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Louisiana has some of the toughest prison laws in the nation, where one of every 55 residents is behind bars--many of them for life. At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, a maximum-security facility in Angola, some 85 percent of the 5,100 inmates are expected to die in incarceration. Until recently, that was a lonely process: prisoners were buried in shabby boxes in numbered graves. But in 1998, Angola prison created a hospice program that officials say has been transformative. Now, when a terminally ill patient is too sick to live among the general population, he is transferred to the hospice ward. There, inmate volunteers, most of them serving life sentences themselves, care for him--going to great lengths to ensure that he has company during his final moments. When he dies, hospice volunteers plan a memorial service and burial. They build a casket by hand. They take that casket to the prison cemetery in a handcrafted hearse, followed by a procession of friends and family. This dignified process was captured by photographer Lori Waselchuk in her two-year project <a href="http://gracebeforedying.org/"><u><B>Grace Before Dying.</B></u></a> The following is a selection of her work:

 
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  • Posted By: BelindaK @ 10/18/2009 11:50:16 AM

    I believe God has revealed himself to the hearts of these men. What an incredible blessing to the dying. Contrary to some other comments, I believe this is a beautiful, important story. To see the effect this program has had not only on the dying, but on those who care for them was very moving for me. How many of us could do this? Yes, we have hospice workers on the "outside", but these are, for the most part, hardened criminals who have put themselves in a deeply emotional, vulnerable position. God bless them and the photographer who recognized that people need to see the beauty of this.

  • Posted By: Barbara @ 10/15/2009 9:09:01 PM

    Truly a beautiful story appropriately titled. I do not know what eternity holds for any of these men. I do know that behind bars or not, narrow is the road that leads to salvation and few find it and broad & wide is the road that leads to damnation and most travel that road (whether they are behind bars or not). I tell people all the time, "Ain't nothing free in this world but God's love but salvation isn't cheap." It cost Christ everything. Never cheapen salvation or take it for granted. But this is a truly beautiful story that highlights humanities need and capacity for love. b

  • Posted By: Dolmance @ 10/14/2009 11:22:50 PM

    What a grotesque and vicious country America is. You've made an art of being miserable. And making your misery malignant.

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