A Report on The Translation of the Relics of Abp. Dmitri

MARK BARNA

Mar 1918 min read

March 4, 2016

An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah” – Matthew 12:39

In the Name of the Lord, I ask your blessing, Most-blessed Master!

Your Beatitude, Your Eminences and Your Graces, Reverend Fathers and Mothers, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

In August, 2011 I received the great honor and blessing of being asked to fly to Dallas, Texas to prepare the body of our beloved Archbishop DMITRI for burial. I am neither a health professional, nor a funeral director but I have prepared numerous bodies for burial in the past ten years. In 2005–2006 my wife and I wrote A Christian Ending––A Handbook for Burial in the Ancient Christian Tradition. It was published earlier in 2011 by Divine Ascent Press.

The clergy, mostly his deacons and sub-deacons, prepared Archbishop DMITRI’s body in the traditional manner; we washed him, anointed him with fragrant oil and dressed him. Then, in the traditional manner, his priests, led by Metropolitan JONAH, with many prayers and hymns, vested him, placed him in a hand-made wooden casket and carried him in procession to his cathedral. There he lay in repose for five days until his funeral. His body was refrigerated by dry ice while he lay in the cathedral.

Due to some very difficult local regulations, he was buried in a local commercial cemetery anticipating future re-interment at the cathedral. Unfortunately, Restland Cemetery required that his casket be buried in a burial vault. I was not at all happy about this but there was nothing to be done. I have written and lectured about the perils of using a burial vault and I was very concerned about its use for Vladyka. I expressed my concerns to subdeacon Vladimir at the time and we decided it might be a good idea to drill holes in each corner of the casket bottom to allow the body fluids to drain out and away from the body. This proved to be significant.

At the time, I hoped to be able to return to Dallas for the translation of his relics but I never expected to be invited to participate. I was doubly honored and blessed to be asked to return to Dallas, at the invitation of Archimandrite Gerasim and the Cathedral, on March 4, 2016 to participate in the exhumation and re-interment of Archbishop DMITRI.

We arrived at Restland Cemetery at 7:30 AM and shortly thereafter Fr. Michael Storozuk, our team leader, served a Pannikhida with the members of the team and a few parishioners. Our additional team members were Fr. John Anderson, Sub-deacon Vladimir Grigorenko, Sub-deacon Thomas Davis, Reader Daniel Rudder, Dr. Ron Rodriguez (Vladyka’s personal physician) and Andrew Eells, a parishioner and licensed funeral director. Cemetery workers began removing the vault shortly after 8 AM.

Due to some miscommunication with the cemetery we came prepared for some difficulty. It was our understanding that only two of us would be “allowed” to be present when the vault and casket were opened. Exhumation is becoming very common for a number of reasons that they explained to us. They deal with all kinds of people and have had some bad experiences. After some minutes of pleasant conversation they understood our concerns and our dedication to Archbishop DMITRI. The cemetery staff, Amie Douglas and Mike Wilfong, made it very clear that they were there only to facilitate our work and didn’t want to hinder us at all except for safety’s sake. They readily agreed to allow the entire team to be present.

The only area they had that was big enough and dirty enough for this work was their maintenance barn. This steel building on the back of the property was for storage of their tractors, excavators, etc. They had cleared a large area of the barn for us.

At this point it’s important to mention what one would normally expect to find. I had tried to plan for any eventuality. In the days leading up to this event I had tried to think of all contingencies and to plan accordingly. To that end I brought my kit, which is always packed in case of an unexpected death in the parish. I had added several items to the kit such as a soft paint brush, in case the casket had collapsed and we needed to clean debris from the body or perhaps, from the bones. I brought fragrant essential oils in case there was an odor and they would be needed. Fr. John Anderson brought jugs of holy water in case we needed to wash the body or the bones as the case may be. Preparing for any eventuality, I came to Dallas hoping for myrrh yet prepared for dry bones.

Decomposition of the human body is greatly dependent upon the environment, the soil, temperature and humidity. A body buried in the desert will decompose differently than one buried in the moist, loamy soil of the Pacific Northwest. The human body is about 60% water. When a person dies, the cell walls hold together for some time and then begin to break down at different rates. Refrigeration delays this process more or less depending upon the temperature. As the cell walls break down the water simply drains out. Areas with more water, such as the abdomen, shrink much more than bony areas such as the head. Gravity also takes its toll, pulling muscle, skin and other tissue down.

It’s important for the body to be buried in a quickly degrading box or none at all. A shroud is my personal preference. This allows the body fluids (water) to flow into the soil and away from the remains. Bacteria and enzymes, resident in the body, do most of the job of decomposition. There is nothing on earth that can stop this process. A human body buried in the ground in a soft coffin, or no coffin at all, will decompose to bare bones in eight to twelve years. Hair, nails and teeth can become detached and fall out in a few months.

The vault Archbishop DMITRI’s body was sealed in was completely airtight. Sealing the body in a metal casket or in a sealed vault keeps the body fluids inside. This cool, dark, humid environment is perfect for the growth of molds from spores in the casket, vault and on clothing. Rather than the process of dehydration the body putrefies. Water can’t escape. Cells continue to break down but they can’t dry out. Minerals in tissue are left behind to become home to bacteria and mold. In a few years the body generally turns into a moldy mass of unrecognizable remains. Additionally, one would expect the olive oil Vladyka was anointed with to be a perfect medium for growth of molds and bacteria that the body would have collected during the five days he lay in repose in the cathedral.

The workers took the vault to the barn on a forklift, suspended it on cables and used axes driven by sledge hammers to finally break the seal after many minutes of trying. At this point Fr. Michael signaled Reader Daniel to begin reading the Psalms. He continued reading throughout the morning. When the workers finally cracked open the vault we didn’t receive the hoped for scent of myrrh. It wasn’t the odor of decomposition, but it wasn’t the fragrant smell of myrrh. I have smelled the odor of a decomposing body in the Medical Examiner’s Office and this was not that smell. Some of the workers were overcome and left almost immediately. We stood out of the way where we had been told to stand waiting for something to happen. Finally we tired of waiting and discovered that the workers had escaped out a side door that was hidden from our view by the forklift truck they had been using. So we moved up and started looking into the vault through the slightly open lid. None of our company was at all disturbed by the strong odor. We could see that the coffin was not collapsed or broken. Indeed it appeared to be in very good shape.

There were large one inch to two inch puddles of water on the top of the coffin. It was clearly very wet in there. We could see the three-bar cross and “Archbishop DMITRI” written in gold leaf under the cross. The lid had swollen and some of the joints had split open. We shot several photos and videos while we waited for the workers to return.

Finally, Amie Douglas returned with a full haz-mat respirator mask covering her whole face and offered us some very small, cotton dust masks. I told the team members that if they were overcome they should take a break outside or that I have some menthol jelly we could put on our masks to cover the odor. No one accepted either offer.

When I saw Amie’s haz-mat mask I asked Dr. Rodriquez if he thought there was any real danger here. He took another close look inside the vault with a flashlight, then stated that he saw no mold inside that would produce spores, so he didn’t expect any real danger. Yet he recommended that we wear the dust masks just in case. In fact, we observed no mold growth at all during the entire procedure neither in the casket, on his vestments, in the vault nor on Vladyka’s body. I saw no mold on any surface. Even the inside walls of the vault were completely clean.

The workers returned and, with considerable effort, got the lid off the vault and then removed the casket lid. We lifted the lid and had our first look at the remains. There was no additional odor as one might expect opening the lid, if the interior was the source of the odor. Vladyka’s vestments were completely intact but totally soaked with water. The humidity inside the casket and vault was absolutely 100 percent. The air in there couldn’t hold one more molecule of H2O.

From this point all of our movements were slow and deliberate, usually discussed as a group. This was a unique experience for all of us. You don’t get to practice this beforehand. All of our team members approached this duty as a solemn responsibility. We didn’t want to do anything wrong. We all knew we could be responsible for a real disaster if we blew it.

The next step was to decide whether we could remove the casket from the vault intact. The cemetery hadn’t washed off the vault and the top of the casket was several inches from the top of the vault. It would have been a real mess to try to remove the body from the vault without removing the casket first.

We discussed the situation and I decided to explore the bottom of the casket to see if it was solid enough to remove the box without it falling apart. I pulled some of the satin lining away from near the head and the feet and found the wood to be remarkably solid. We asked the workers to lift it out. They lifted the casket out and placed it on a rolling catafalque. While they did that, we took off our cassocks, donned plastic aprons and gloves, and prepared to go to work.

The vault floor is divided into three small chambers by two small ridges used to elevate the casket about two inches from the floor of the vault. These chambers were nearly full of very dark liquid. Since the vault was completely airtight and had no evidence of damage, one concludes that this liquid was body fluids. Nothing had leaked in, but nothing leaked out either. In a natural setting these fluids would simply drain into the soil. But trapped in the airtight vault they simply sat there and created the terrible odor we endured. What evaporation did take place was simply recycled into rain on the top, and inside the coffin.

Due to the very strong, unpleasant odor, Dr. Rodriquez suggested we once again refrigerate the body in an effort to control the odor. It sounded like a very good idea. We were very conscious that Vladyka would once again lie in repose in the cathedral and we certainly wanted to honor him and not scandalize his flock with this odor. Members of the team made a phone call and within about an hour Murray Smith arrived with several pounds of dry ice.

Fr. Michael built Vladyka’s original casket and also supplied a beautiful new casket for his re-interment. We brought it in, set it on another catafalque and used it as a table to hold our tools and supplies. We studied the remains for some time trying to ascertain how to proceed. It was clear the vestments had to come off, but how? Our task was to deliver Vladyka safely home to his cathedral. We clearly couldn’t take him home with this strong odor soaked into his vestments. The vestments were so wet a man would have difficulty standing in them, due to the weight of the fabric. The fabric, however, was in remarkably good shape.

Vladyka’s skin had darkened somewhat but still had remarkably good color. We could easily see where skin was beginning to flake off of his hands, the only visible flesh. This was not a bad sign since his hands had been soaking for four and a half years. His cross and panagia were tarnished and deteriorated. The enamel images on them were not visible at all. His blessing cross was just as we’d left it when we closed the lid and his prayer rope was intact. What we saw was remarkable. Other than the darkened skin and the water he was just as we had left him in 2011. There was no sign of mold at all. We studied the scene in awe for some time, but we still had a job to do. We very carefully removed the blessing cross and noticed that his fingers and wrist moved easily and quite smoothly. Because of this, I carefully moved his elbow and then his shoulder. I found the same freedom of movement. Naturally, having never done this before, I was terrified that I might remove a finger or even an arm. This was not the case. Everything seems solid with quite fluid movement. Nonetheless, after further study and delay, it became clear that the vestments would have to be cut off. I was happy and excited that all the internal skeletal parts, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, etc., were still intact and working, but I simply was not willing to take a chance on any more movement than I had already done. So begging Vladyka’s forgiveness, I began removing his vestments one by one with scissors. I had hoped to leave the aer over his face as long as possible for modesty’s sake. In truth, I think I was just afraid to look underneath. But even removing his Omophorion with the aer in place was not possible.

I removed the aer. The irresistible force of gravity and the weight of the aer had discolored and deformed his nose. It soon became clear that the mitre would have to be removed as well. I was very nervous about moving his head because of the small vertebra. The arms moved well but who knows about these small bones stacked one upon the other? Dr. Rodriguez very carefully cradled his head in both hands and lifted it ever so slightly, just enough to remove the mitre.

Vladyka’s face looked quite normal except for the sunken eyes. The eyes are very soft tissue filled with water and the fluid inside the eyes is mostly water. Cellular breakdown and gravity combine to virtually eliminate the eyes and leave empty sockets covered with skin. The skin of the lids had stretched and cracked and I could see that inside the sockets there was nothing at all. The eyes had shed their water and over time the entire contents of the skull, also mostly water, settled to the inner posterior side of the skull.

We proceeded to remove each piece of vestments very slowly, one by one. We didn’t want to move the body any more than absolutely necessary so, most garments were cut down the middle and pulled to the side. Garments with arms were cut with scissors from the neck to the sleeve and pulled to the side as well. All of the garments were dripping wet. Even working as slowly and carefully as possible, several of his fingernails just fell out while we worked. Judging from the look of the nails and the nail bed, I attribute this to the extreme humidity, but having never done this before I can’t say for sure. The nail bed was still a light flesh color.

Finally, we removed his shoestrings, opened the shoes as wide as possible, removed them and then cut off his socks. Here again, his ankles were quite free and moved very easily. The skin was so fragile from soaking for years that we elected to just cut the socks off. It’s a good thing we did because we still removed a couple of toenails along the way. At this point all of his clothes were removed and lying to his sides. We covered his midsection with a clean white towel for modesty’s sake and prepared to lift him into his new casket. The new casket was moved into position, end to end with the old casket. We took a draw sheet from my kit and prepared to roll Vladyka over to insert the draw sheet between him and the clothes still under his body. The casket was quite full by this time with all the clothes we had cut off of him.

Obviously, this was another crossroads and we took it very slowly. We were pretty confident by this point that the body was completely intact, but we were still very cautious especially about damage to the fragile skin. Three men stood on each side of the coffin and rolled his body first to the left, inserted the draw sheet and then rolled him to the right. The men on the other side pulled the draw sheet out. The movement went just as it would with a living body. There was no damage at all.

We took a few moments to compose ourselves and make sure we were ready for the big move. Restland Cemetery supplied a stack of clean white towels that we were able to use to wrap the dry ice in. We placed several pounds of CO2 wrapped in towels in the casket from head to hips. Sub-deacon Vladimir placed a clean red sakkos on top of the ice on which we would lay Vladyka. Still fearing to move the head too much we cut the sakkos so it wouldn’t have to go over his head. We also elected to place a towel under the head to use as a draw sheet to support his head. We didn’t want to try to handle it with our hands.

We stood back and took a breath, making sure that everything and everyone was in the right place for the lift. The six of us lifted on the draw sheet and one pushed the new casket underneath while simultaneously using it to push the old casket out of the way. We carefully placed Vladyka’s body onto the sakkos and slowly arranged his body to lie restfully on the blocks of ice.

It was not possible to put all of his undergarments back on with the condition of the skin. So he lies modestly covered with a towel and his sakkos. We made adjustments to his head to make sure it was secure and wouldn’t roll. We placed his cross in his hand, his chotki on his arm and his panagia and cross again around his neck. Then we placed his red mitre on his head. We placed the rest of the dry ice at his sides and down his legs in an effort to control the odor. The next time the casket is opened they’ll find numerous white towels inside. This is why.

Everything in the casket was so wet, and his skin so fragile, that we didn’t use any Holy Water for washing. The absence of mold made washing unnecessary. Fr. Michael carefully anointed his hands with blessed oil and Fr. John did the same to his feet. We didn’t have any slippers or socks so Vladyka is barefoot. At this point our work for Vladyka was pretty well complete.

We removed all of the vestments and the liner from the old casket and put them in a bag to be burned. When I looked into the bare casket, I was very glad that we had drilled the holes in it. It was very clear that the body fluids had run down the bottom of the casket and out the holes into the bottom of the vault. If we hadn’t drilled the holes, the body fluids would have had nowhere to go and the situation could have been much worse.

The old casket was closed and placed in a pickup truck to be burned later. As they were placing the lid back on the old casket, I asked Fr. Michael if the gold used for Vladyka’s name was gold leaf or gold paint. He said, “If it’s gold, it’s the Lord’s doing not mine.” I wasn’t sure what he meant. He explained that he had used the same off-white latex paint on the old casket that he used on the new one. Inexplicably, it had turned the beautiful gold color you can see in the photos and video.

We finished packing up and returned in procession with the hearse back to St. Seraphim Cathedral. The rest is public knowledge. Comments I’ve tried to give a clear and complete factual account of what we saw and did on the day of Vladyka’s return to the cathedral.

As I said at the outset, I came hoping for myrrh and was prepared for dry bones. I’m neither a scientist nor a funeral director. I’ve never exhumed a body before. I do know that the cemetery representatives were amazed at the condition of Archbishop DMITRI’s body after over four years in the ground. I spoke with both of the Restland representatives who were so helpful to us.

Both Amie Douglas and Mike Wilfong were enthusiastic to share their professional expertise in separate phone interviews as I prepared to write this report. Amie is a third generation funeral director who was more than happy to tell me she had “Never seen anything like it in her life.” Every grave exhumed at Restland in the past ten years (it is becoming more and more common) has to pass by her. In the past ten years she has seen remains from short and long time periods, embalmed and un-embalmed, in caskets and in vaults. Several times Amie said, “I just don’t have words to describe it.” She told me that, from that particular section of the cemetery, for an un-embalmed body in that type of vault for four and a half years, she would have expected to see nothing but bones covered in “goo”. She even marveled at the condition of the casket. The bottom should have been rotten but it was as solid as new. She continued by telling me that she made sure we signed release forms because this is what she expected and she didn’t want anyone to be surprised. She said, “I was the one who was surprised.” When I mentioned Vladyka’s name on the casket she gasped, “I saw that with my own eyes. It was gold.” She has never seen remains, embalmed or not, in such good condition after fifty four months in the ground. She said, “I don’t know much about your faith but y’all have got somethin’ goin’ on over there.”

Mike Wilfong has thirty years’ experience as a funeral director. He expected to see very much what I described above from the process of putrefaction. A moldy mass covering bare bones would have been more likely from his perspective. “I’ve spoken to several other very experienced people,” he said, “there’s no logical, scientific explanation for the condition of the Archbishop’s body. For an un embalmed body, sealed in a vault for five years it’s nothing short of miraculous.” I repeated this quote to him to make sure he wanted to use the word “miraculous.” He said there is no other explanation.

Until you’ve prepared a body for burial you can’t know just how emotionally exhausting it is. I find that compartmentalization is the best way for me to deal with it. I put blinders on and focus on the task at hand; one step at a time.

It wasn’t until we were in the car on the way back that I was able to relax my concentration enough to appreciate what we had just seen and done. Taking all the factors I saw, and what I know into account, it is clear to me that Vladyka’s remains are incorrupt.

I was disappointed by the odor and the water damage to the skin. The odor we dealt with was simply the odor of body fluids that were trapped and not allowed to drain naturally into the soil. It was not the odor of decomposition. I truly believe that what damage we did encounter was caused by the airtight enclosure of the vault. I believe that, if his body had been allowed to dry naturally there would have been no damage at all.

It's true that, had our Lord chosen, Vladyka’s body could have been completely perfect, like the day we buried him. It could have even been gushing myrrh inside the sealed vault. Had our Lord chosen so, Vladyka could have stood up and blessed us. But he didn’t.

I have seen incorrupt relics and, other than the water damage, they look just like Vladyka’s remains. I hope that his remains will dry slowly and will be much the same as when we saw them last. I pray that we did nothing to cause them damage. The crypt in which we placed him is much like the vault from which we removed him. It’s a concrete monolith sealed with concrete and tile on top. Again, due to the archaic and unscientific local Dallas health code, even the new casket had to have a rubber seal. It’s a good thing to contain the odor but clearly, it’s not good for the remains.

The body fluids, the wet fabrics and the majority of the moisture are now gone. The air volume of the new crypt is much more than the vault. We were not able to drill ventilation holes in the new casket, but we hope that the body will be able to dry slowly as it should have from the beginning. I’ve come to detest the very idea of a burial vault.

I know that Vladyka wouldn’t like all this fuss. He’d probably tell us to “Stop fussing. Go home and pray.” We know that Archbishop DMITRI’s sanctity doesn’t depend on whether his bones are incorrupt or dry as dust. It is his life and his work, his love for Christ and his love for all people that make him blessed. Yet, we were there. We are the only ones who saw what we saw and it is incumbent upon us to record it as clearly as we can for you and for the future. The photos that follow speak more eloquently than I ever could.

I pray that our beloved Archpastor will forgive us for anything we may have done or left undone.

That he will continue to pray for us and for our salvation.

And that his memory will be eternal.

Your servant in Christ,

Deacon Mark Barna

Holy Ascension Orthodox Church Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

March 16, 2016