Rites And Rituals In Customary Funeral Services
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010All over the world, funeral rites are governed by various customs and traditions. Funerals give a chance to the bereaved to pray for their departed loved ones one last time and cope with their loss.
Church rules govern Christian funerals rites. However, as there are over 200 different Christian community offshoots, there may be various differences in their own types of funeral rites.
The most important tradition in a Christian funeral is known as the wake, which is held before the actual funeral service and where the dead is watched the whole night and Biblical psalms are recited to pray for the dead’s soul.
According to present-day standards, funeral rites event is the time when relatives and close friends can pay their last respects to the deceased person. The body is either kept at the house or at Church and the time of paying visit is fixed according to prescribed norms. In olden days, the dead person was sought to be absolved of his sins of his earthly existence by carrying out the process of absolution after wake. This involved placing a cross on the departed’s chest and offertory in the casket, where gifts offered were kept.
Then comes the main funeral rites, which begins with the transportation of the deceased’s body to the Church in a coach and is followed by chanting of hymns and prayers from the Bible. Then, the clergy calls upon a dear friend or family member to give a eulogy or tribute to the departed’s life. Some Christian communities have chiming of the bells as a part of the proceedings that marks the end of ceremony. Then the casket with the dead person in it is brought to the burial place for the final set of rites, called the burial service which precedes the burying.
Lastly, the funeral’s end is marked by a lunch organized for the family and those present at the funeral rites. The primary aim of such rituals is to give support to the mourning family and assist them to overcome their sorrow and resign themselves to the fate.
Give your deceased loved ones the funeral they deserve with a peaceful funeral service. This article, Rites And Rituals In Customary Funeral Services has free reprint rights.