Catholic Book of the Dead

Death. The one journey we must all take from this earth to the new life beyond.   Join author Ann Ball as she explores ways we have tried to explain and cope with death throughout history. Discover how Roman and Hebrew funeral customs influenced early Christian rites; how the Middle Ages and the "Black Death" gave rise to customs we maintain today; and how the Protestant Reformation helped shape our modern funeral practices.   Explore how different cultures view death - from an Irish wake to a Japanese Catholic funeral, from Mexican ceremonies to Native American Catholicism and tribal beliefs. Catholic Book of the Dead looks at the heritage of the final journey in the joyful light of the Resurrection. Through the intercession of Mary, the angels and saints, we come to realize that death is the beginning, not the end of life.     Ann Ball is a well-known Catholic writer and the author of Our Sunday Visitor's best-selling A HANDBOOK OF CATHOLIC SACRAMENTALS and CATHOLIC TRADITIONS IN COOKING.