Dying is part of being human. Dying is a part of the cycle of life. In death, someone passes away and someone gets left behind. The faith system that a person belongs to must assist in doing a rite of relinquishing for those who are left behind. This ritual of relinquishing is what is known as the funeral.

Funerals around the world are governed by several traditions, rites and rituals. Funeral provides a chance to the relatives of the deceased person to pray for his soul and come to terms with their loss and sorrow.

Church rules regulate the rites of funerals in Christian communities. However, there are over 200 different factions of Christianity that have their own unique customs and rituals relating to the funeral ceremony.

The first significant tradition in a Christian funeral is the wake, which is held before the real funeral service and where the deceased is watched the whole night and Biblical psalms are read to pray for the departed soul. In present days, this is the moment when relatives and close friends can pay their last respects to the deceased person. The body is properly preserved and housed either inside a Church or at the house, and the time is specified. In earlier times, the wake was succeeded by absolution, which involved purgation of the person of all his or her sins in the present life, and placing a cross on the chest and performing the ritual of offertory where people placed gifts in the casket.

Next stage is the actual service itself in which the deceased is put into a hearse and taken to the Church, where the priests and others recite prayers and hymns from the Bible. Following this, the clergy asks a relative or a friend to give a eulogy before the body is buried. Some of the communities follow this by a custom of ringing of the bells, signifying the end of the service. Following the funeral service, the casket is carried to the burial site where a burial service is held before the act of burial.

Lastly, the family members arrange for a lunch for the friends, relatives and acquaintances who are attending the funeral. The main aim of such customs is to provide support to the grieving family and assist them to tide over their grief and resign themselves to the fate.

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