Funeral Rites And Rituals

Funerals throughout the world are governed by many traditions, rites and rituals. Funeral offers a chance to the family of the deceased person to pray for his soul and come to terms with their loss and sorrow.

Christian funerals are governed by the Church rules. However, there are more than 200 different factions of Christianity that have their own different practices and customs relating to the funeral ceremony.

An important ritual of a Christian funeral, known as wake, is the first and foremost custom that is performed before the actual funeral and involves a nightly watch over the deceased and recital of prayers for the peace of his soul. According to the present day rituals, this is when the relatives and acquaintances pay a last visit to the dead person and offer their final respects. The body is either laid at the residence 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 his or her sins in the present life, and placing a cross on the chest and performing offertory where visitors placed gifts in the casket.

The following stage is the real ceremony itself in which the dead person is put into a hearse and taken to the Church, where the clergy and others recite prayers and hymns from the Bible. Then, the priest requests a friend or family member to give a public eulogy in honour of the deceased. In certain cases funeral traditions include the ringing of bells to signify the end of the ceremony. Then the casket with the deceased’s body is brought to the burial place for the last set of rituals, called the burial service which precedes the burying.

Lastly, the family members arrange for a lunch for the friends, relatives and acquaintances who are attending the funeral. The main aim of this custom is to share the grief of the family and support them so that they can come to terms with the loss.

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