Funeral practices can vary greatly depending on the desires (simple or elaborate) and budget of the surviving family.
The Catholic funeral usually includes a:
Wake (i.e. calling or visitation): The wake takes place one or two days before the funeral service. During the wake, mourners come to pay their respects to the family of the deceased. The body of the person who has died is generally present and the casket can be either open or closed.
Service and burial: The service at a catholic funeral can take place in a church or at the funeral home and it generally involves a priest giving a service and people eulogizing the dead. Following the service, the body is take to the cemetery for burial or taken away for cremation.
Reception: Following the funeral, mourners gather to remember, honor and celebrate the life of the person who has died.
In regards to catholic funerals, the church teaches that when a person dies, their body starts its process of decomposition. Meanwhile, the soul leaves the body and is immediately evaluated in judgment.
There are three possible destinations immediately after the judgment:
- Heaven: Those whose love for God has been perfected in this life have their bodies glorified and taken immediately to their eternal reward in Heaven. Perhaps the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, the saints and a some others will qualify for this path.
- Hell: If they have committed a mortal sin which has not been forgiven, or have rejected God, then they are taken immediately to Hell where they will be tortured forever without any hope of relief or mercy.
- Purgatory: If the person dies in a state of grace, but loves God imperfectly, then their souls immediately enter Purgatory. Here, they suffer for a time in order to cleanse themselves of their accumulated imperfections, venial sins and faults. Any mortal sins that they have committed, and for which they have been forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, may have some residual temporal punishment still remaining; this has to be discharged as well.
- The inhabitants in Purgatory are systematically tortured with fire. The dead remain in purgatory until they have become sufficiently purified to enter heaven. However, if their friends and family offer Masses, prayers and other acts of piety and devotion, then their stay in Purgatory will be shortened. Purgatory is very similar to Hell; the main difference is that one will eventually be released from the torture.
Although most Catholic believers have regarded Heaven, Hell and Purgatory as actual places, the church's teaching is that they are both a place and a state of existence.
Later, when Jesus returns to earth in the “second coming, he will conduct the General Judgment (a.k.a. Final Judgment):
Remembering the Dead
All Souls Day (November 1) is a Roman Catholic holiday that remembers the souls of people who have died and who can benefit from the prayers of the faithful. In many Latin American countries, this day is the Day of the Dead, during which people picnic at the graves of dead family members and hold other festivities commemorating those who have passed on.
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