Funeral Customs Among Christians

A funeral can either be a State or a family ceremony, and it is conducted in the memory of the deceased person. It involves a set of rites and rituals that vary according to the deceased’s religion and culture.

Generally at the Christian funerals, the rituals can be categorized under three broad heads – visitation, funeral and lastly, the burial. The funeral and visitation ceremonies have greater significance from the ritualistic point of view and have been detailed here.

The first and foremost ceremony is visitation wherein the body is laid in a casket for friends and relatives to see and pay their last respects to the departed. The body is dressed in the finest clothes and adorned with jewellery. Some cultures require anointing the deceased for the occasion, while others don’t.

Visitation usually includes a visual display of photos of the deceased by the family members or a display of articles that were valued by the departed during his lifetime. Some families also play a video or do a slideshow from the lifetime of the deceased.

This ceremony is then followed by the funeral, which is essentially a memorial service that is normally held at the church. The coffin containing the dead body is placed in a hearse and carried to the church along with a group of mourners, who follow the carriage. The coffin is laid in the church with an elaborate floral arrangement on it.

Funeral services normally include chants and recitals from the Holy scriptures and the Bible. Devotional songs are also sung in chorus by the attendees. The priest presiding over the service delivers a comforting speech, and it is followed by eulogies or tributes given by family and friends of the deceased, who speak of the latter’s good qualities and achievements. Sometimes, mourners are permitted to see the deceased for the last time before it is taken for burial. Church bells may be chimed both before the service and after it.

The completion of second part, which is the funeral, marks the commencement of the third stage of the ceremony, which is burial, and the body is carried through a funeral procession.

Leave the delicate matter of funeral services needs in the hands of efficient professional undertakers. Unique version for reprint here: Funeral Customs Among Christians.