The custom of burying the dead is not merely commonly accepted by the Christianity way of disposal of the human body after death. It is most deeply rooted and perfectly expressing Christian anthropology, revealed in the Holy Scriptures as a consequence of original sin, a sign of hope in the resurrection, and imitation of Christ, who was buried in the tomb. In the Catholic view, the burial is a corporal work of mercy, an act of care for the dead and their loved ones. Gaining popularity the practice of cremation is accepted by the Church for the sake of hygiene, economy, or community. Human remains, also in the form of ashes, always must be buried or placed in the columbarium. The Church does not allow human body disposal by resomation or promession. Alternative forms of memorializing the deceased, though attractive esthetically and sentimentally, are not only outlandish in Christian culture, but also contrary to the Christian teaching on origins, nature, and destination of the human person.

Benedykt Roszkowski, a reformed friar from the Order of Reformed Friars Minor (Reformati) in the Greater Poland province ( Wielkopolska), became famous as a religious preacher (sermoniser). He held this position for twenty-one years, in various centres of the province, and held the ministry of guardian a number of times. He was also a member of provincial government in the form of secretary and definitor (1779–1782) as well as fulfilling the role of custodian or provincial deputy (1785–1788). The friar also helped create settings for church ceremonies.
This article discusses Roszkowski’s hitherto unknown manuscript containing a description of the artistic settings of six funeral ceremonies that took place in the Reformati Churches during the years 1758–1762. The descriptions were illustrated with the friar’s own watercolours depicting the theatrum created during funeral ceremonies. The document, written in Latin, was made between 1762 and 1764 as Roszkowski’s gift to the Provincial Superior of Greater Poland, Father Dionizy Sydry. His descriptions include the funeral of the Crown Oboźnina (wife of the Crown Great Camp Leader) Teresa Teofila Lipska née Dąbska, and the funeral rites in memory of the Oboźny (Crown Great Camp Leader) Prokop Lipski in the Reformati Church in Poznań (1758); the funeral of the Master of the Hunt’s wife from Wschowa, Zofia Gorzyńska, in the Reformati Church in Miejska Górka (1761); the exequies of Zofia Puklatecka in the Reformati Church in Poznań (1762); the funeral of Brygida Czapska née Działyńska, the wife of the Malbork voivode, in the Reformed Church in Pakość, and the funeral rites in the parish church in Konarzewo (1762). For all these funerals, the friar designed both the interior of the church and the castrum doloris placed in the centre. The baldachin-type castrum doloris dominated: on a multi-step platform (sometimes taking the shape of a fortress with bastions) with a raised coffin were figures of Virtues or personifications, and on its sides were obelisks in the form of rocaille or decorative columns crowned with busts of Virtues. The whole structure was topped with a hanging fabric baldachin. In such artistic settings, the friar combined heraldic content with references to both the Bible and mythology. With the informal character of its descriptions, this manuscript differs from the occasional prints published by Roszkowski. Not only does the friar specify the material from which individual elements were made, but he also demonstrates the real context of their presentation. It is the first time we find in one document the descriptions of so many elements of the pompa funebris, along with their visual representations, made by a man who was artist, designer and preacher in one. These various aspects make Roszkowski’s work a special source for research on the funeral culture of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one which finds no equal.

In October 1924, as the coffin with the ashes of Henryk Sienkiewicz returned to Poland from Switzerland huge crowds came out to pay their respects for their beloved national writer in cities along the train's route and at the state funeral in Warsaw. This article is an account of the national funeral ceremony which, as it happened, was followed by a six-months' run in Polish cinemas of a recent screen adaptation of Quo Vadis. In Warsaw, however, its showing was suspended after Sienkiewicz's heirs, appalled by the film's lurid scenes, obtained an appropriate court order. The article throws light on that sensational twist and examines all the circumstances — including the functioning of the movie theatre business, publicity, advertisements and press reviews — connected with the arrival of that silent movie spectacular in Poland. The main focus is on the daily newspapers as they were the primary information channel about cinema repertoire for the mass audience.