Funerals around the world are performed by following various customs, rites and rituals. Funeral offers an opportunity to the relatives of the deceased person to pray for him and come to terms with their loss and sorrow.

Church rules regulate the funeral rites in Christian communities. However, considering the fact that there are more than 200 denominations of Christians, the rituals can change according to the particular affiliation of the family.

An important ritual of a Christian funeral, known as wake, is the first and foremost custom that is carried out before the real funeral and involves a nightly watch over the dead person and recital of Biblical psalms for the eternal peace of his soul. According to present day practices, this is the stage where friends and family see the deceased for the final time and offer their heartfelt respects. The body is preserved and housed either in a Church or at the home, and the time of visit is specified. In earlier times, the wake was followed by absolution, which involved purgation of the deceased of all the sins he or she committed in the present life, and placing a cross on the chest and performing offertory where visitors put gifts in the casket.

Then comes the actual ceremony, which begins with the bringing of the deceased’s body to the Church in a coach and is succeeded by chanting of hymns and prayers from the Holy Bible. Then, the priest calls upon a friend or family member to give a public eulogy in honour of the deceased. In some cases funeral rituals include the tolling of bells to mark the end of the service. Then the casket with the dead person in it is transported to the burial site for the final set of rituals, called the burial service which precedes the burying.

Finally, the family members arrange for a lunch for the friends, relatives and acquaintances who are attending the funeral. The prime purpose of this custom of lunch is to share the grief of the aggrieved family and help them deal with the irreparable loss.

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