Funerals

• • Purpose = to grieve for the deceased person, to celebrate the love, to find comfort in the hope that they've found eternal life with God
• • Coffin covered with white cloth = reminder of deceased baptism (white garment = cleansed from sin)
• Bible on coffin = a reminder the deceased lived Jesus' teachings and examples he set in the Gospels
• • Cross on coffin = a reminder the deceased can receive eternal life through Jesus’ death on the cross, and his resurrection (when he defeated death and granted salvation)
• • Paschal candle near coffin = a reminder of belief in the Resurrection
• • Candles = represent Jesus as the ‘light of the world’ because he guides a path to heaven. 
• • Priest sprinkles holy water on coffin = a reminder of the deceased's baptism; the beginning of their journey with Christ. ​
• • Incense over coffin = a way of honouring the deceased.
• • Readings = a reminder of the promise of resurrection and eternal life. A declaration of hope and a comfort to those grieving​
• • Priest wearing white vestments = the liturgical colour for the Resurrection and reminds people of Jesus’ resurrection and the promise of eternal life. ​