Funeral, The Rite of Christian Burial

Recently Deceased and Funeral Information

Just like baptisms and marriages, so at death: The rites of a community serve several purposes. They convey a great deal about how death is understood in the group, and about what relationship there is between the living and dead. They may also convey the meaning of this individual’s life. The rites will handle the time of transition from life with this person present in the community to life with this person absent. This recognizes that death ordinarily brings a group-family, neighborhood, church-into a different way of being. Changes like this are always difficult. They may challenge the existence of the group itself, or at the least call people to new roles and new understandings.

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Liturgy of the Hours

Recovering the Rhythm of Daily Prayer Long ago, our ancestors in faith lived lives deeply rooted in daily prayer. Individuals and households praised and thanked God with a poetic richness expressed through morning and evening hymns and psalms—often known by heart. Over time, many of these practices faded. In more recent centuries, some new daily devotions emerged: the Morning Offering, the Act of Contrition, the Angelus, and other prayers tied to the rhythm of the day. But even these, for …

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