Italian Funerals
How The Italian Funerals Are Done
Overview
Funerals happen anywhere and each race has its own way of doing it, for example Italian funerals have been known for its rituals. As a Catholic nation and like most other Catholic nations, it follows a kind of funeral rights that the Italian tradition has been practising for decades and maybe even for centuries. There are so many ways that the Italian rituals are done and it basically has been in their cultural heritage that up until now it has still been observed by most of its people. It is a kind of tradition that for sure will still be followed until the end of time.
The Tradition
Italians are so serious in giving the final rituals during their Italian funerals. They believed that once the soul of the departed ones will leave it will never anymore be coming back unless there are things that might cause for their souls to come back. So, during funerals they usually put all the things that were the favourites of the dead like his or her books, clothes, shoes, and even their favourite food and drinks. In this way, they are sure that such soul of the dead person will no longer come back. From the time of the funeral onwards they would no longer speak about the name of such dead person so that his soul will not be disturbed and caused to go back.
The Wake
Previously, during the wake and before the Italian funerals are done, if the dead person’s family is wealthy, they would hire some mourners who would be crying and wailing for them during the wake and by the time of the funeral. You may know that they are the mourners since they usually cry and wail more than the family of the dead. However, as time passes, now, these mourners are no longer hired to do such crying and wailing since most people know that the best way to mourn is by respecting the dead person through silence, prayers and meditation that should be done by the family of the dead person themselves.
The Ceremony
As the day of the Italian funerals are done, the family members even to the youngest family members would usually kiss the cheeks or touch the hands of the dead person as a way of showing their love and respect for him or her. The family and friends of the dead would usually just walk as in a procession from the house to the church where the final rights and blessings are made, and then to the final resting place. At the church, the priest will usually do the requiem mass as in the mass for the dead, and blesses the dead with holy water and incense.
The Funeral
The Italian funerals are usually done in a process wherein before the dead person’s casket will be placed into the tomb or mausoleum, some prayers and songs will be given in order to honor the dead. As it is in their tradition, a handful of soil will be thrown down to the casket or some flowers will be placed on the casket as a way of letting go of the dead and as a final way of saying goodbye.