. >>> welcome back to mosaic, and i am angela pollitt. -- pollack and i'm talking to monica williams, and we are talking about burying the dead, and also mourning the dead. and we talk about the corporal works of mercy in the spiritual works of mercy, and we will talk about the physical activity of burying the dead. it seems there are less and less christian burials today, and i'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about is that your experience, and why do you think that is?>> there is a trend to an increase in cremation, and i think some people are under the impression that if you are cremated you do not have the opportunity to have a funeral, but that is not true. we have an entire ritual built into the catholic funeral rite that is specifically geared toward cremation, a beautiful selection of prayer that takes people that have chosen cremation through those moments in our church tradition of the christian funeral. you can have an entire funeral with a vigil, a committal at the cemetery, and still be cremated. that is an important piece of that. there is also sometimes a sens