# I just got back from a Catholic funeral, and boy, was it long. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848 "2007-12-21T18:29:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/61 "2007-12-22T16:26:56Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] Let’s just say you probably don’t want to invite me to your funeral. 🙂 One detail I forgot about, folks…the smoking of the casket. Just before it rolled down the aisle for the last time, the priest lit something in a small brass container and swung it over, around and near all sides of the casket. Any Catholics want to tell me what this is called and what the ritual significance is? [/QUOTE] Erm … it gives the body a nice smoked flavor? Okay, I’ll let one of the still practicing Catholics answer that one. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/62 "2007-12-22T17:07:37Z")
That was incense. In olden days, its scent masked the stink of the body. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/63 "2007-12-22T18:22:23Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Isn’t that the tune of the Welsh song “Bread of Heaven”. Didn’t know there was another hymn with the same tune. [/QUOTE] [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cwm_Rhondda) seems to think it’s the same song, with differences in translation and title. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/64 "2007-12-22T19:07:25Z")
Acc. to Fr. William Saunders: “The purpose of incensing and the symbolic value of the smoke is that of purification and sanctification.” ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/65 "2007-12-23T01:25:21Z")
[QUOTE=Sanders] Bethlehem had lots of caves and they were typically used for stabling animals. The Bible just says he was born in a manger, not that it it was in a free-standing stable. This idea isn’t new: In the 300’s, the Church of the Nativity was built over the cave where Jesus was believed to have been born. It makes for interesting symbolism. [/QUOTE] Huh. I guess that makes sense. I thought they were in the stable of a village inn, though, so I wouldn’t have assumed that was a cave. I still think the all-grey nativity scene, complete with a foam boulder rather precariously perched over the animals and wise-men in attendance was a little weird, to say the least! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/66 "2007-12-23T02:17:01Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] Be thankful he wasn’t a Baptist. Those twits don’t know how to stop praying. [/QUOTE] I’m so glad my folks opted for cremation and no services. Dad was a very private guy. We just had people come over to the house whenever. Otherwise, we would have been stuck in the Baptist church for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/67 "2007-12-23T03:01:23Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] That was incense. In olden days, its scent masked the stink of the body. [/QUOTE] I thought that was what embalming was for. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/68 "2007-12-23T17:35:41Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] I thought that was what embalming was for. [/QUOTE] It also helped to drive away pests. Like flies and fair-weather friends. I know my opinion won’t be popular, but the OP’s post reminds me way too much of the grandson in that Twilight Zone episode where the family comes to New Orleans Mardi Gras waiting for the wife’s father to die\*. I’m just glad any mentions in the reading of the will weren’t referred to as ‘what I got for X-mas’. :smack: Yes, funerals are long and dull and drawn out. Still, they generally they last shorter than digging a 6 x 6 x 4 hole and hammering together a coffin out of Home Depot lumber. \*Hey, if the [mask](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/Tv_shot_the_twilight_zone_the_masks.jpg) fits… ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/69 "2007-12-23T20:36:13Z")
[QUOTE=mikemo] Try going to an Orthodox Catholic ceremony sometime. Makes our Roman-Catholic ceremony look very brief! I attended a Russian Orthodox wedding many years ago…must have gone almost 3 hours, in Latin and Ukarainian (I think)! [/QUOTE] My future in-laws are Russian Orthodox, and I went to a service one time out of curiosity (and in an effort to hopefully cause my FMIL to quit badgering me to do so). One hour and forty-five minutes is a long service, but what makes it longer is that the particular diocese they’re in doesn’t like the idea of pews, so you had to stand for the majority of the service. It really does become a bit tedious, and you see all the parishioners around you doing the “OMG I’m so bored and I want to sit down” dance during most of the “ritual cleansing” segments makes it worse. And then we stayed behind to “congregate” with a whole bunch of people that I didn’t know for half an hour, none of which were interested in including me in the conversation beyond an “Oh, you’re **Acid Lamp** ’s fiancée?” before changing the topic to something that I wouldn’t be able to contribute to. As a former Lutheran, this was a test of my will; I’m used to the “60 minute guarantee” with slightly more entertaining bits and a bit of cookies and punch outside after the service. I haven’t been to any other Orthodox services of any sort, but I can only imagine how much it adds on when someone is being baptized/married/funeral’d up as part of the Sunday service. The few funerals that I did go to were relatively short; I don’t think one ever lasted more than an hour. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/70 "2007-12-23T22:27:35Z")
At most funerals I’ve been to, there is a funeral bulletin. It usually has a photograph of the deceased on the cover, and contains the order of service. I’m guessing, since Musicat didn’t know how far along things were, that there wasn’t one at this funeral. Is that typical for funeral Masses? Is there usually a bulletin on Sunday? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/71 "2007-12-23T22:31:32Z")
All the ones that don’t go in for having pews, isn’t that terribly uncomfortable, going on painful, for a lot of people? I’m assuming that people with certain big-time health problems will be catered for, but there are lots of folk who can stand and walk around perfectly well, but who would still find standing for a significant length of time to be quite sore on the arthritis or the back pains. Or am I just a lazy self-indulgent git? Seriously, I’m not in the least suggesting comfy cushioned chairs but surely it can’t do much for the concentration and spiritual thoughts when you are wishing, and probably praying, come to think of it, that you could make whatever movements needed to divert the discomfort without feeling like a naughty kid who refuses to stand without fidgeting for a minute? Oh well, largely funerals I have to go to are either Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic, with the R.C. version being a bit more confusing for the uninitiated, but both involve pews and one just sits, stands, looks serious as required. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/72 "2007-12-24T01:54:52Z")
At the Russian Orthodox church I went to there were some pews along the walls for the elderly and children. And people with significant health problems, I guess. There was a lot of wandering around, though- people visiting various icons and things. You didn’t have to stay still for the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/73 "2007-12-24T02:09:08Z")
[QUOTE=Celyn] All the ones that don’t go in for having pews, isn’t that terribly uncomfortable, going on painful, for a lot of people? I’m assuming that people with certain big-time health problems will be catered for, but there are lots of folk who can stand and walk around perfectly well, but who would still find standing for a significant length of time to be quite sore on the arthritis or the back pains. Or am I just a lazy self-indulgent git? Seriously, I’m not in the least suggesting comfy cushioned chairs but surely it can’t do much for the concentration and spiritual thoughts when you are wishing, and probably praying, come to think of it, that you could make whatever movements needed to divert the discomfort without feeling like a naughty kid who refuses to stand without fidgeting for a minute? [/QUOTE] There are a handful of chairs along the back, but they’re generally taken up by those who get there early and the elderly folks. Thing is, the church is small enough that it’s noticeable when others are fidgeting and the diocese for some reason really does not like the idea of letting people have chairs/pews to sit in. Wandering about in a large church is not as noticeable as one that’s small, so this whole “no chairs” thing doesn’t work as well in some churches. It’s just kind of accepted that if you’re at the service, you can fidget as long as you do it quietly. I think you’re also allowed to sit (on the floor) for the homily. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/74 "2007-12-24T02:41:23Z")
Ah, not so bad then. I rather like the idea of visiting various icons. Very sociable. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/75 "2007-12-24T03:28:47Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] Let’s just say you probably don’t want to invite me to your funeral. 🙂 One detail I forgot about, folks…the smoking of the casket. Just before it rolled down the aisle for the last time, the priest lit something in a small brass container and swung it over, around and near all sides of the casket. Any Catholics want to tell me what this is called and what the ritual significance is? [/QUOTE] The small brass container is called a thurible. I was an altarboy lo, these many years ago. I prepared and lit the incense and handed the thurible to the priest. The altarboy responsible for the thurible was known as the thurifer. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/76 "2007-12-24T04:00:17Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] That was incense. In olden days, its scent masked the stink of the body. [/QUOTE] It also has the wonderful benefit of making people sick. When I was in grade school, and we’d have special Masses, they’d break out the incense. A few people threw up, and a couple even passed out. One girl had a seizure, if I recall correctly. I didn’t get that bad, but it gave me a major headache. GOD, did I hate that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/77 "2007-12-24T04:10:11Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] Let’s just say you probably don’t want to invite me to your funeral. 🙂 One detail I forgot about, folks…the smoking of the casket. Just before it rolled down the aisle for the last time, the priest lit something in a small brass container and swung it over, around and near all sides of the casket. Any Catholics want to tell me what this is called and what the ritual significance is? [/QUOTE] From the _Catholic Encyclopedia_: > [@](#): > > Incense, with its sweet-smelling perfume and high-ascending smoke, is typical of the good Christian’s prayer, which, enkindled in the heart by the fire of God’s love and exhaling the odour of Christ, rises up a pleasing offering in His sight (cf. Amalarius, “De eccles. officiis” in P.L., CV). Incensing is the act of imparting the odour of incense. The censer is held in the right hand at the height of the breast, and grasped by the chain near the cover; the left hand, holding the top of the chain, is placed on the breast. The censer is then raised upwards to the height of the eyes, given an outward motion and slightly ascending towards the object to be incensed, and at once brought back to the starting point. This constitutes a single swing. For a double swing the outward motion should be repeated, the second movement being more pronounced than the first. The dignity of the person or thing will determine whether the swing is to be single or double, and also whether one swing or more are to be given. The incense-boat is the vessel containing the incense for immediate use. It is so called from its shape. It is generally carried by the thurifer in the disengaged hand. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848/78 "2007-12-25T22:09:47Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] This isn’t new. You’re supposed to have been bowing your head at those words during the Creed for years. The bow replaced the genuflection that formerly took place at the words “et incarnatus est” during the Creed. [/QUOTE] In the United States, it was only introduced within the past few years. Before that, there was no bowing or kneeling at any particuar part of the Creed. They also changed the time when you are supposed to stand for the beginning of the Eucharistic prayers, and added bowing right before receiving Communion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-back-from-a-catholic-funeral-and-boy-was-it-long/430848.md?page=3)