Christian Funeral Rituals And Their Importance
Christian funeral service for any god-fearing Christian implies a celebration of the soul’s eternal journey to the life after death. This is the main reason why such services are uplifting as they are looked upon as a confirmation of the belief that the soul has obtained a shelter in the House of God.
According to the Christians, death is an entry into the world of eternal bliss and exit from this world of pain and suffering. It provides some comfort to the grieving family members that the dead person is with God Himself and is enjoying the bliss of heaven. This immensely helps in lessening the grief that death of the person causes. The Christian funeral rituals are organized with these beliefs and feelings.
Christian funeral ceremony is usually officiated by the pastor. They are normally conducted at the church which the deceased used to visit when he or she was alive. Generally no casket is used in the service, but there are exceptions to this, especially when the service takes place in a funeral home. Traditional Christian funeral ceremony does not have the practice of displaying the body of the dead person.
The rituals in such a funeral ceremony are more like a memorial, in which religious songs and prayers are sung and lines from the Bible are read out. Then the priest gives a message and the attendees follow with a mass prayer.
Next the family members and relatives share their sorrows with the group, and the attendees express their sentiments and respect for the dead person and share their thoughts on how the deceased affected their lives and left a lasting memory. Nowadays, people do a slide show of photos or play a recorded video of the dead person taken during his or her lifetime.
The final phase in the service is that of a brief fellowship reception that is held in the church itself and some food is served. A service at grave is generally not included, though some people do opt for that as well.
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