Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In some cultures the dead are worshipped; this is commonly called ancestor worship. The word comes from the Latin funus, which had a variety of meanings, including the corpse and the funerary rites themselves.

Funerals in contemporary North America

Traditional funerals

Within the United States and Canada, in most cultural groups and regions, the funeral rituals can be divided into three parts:

Related Topics:
United States - Canada - Ritual

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Visitation

At the visitation (also called a "viewing" or "wake") the embalmed body of the deceased person (or decedent) is placed on display in the coffin (also called a casket).

Related Topics:
Viewing - Wake - Embalmed - Coffin

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At the viewing, the friends and relations greet the more distant relatives and friends of the dead person(s) in a social gathering with little in the way of ritual. The viewing often takes place on one or two evenings before the funeral.

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The only prescribed aspects of this gathering are that frequently the attendees sign a book kept by the deceased's survivors to record who attended and that the attendees are expected to view the deceased's body in the coffin. In addition, a family may choose to display photographs taken of the deceased person during his/her life (often, formal portraits with other family members and candid pictures to show "happy times"), prized possessions and other items representing his/her hobbies and/or accomplishments.

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The viewing is either "open casket", in which the embalmed body of the deceased has been clothed and treated with cosmetics for display; or "closed casket", in which the coffin is closed. The coffin may be closed if the body was too badly damaged because of an accident or fire, deformed from illness or if someone in the group is emotionally unable to cope with viewing the corpse. However, this step is foreign to Judaism; Jewish funerals are held soon after death, and the corpse is never displayed. As well, Jewish law forbids anyone to embalm the body of the deceased.

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The decedent's closest friends and relatives who are unable to attend frequently send flowers to the viewing. The viewing typically takes place at a funeral home, which is equipped with gathering rooms where the viewing can be conducted, although the viewing may also take place at a church. The viewing may end with a prayer service; in the Catholic funeral, this may include a rosary.

Related Topics:
Flower - Funeral home - Church - Catholic - Rosary

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Funeral

A memorial service, often called a funeral and often officiated by clergy from the decedent's or bereaved's church or religion. A funeral may take place at either a funeral home or church.

Related Topics:
Memorial service - Clergy - Church - Religion - Funeral home

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Funeral services include prayers; readings from the Bible or other sacred texts; hymns (sung either by the attendees or a hired vocalist); and words of comfort by the clergy. Frequently, a relative or close friend will be asked to give a eulogy, which details happy memories and accomplishments.

Related Topics:
Prayer - Bible - Hymn - Clergy - Eulogy

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Tradition also allows the attendees of the memorial service to have one last opportunity to view the decedent's body and say good-bye; the immediate family (siblings (and their spouses); followed by the decedent's spouse, parents and children) are always the very last to view their loved one before the coffin is closed. This opportunity can take place immediately before the service begins, or at the very end of the service.

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Note: In some religious denominations, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican, eulogies are prohibited or discouraged during this service, in order to preserve respect for traditions.

Related Topics:
Religious denominations - Roman Catholic - Anglican

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Burial service

A burial service, conducted at the side of the grave, tomb, mausoleum or crematorium, at which the body of the decedent is buried or cremated at the conclusion.

Related Topics:
Burial - Grave - Tomb - Mausoleum - Crematorium

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Sometimes, the burial service will immediately follow the funeral, in which case a funeral procession (the hearse, followed by the immediate family and then the other attendees) travels from the site of the memorial service to the burial site. Other times, the burial service takes place at a later time, when the final resting place is ready.

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If the decedent served in a branch of the Armed forces, military rites are often accorded at the burial service.

Related Topics:
Armed forces - Military rites

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In many religious traditions, pallbearers, usually males who are close relatives (such as cousins or grandchildren) or friends of the decedent, will carry the casket from the chapel (of a funeral home or church) to the hearse, and from the hearse to the site of the burial service. The pallbearers often sit in a special reserved section during the memorial service.

Related Topics:
Pallbearers - Funeral home - Church - Burial - Memorial service

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According to most religions, coffins are kept closed during the burial ceremony. In Eastern Orthodox funerals, the coffins are reopened just before burial to allow loved ones to look at the deceased one last time and give their final farewells.

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Luncheon

In many traditions, a meal or other gathering following the burial service, either at the decedent's church or another off-site location.

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For Irish descendants, a wake is often quite extended and may include drinking and singing as it is a type of party to celebrate the persons life, it will often be reffered to as 'waking' the person who has died. An Irish Wake usually lasts 3 full days, afterwards on the 4th day the funeral takes place. Family members and friends will ensure that there is always someone awake with the body, traditionally saying prayers.

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Etiquette

Generally speaking, the number of people who are considered obliged to attend each of these three rituals by etiquette decreases at each step:

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• Distant relatives and acquaintances may be called upon to attend the visitation.
• The decedent's closer relatives and local friends attend the funeral or memorial service, and subsequent burial (if it is held immediately after the memorial service).
• If the burial is on a day other than the funeral, only the decedent's closest relatives and friends attend the burial service (although if the burial service immediately follows the funeral, all attendees of the memorial service are asked to attend).

Also, etiquette dictates the bereaved and other attendees at a funeral wear semi-formal clothing - such as a suit and tie for men or a dress for women - in a darker color (usually, gray, dark blue or black). Women who are grieving the death of their husband or a close boyfriend sometimes wear a veil to conceal the face, although the veil is not common now.

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Private services

On occasion, the family of the deceased may wish to have only a very small service, with just the decedent's closest family members and friends attending. In this case, a private funeral service is conducted. Reasons vary but often include:

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• The decedent was an infant (possibly, they may have been stillborn) or very aged and therefore having few surviving family members or friends.
• The decedent may be a crime victim or a convicted criminal who was serving a prison sentence. In this case, the service is made private either to avoid unwanted media coverage (especially with a crime victim); or to avoid unwanted intrusion (especially if the decedent was convicted of murder or child molestation).
• The family does not feel able to endure a traditional service (due to emotional shock) or simply wants a quiet, simple funeral with only the most important people of the decedent's life in attendance.

In some cases (particularly the latter), the family may schedule a public memorial service at a later time.

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Memorial services

Increasingly, traditional funerals are being replaced by memorial services. These are often less formal than a traditional funeral, and include such things as eulogies, music and fellowship. A member of the clergy often participates in these services, usually to open and close the proceedings and offer prayers and a brief message of comfort.

Related Topics:
Clergy - Prayers

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Non-Traditional funerals

"Green" funeral

The environmentally-concerned may choose to be buried in a fashion more suited to their beliefs. They may choose to be buried in a coffin made of cardboard or other easily-biodegradable materials. Further, they may choose their final resting place to be in a park or woodland and may have a tree planted over their grave as a contribution to the environment and a remembrance.

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