02/17, 2010

Role Of An Undertaker In A Funeral Service

Undertakers or funeral directors are probably the most significant people, apart from the close relatives and clergymen to be related to the funeral service. These people are responsible for planning the whole funeral, taking care of all the related issues as well. Most undertakers perceive their tasks as an emergency service, where they have to be on call twenty four hours a day and all days of a year.

Death is accompanied by numerous decisions, which the bereaved are not able to take immediately in the wake of their great loss. This is where the undertaker enters the scene and takes over. He assists you in deciding the time, venue and type of the funeral rituals and services for the dead. In addition to that, the undertaker in fact helps you to be able to bear your loss, by simply being there at your service and acting as an organiser of the funeral services, which depict the love and respect you hold for the deceased.

Planning a funeral service begins with deciding upon its time, venue and date and then informing the same to relatives and acquaintances. Once this has been finalised, the undertaker makes arrangements for moving the body to the funeral site or where it is to be laid to rest. In the event of a burial service, the appropriate casket in which the body is to be rested is mostly picked by the undertaker.

In Addition to this, the undertaker also helps in planning the funeral service, including choosing florists, flowers, church, arranging for transit facilities, food, clergy, music, hymns, headstone and ashes. The desire of the family is always taken into account in all these preparations so that the deceased receives a funeral service the way he or she would have wanted to.

Last but not the least, some undertakers even help you in bringing the dead from other places, embalming the body and can also help in carrying out the funeral service in another country, according to your requirement.

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01/27, 2010

A Grieving Family Can Get Great Support From A Good Funeral Director

For family and friends dealing with the death of a loved one, the funeral director is an extremely important source of strength and support. They manage the entire preparation and implementation of the proceedings, allowing family members some much required time and space to mentally accept the sad event and grieve with their friends and relatives.

The funeral director should take responsibility for a lot of tasks in the funeral procedures beginning with moving the body from the morgue or the residence of the departed to the burial site. Formalities and all the paperwork involved like acquiring a death certificate, permissions for holding the funeral, organ donation procedures if any, and much more will have to be overseen by the funeral director.

A good funeral director must be the single point contact for all external vendors starting from florists, musicians, catering services etc. He will need to insert necessary announcements and obituaries in the local newspapers and might also need to inform distant family members and friends of the deceased person about the funeral service.

After consulting with the family, the funeral director decides on an appropriate date, place and time for both the memorial service and the final rites. He makes preparations for close family and friends to come together to share their sorrow and have a last glimpse of the departed before the final rites. On the funeral day, his task ends only after he oversees all procedures until the grave is finally sealed.

A funeral director should be compassionate and committed to ensure a smooth and organized funeral service and help the grieving family sail through the hardest time of their lives. Therefore, you must always use the services of a reputed and credible funeral director with a proper license. He must have a proven track record for credible and good work so that he can perform all the important functions without you having to be bothered about it.

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01/23, 2010

How To Plan For A Funeral Service

Death is one of the harsh truths of our existence that we are never ready for. Honouring the dead is an age old custom that has constantly changed to fit the times. Conventionally, the funeral service took place at the church with chanting of solemn hymns and a speech. However, as more people people are looking forward to personalized funeral services, the trend has undergone change over the years.

Preparing for a funeral could be an extremely painful and difficult job, particularly immediately after the death of a relative or someone close. A general myth that a funeral service is a legal necessity is incorrect as no law makes it mandatory to conduct a funeral service. Secondly, most people feel that it has to be held in a church, which again is not the case. It is important to realize that conventionally, such services were conducted in church but these days, with significance being given to a personal touch, funeral services are being increasingly held in homes. Thirdly, such services do not mandate the presence of either the pastor or the casket and can be conveniently held without either.

But, in keeping with the idea of a personal funeral service, substantial thought must be given to the wishes of the dead person. The music that will be played at the service must be soft as well as from the favourites of the departed. You could select from a live performance or going with pre recorded music.

Personal items can be displayed in the form of a collage, thereby bringing to the notice of the world the true character of the departed. Another important factor in any funeral service is an address, whether as a recital, a song or even a speech describing the deceased.

Finally, it is essential to give a memento to people who gather for the funeral service, so that they can remember the deceased forever.

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01/21, 2010

Choosing The Appropriate Type Of Casket For The Last Journey Of The Departed

Death is generally followed by overwhelming sorrow and distress, leaving family and friends inconsolable and emotionally overwhelmed by the departure of a loved one. But it is crucial to overcome that sorrow and make preparations for the funeral proceedings for which an appropriate casket is critical.

Choosing a suitable casket is quite hard, as you would want to purchase a good product at a reasonable price when you are just not in a psychological state to bargain. However, making the final choice can be simpler if the deceased had expressed his choice for a specific kind of casket when he was alive or if his or her religious beliefs need a certain type of casket.

Caskets can be of various shapes, sizes and styles, with rate tags varying accordingly. There are burial caskets and funeral caskets to select from in accordance with the funeral rites which will be followed. Funeral caskets will allow visitors to glimpse the departed during ceremonies but burial caskets are usually only used at the time of burial.

Caskets come in various materials, such as wood, metal, fibre glass, and marble. Normally wooden ones are preferred by old fashioned families, and they can choose from caskets made of maple, oak, mahogany etc. Polished perfectly, wooden caskets are of high quality and they look classy with a shiny feel, but their prices are also normally higher. Metal caskets are a good alternative with their bronze, stainless steel, or copper finish, and you will have alternatives of different colours, designs, and patterns.

Environment friendly material based caskets are also getting popular these days with so much stress on safeguarding the planet, especially among the environmentally aware people. With these, the used material bio degrades and does not cause any harm to the environment. If the departed person was a strong advocate of environmental protection then this casket could be your best tribute to your near and dear one.

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12/22, 2009

Religiously Significant Aspects Of Buddhist Funerals

In a Buddhist funeral, the followers of the religion believe in carrying out elaborate rites and rituals during the funeral service. Buddhists believe that the soul is given freedom from the cycle of life and death from the deceased’s mortal body during the funeral ceremonies and is allowed to reach a new level and move towards a higher plane of existence.

In a typical Buddhist funeral, the deceased’s body is cremated and monks in the presence of the bereaved family carry out the funeral rites. The dormant positive energies are freed from the soul by the chanting of appropriate sutras by monks who read from the religious books. While the chanting continues, the deceased is made ready for the funeral and for visitors to pay last respects, so that there is no decay even if the final rites are delayed. The body is washed and put to rest in a coffin along with fragrance sticks, candles, wreaths and a photo of the deceased person.

The Abhidharma, a holy Buddhist text is read everyday by visiting Buddhist monks during the funeral days even when the cremation is deferred to wait for the visitors from distant places.

The Buddhist monks finish the last rites on the day of the funeral and the head monk delivers a speech mentioning the noble deeds and actions carried out by the deceased and consoling the grieving family members and relatives. Other rituals like wrapping the casket with a white cloth during the religious incantation and Pansakula, a custom of passing on blessings and virtues to the soul of the deceased are also performed.

Before the cremation, one of the family members or closest kin has to say something about the deceased person. The Buddhist funeral services end with a light feast for the attendees immediately after the funeral.

Some differences in the specific rituals may be found in different cultures, but these are the key rituals followed during a Buddhist funeral in many countries like Tibet, Thailand, and China by the followers of the religion.

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