build a wood box.
People need to stand up and say this isn't right.
If they can't handle the compettion then they shouldn't be in business...Everyone knows Monasteries and Abbeys produce high quality items and usually at high end prices....so how greedy are these Lousianians then - plenty greedy...and to go after a monastery shows they have no ethics.
go nonprofit, give them away and accept whatever donation the client gives. some donations will be low while others will be very generous yet not be unreasonable. Change the way they do business.
I am sure there are ways to skirt the laws that are not imoral.
Jesus was a Carpenter so maybe he even made a coffin from time to time,Who Knows! He certainly wasn't an undertaker! He left the dead to bury the dead. Jesus is the resurrection and the LIFE! In Christ is the LIGHT OF LIFE!