Funerals throughout the world are performed by following several traditions, rites and rituals. It is at the funerals that the near and dear ones make peace with the fate and pray for the deceased’s soul.
Church rules regulate the rites of funerals in Christian communities. However, as there are more than 200 different Christian community offshoots, there are many differences in the way the funeral services are organized by each community.
The first and foremost custom in a Christian funeral that is organized before the actual ceremony relates to gathering around the dead person for a night and chanting prayers for the dead. This significant tradition is known as wake. According to present day traditions, this is the time where friends and family see the dead person for the final time and pay their heartfelt homage. The body is either kept at the home or at Church and the time of paying visit is fixed according to prescribed norms. In earlier times, the wake was succeeded by absolution, which involved purgation of the deceased of all the sins he or she committed in the present life, and placing a cross on the chest and performing the ritual of offertory where visitors placed gifts in the casket.
Then comes the main ceremony, which begins with the bringing of the deceased’s body to the Church in a hearse and is followed by chanting of hymns and prayers from the Holy Bible. Following this, the clergy asks a family member or a friend to offer a eulogy before the burial. In certain cases funeral traditions include the ringing of bells to mark the end of the ceremony. When the funeral proceedings are over, the casket with the body is carried to the burial site and burial service is held before the final burial.
Finally, funeral services need a lunch gathering to be organized after the burial is done. The main objective of such customs is to give support to the mourning family and assist them to tide over their grief and resign themselves to the fate.
Leave the delicate matter of funeral needs in the hands of considerate professional undertakers.
categories: spirituality,business,undertakers,Catholic,Buddhist,casket,funeral
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