Funerals are either family or State ceremonies done after a person’s death, in his memory. It entails a set of rites and traditions that vary in accordance with the deceased’s culture and religion.
Usually, Christian funerals are sorted into three main heads – visitation, funeral, and finally, the burial. Among these, the first 2 posses higher importance as far as rituals are concerned, and thus, have been discussed here.
Visitation is the part that comes first, when the deceased’s body is placed in a coffin for the friends and relatives to see. The body is dressed up in the finest attire and any jewellery that belonged to the departed. Some communities follow the ritual of anointing the body, though not all communities should compulsorily do it.
Visitation mostly includes a visual display of photographs of the dead person by the family or a display of articles that were valued by the departed during his lifetime. Some families also play a video or slide show of the deceased.
The visitation ceremony is followed by the next service, the memorial service, also called funeral, and it is carried out in a church. The coffin with the body in it is brought to the church in a hearse, surrounded by a funeral cortege of mourners. The casket with its floral arrangement is then housed in the church.
Funeral services normally include prayers and recitals from the Holy Scriptures and the Bible. The mourning groups also sing religious songs in chorus. This is followed by a comforting speech delivered by the priest presiding over the proceedings of the funeral and eulogies by the family and friends, who then fondly recollect the deceased and his life. Though this is not a custom, but in some communities, people are allowed to see the body once before it leaves the church for final burial. The service might begin and end by gonging of church bells.
Once the first two services are finished, the body is taken into a cortege for burial that comprises the last phase of the rituals.
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