Funeral Traditions And Rituals
Funerals throughout the world are governed by many customs, rites and rituals. It is at the funerals that the loved ones make peace with the fate and pray for the deceased's soul.
Church rules regulate the funeral rites in Christian communities. However, there are more than 200 different factions of Christianity that have their own different customs and rituals relating to the funeral ceremony.
The first most important tradition in a Christian funeral is known as the wake, which is conducted before the real funeral service and where the dead is watched the whole night and Biblical psalms are read to pray for the dead. According to present-day standards, this is the moment when relatives and acquaintances can pay their last respects to the deceased person. The body is preserved and kept either inside a Church or at the house, and the time of visit is specified. In earlier days, the second stage after wake used to be that of absolution, where a cross was put on the deceased's body and offertory, which held the gifts offered by visitors, and the deceased was absolved of the sins of this birth.
Then comes the main ceremony, which begins with the bringing of the deceased's body to the Church in a coach and is succeeded by recitation of hymns and prayers from the Holy Bible. This is then followed by the clergy requesting one of the close friends or family to read out a eulogy. In certain cases funeral rituals include the tolling of bells to signify the end of the service. Then the casket with the deceased's body is brought to the burial site for the last set of rituals, called the burial service which is performed before the dead is buried.
Finally, funeral services require a lunch gathering to be organized after the burial is done. The prime aim of this custom is to share the grief of the aggrieved family and help them cope with the irreparable loss.
Church rules regulate the funeral rites in Christian communities. However, there are more than 200 different factions of Christianity that have their own different customs and rituals relating to the funeral ceremony.
The first most important tradition in a Christian funeral is known as the wake, which is conducted before the real funeral service and where the dead is watched the whole night and Biblical psalms are read to pray for the dead. According to present-day standards, this is the moment when relatives and acquaintances can pay their last respects to the deceased person. The body is preserved and kept either inside a Church or at the house, and the time of visit is specified. In earlier days, the second stage after wake used to be that of absolution, where a cross was put on the deceased's body and offertory, which held the gifts offered by visitors, and the deceased was absolved of the sins of this birth.
Then comes the main ceremony, which begins with the bringing of the deceased's body to the Church in a coach and is succeeded by recitation of hymns and prayers from the Holy Bible. This is then followed by the clergy requesting one of the close friends or family to read out a eulogy. In certain cases funeral rituals include the tolling of bells to signify the end of the service. Then the casket with the deceased's body is brought to the burial site for the last set of rituals, called the burial service which is performed before the dead is buried.
Finally, funeral services require a lunch gathering to be organized after the burial is done. The prime aim of this custom is to share the grief of the aggrieved family and help them cope with the irreparable loss.
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