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Christian Funeral Rituals And Their Significance


By Quark Brown

Christian funeral service for any devout Christian means a celebration of the soul's eternal journey to the life after death. This is the primary reason why such services are alleviating as they are looked upon as an assertion of the belief that the soul has obtained a new home in God's place.

Christians consider death as an exit from the world of pain and an entry into the world of everlasting bliss. That the deceased is enjoying the bliss of heaven and is with the Lord Himself is a relieving thought that lessens the extremity of the trauma that death brings to the family. The Christian funeral ceremonies are organized with the same spirit.

Christian funeral ceremony is generally conducted by the pastor. The services are usually conducted inside the very church that the deceased used to visit during his lifetime. Usually the ceremonies do not have casket, but in case the service is being conducted inside a funeral home, caskets are usually present. Viewing of the corpse is not something that you will find in a typical Christian funeral ceremony.

The proceedings in such a funeral service are similar to a memorial, in which religious songs and prayers are sung and lines from the Bible are read out. A brief message is delivered by the priest, after which a mass prayer is held.

After that comes the time of reflection and sharing grief by family and friends, when the people assembled express their sentiments about the dead person and speak of how the deceased has touched their lives and has left a deep impression. People nowadays do a slide show of pictures or play a recorded video of the deceased taken when he was alive.

The ceremony finally ends with a short fellowship reception at the church, where refreshments are served. A graveside service is not very common, though some people do opt for that too.

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