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Funeral Traditions And Rituals

Written by Larry James on Sep 30th, 2009 | Filed under: Religion

There are lot of customs and traditions that characterize funerals across the world. Funeral provides a chance to the relatives of the deceased person to pray for his soul and learn to cope with their loss and sorrow.

Christian funerals are performed according to the Church rules. However, there are over 200 different factions of Christianity that have their own different customs and rituals relating to the funeral service.

The first significant ritual in a Christian funeral is known as the wake, which is held before the actual funeral ceremony and where the deceased is watched the whole night and psalms are recited to pray for the dead. In present days, this is the time when relatives and close friends can pay their last respects to the deceased person. The body is either laid at the home or at Church and the time of paying visit is fixed according to prescribed norms. In the past, the stage following the wake used to be that of absolution, where a cross was placed on the dead person’s chest and offertory, which held the presents given by visitors, and the deceased was absolved of the sins committed during his earthly tenure.

Next stage is the real ceremony itself in which the dead person is put into a hearse and taken to the Church, where the priests and others chant prayers and hymns from the Holy Bible. Then, the clergy calls upon a dear 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 final set of rituals, called the burial service which is performed before the dead is buried.

Finally, funeral traditions require a lunch gathering to be held after the burial is done. The main aim of such rituals is to provide support to the mourning family and help them overcome their grief and resign themselves to the fate.

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