SERVICE · NO. 02
Visitation
A time before the service for family and the community to gather, view the loved one if they choose, and offer words of comfort.
A time before the service for family and the community to gather, view the loved one if they choose, and offer words of comfort.
The evening before the principal service is, in every tradition we serve, a gathering time. The names change — visitation, vigil, wake, shemira — and the practice changes. The function is the same: the family is brought together with its community before the public service.
The visitation is typically held at the funeral home the evening before the service, often from 4 to 7 in the afternoon. The body is present (open or closed casket; the family chooses), a guestbook is set out, and family receive friends as they come. The pastor often arrives toward the end for a brief prayer of comfort.
The Vigil for the Deceased is a formal rite from the Order of Christian Funerals. We host the Vigil in our chapel, with the Rosary led by a parish priest, deacon, or designated lay leader. Scripture is read, a brief homily offered, and the family receives the community.
There is no visitation in the public sense — the body is not viewed. Instead, שמירה (shemira) is observed: shomrim sit with the body from death until burial, reading psalms. The community visits the family during shiva — the seven days at home after burial — not before.
The wake the evening before. The family hour comes first — immediate family alone with the deceased. After the family hour, the doors open to the community. The choir often rehearses through the wake; the church mothers prepare the sanctuary; the obituary booklet is distributed to those who arrive.