The Many Traditions Of Christian Funerals
Funerals are either family or State ceremonies held after a person’s death, in his memory. It involves a set of rites and rituals that vary in accordance with the deceased’s culture and religion.
Majority of Christian funerals have rites that are divided into 3 main parts: visitation, funeral, and burial. The first 2 ceremonies, which are the most important ones as far as ritualistic aspects are concerned, are discussed here.
Visitation is the ceremony that comes first, when the deceased’s body is placed in a coffin for the friends and relatives to see. The body is usually adorned with the best clothes and jewels belonging to the dead person. Anointing of the deceased for this occasion is not a mandatory ritual in every community.
Some families prefer displaying snapshots from the life of the deceased at visitation in the form of photographs and personal items that were prized possessions of the deceased. Some families also play a slide show or video of the deceased.
This ceremony is followed by a memorial service, also known as a funeral, which takes place normally at a church. The casket is then taken to the church in a hearse and the friends and relatives of the departed follow the hearse. Then the casket is brought with its floral decorations and placed inside the church.
This entails offering of prayers by the mourners and reading out of the Bible or Holy Scriptures by the priests. The people assembled at the funeral also sing religious songs. Then the presiding pastor gives a speech, which is then followed by eulogies given by the family members and friends of the deceased who reflect upon the life, achievements and good qualities of the dead person. Quite often, the people gathered are permitted to view the body for one last time before it is taken for burial. The service is sometimes also followed by ringing church bells.
The end of second part, which is the funeral, marks the commencement of the burial, which is the final stage of the proceedings, and the deceased’s body is taken through a funeral procession.
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