Common Rituals And Traditions Of Funerals

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

Christian funerals are performed according to the Church rules. However, as there are more than 200 different communities of Christians, there are several differences in the manner in which the funeral services are organized by each community.

An important ritual of a Christian funeral, called wake, is the very first ritual that is carried out before the real funeral and involves watching over the dead person and recital of Biblical psalms for the peace of his soul. According to present day practices, this is the time where friends and family members see the dead person for the final time and offer their heartfelt respects. The body is carefully preserved and placed either at the home or inside a Chapel with only a particular number of visiting hours. In olden days, the deceased was sought to be absolved of his sins of his earthly existence by performing the ritual of absolution after wake. This involved placing a cross on the departed's body and offertory in the casket, where presents were kept.

Then comes the actual ceremony, which begins with the transportation of the deceased's body to the Church in a coach and is succeeded by chanting of hymns and prayers from the Bible. Then, the priest requests a dear friend or family member to give a public eulogy in honour of the deceased. Some of the communities follow this by a ritual of ringing of the bells, signifying the end of the ceremony. Then the casket with the dead person in it is brought to the burial place for the last set of rituals, called the burial service which precedes the burying.

Finally, the family members organize a lunch for the friends, relatives and acquaintances who are attending the funeral. The main aim of such rituals is to provide support to the mourning family and assist them to overcome their grief and accept the fate.

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