Awake vs Wake . Although the terms wake, viewing and visitation are generally synonymous terms, there are a few distinguishing characteristics if they are not used interchangeably. You can even plan it now, decades in advance, so your loved ones don't have to worry about it later. The difference is that a wake has the Catholic underpinnings of tradition, plus the optional rosary service. By viewing the body a final time, it demonstrates a sign of respect for the deceased and the family. When they see how much their loved one meant to other people, it's comforting and helps them say goodbye. So don't worry too much about terminology. As you dress for a wake, think about why you are attending the event. Can Cremated Remains Be Buried in a Cemetery? Viewings are typically a smaller affair than funerals, and they take place before the funeral. In short, the terms wake and viewing are often used interchangeably, especially in areas that have a good mixture of Catholic and Protestant residents. - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary A viewing allows mourners the opportunity to share their grief, support one another, and say goodbye on a personal level. Looking Your Best for a Wake or Viewing. The funeral itself usually takes place anywhere from a day or two to a week or so after someone has passed away. Many acquaintances of the deceased consider a viewing the evening before a funeral the best time to pay their respects to the bereaved, by appearing, offering their condolences, and then leaving. Traditionally, the wake is a Catholic ceremony based in part on the Celtic traditions of Ireland. A wake is essentially a chance for mourners to come together before the funeral takes place. At some services, the casket may be closed. But if you do go, your presence is likely to be appreciated by the bereaved. A cremation urn may be present instead, if the deceased was cremated. Protestants usually hold a wake or viewing the night before (or a couple of days before) the service, at either the funeral home or the church. Unique Ideas for Sympathy Gifts and Flowers. Wake, wake up or awaken ? Your loved one deserves respect. The dress for viewings is generally formal, but choices like this vary from family to family. People often share fond memories of the person they loved, and in doing so help one another to find meaning in the wonders of life and death. Learn more about advance funeral planning. Funerals are distinct from memorial services in that they also include a burial. According to tradition, the deceased’s loved ones would stay awake during the night to watch over the deceased to protect them against evil spirits until they were buried the following day (hence why they are called “wakes”). If you feel you are unable to view the body for whatever reasons, giving your condolences to the family is perfectly acceptable. Viewing: What's the Difference? When you attend a wake or a viewing, the atmosphere is less formal than that of a funeral. Wake definition is - to be or remain awake. Modern wakes can also take place right before the funeral, on the same day. Should you have any more questions about the differences between them, don’t hesitate to contact us. Dress relatively formally and conservatively, in dark or muted colors – you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. When comparing a wake vs funeral, the funeral is a more controlled and often more reserved ceremony. This event usually precedes a funeral, either the evening before or the morning of the ceremony. Protestants treat the wake as a social, albeit somber, event. Viewing vs. Visitation – Is there a difference? The body or a memorial to the deceased will likely be displayed to allow mourners the opportunity to pay their respects. There are several different rituals, aesthetic choices, and possibilities when it comes to funerals - far too many to list in this article. If the deceased was in the military, any decorations are displayed as well as any items loved ones want to be buried with them. This ceremony allows one last interaction with the corpse, providing a time for the living to express their emotions and beliefs about death with the deceased. Almost everyone who loses a close friend, colleague, or family member will feel like they should attend at least one of these ceremonies. They occur after the deceased has been prepared by a mortician. 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Among the many English words that are very similar in spelling though having different uses, awake and wake hold a high place as people use these words regularly as synonyms, not understanding the difference between the two words. Wake vs. During the funeral family members and friends deliver eulogies to the deceased. How do you know what to expect and how to behave? What’s the difference between a wake and a viewing? Both a wake and a viewing provide an opportunity to say goodbye on your own terms, which is something that's hard to do at a more formal funeral. Better for the Environment. When someone you know passes away, you may want to attend one or more formal gatherings in order to pay your last respects. A Catholic wake is also known as a Catholic viewing. A wake and viewing are similar in that they both allow mourners to express their grief, share their experiences with the deceased, and offer condolences to the family. Funerals serve to help us come to grips with the death of a loved one by acknowledging the passing in a formal ceremony. Posted at 18:53h in Grief by Mary Beth Barnett 2 Comments Yes, there is a big difference and it is helpful to understand what each type of service is so you can make the best decision for your family of loved one, regardless if they are going to be buried or cremated. It’s a gathering of family and friends that takes place between the death and the funeral. Attending a funeral is a good opportunity to consider what you'd want for your own memorialization. For religious funerals, the officiant is usually a religious leader such as a priest, rabbi, minister, or another person of stature in a house of worship. Viewing. To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body. Since the event is casual, close members organize for viewing at the morgue or prior to the funeral. © 2021 Korban Funeral Chapel. A wake is very similar to a viewing, in that it provides mourners with an opportunity to offer their condolences and share their grief in a less-structured environment. How to use wake in a sentence. As with a wake with a rosary, a funeral involves certain rituals and traditions to uphold, as prescribed by the context of the religion, culture, or region. We’re here to explain the differences, so you know exactly what each ceremony is for: Funerals are the formal gathering in which people say goodbye to the deceased. Because a memorial service is very similar to a funeral in many ways, memorial service etiquette is much the same. In addition to a formal funeral service, there's often another ceremony called a 'wake' or a 'viewing.'. Get a preview of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls basketball game. A wake is essentially a chance for mourners to come together before the funeral takes place. When we experience the death of a loved one, we naturally experience a very emotional and difficult time. The important thing to remember is that your presence at a wake or a viewing will be deeply appreciated by the family of the deceased. Also, a wake happens the day before the burial or several days before the funeral. Those traditions dictated that family and close friends should stay awake through the night with the deceased in order to offer protection from evil spirits. The thing is, you don't know what kind of a wake it’s going to be until you get there. To lay out a body prior to burial in order to allow family and friends to pay their last respects. Too many people make the mistake of only learning about funeral traditions when someone passes away - it’s much better to become well-informed before then. The interesting thing about viewings and funerals is that they are inherently NOT private (unless the person who has died was so famous that the service or graveside ceremony has to be closed for reasons of security or capacity.) As for a wake, viewing or visitation (where the casket, open or closed, is present), you have no obligation to attend unless you have an important connection. Both cerem… All Rights Reserved. A viewing is an unstructured gathering of friends and family where visitors can pay their respects to either the deceased after having been prepared by a mortician, or to a cremation urn or series of memorial photos. Viewings can last for less than a day, or they can last for several days in a row. While a wake is also designed to provide mourners with an opportunity to offer condolences to the family of the deceased, it is more structured in comparison to a viewing, and sometimes includes a short ceremony involving a priest who recites the rosary or scriptures. Be sure to speak with the family of the deceased, and spend some time remembering their life with the other people at the viewing. If the body is present in a casket, it may be called a viewing, and it offers mourners the closure of seeing the deceased one last time. Guests come and go as they see fit, some staying for hours while others drop by for just a few moments. Some call it a visitation. Almost everyone who loses a close friend, colleague, or family member will feel like they should attend at least one of these ceremonies. xlii. The viewing has had many name changes over the years. Some families have a tradition of holding wakes that could be described as more festive than others. A visitation can take place any time, before or after the funeral service or disposition, and can last for hours or days. It is usually open casket, if the body is presentable, so family and friends have the benefit of having one last look at their loved one before it is sealed. A funeral service is usually 'led' by someone who is familiar with the protocol and traditions. Cremation or Burial: Which is Better For You and Your Family? In comparison, a wake is a traditional Catholic ceremony with Celtic Irish roots. Sometimes this gathering is called a viewing or a visitation. Wakes are very similar to viewings - the main difference in Canada is that wakes tend to be more religious. The wake gives people the opportunity to express condolences to the family and view the deceased. There will typically be a set order of events, along with a eulo… If you're of a certain generation, you'll know it as "calling hours". Many authorities consider the viewing important to the grieving process as it gives a chance to say goodbye on a personal level. To be or remain awake; not to sleep. Wake. A visitation is focused on comforting the family. And what's the difference between them all? Some choose to have them in the social hall at a place of worship. When attending a funeral, it’s important to take cues from the family, and the obituary. * Bible, Eccles. This is also considered an important event for showing your respects to the family. At these wakes, food and drink are served in abundance, and while mourning occurs, there’s a considerable amount of celebration, too. Like some wakes, a funeral is led by an officiant. A viewing, compared to a funeral, is generally a more informal event. They may be gre… Viewing is sometimes combined with a service called a wake although in some places the term wake is interchangeable with viewing. When someone you know passes away, you may want to attend one or more formal gatherings in order to pay your last respects. A wake is very similar to a viewing, except that it arose from Irish Catholic tradition. You can convey that in your outfit. It often involves a priest saying a rosary, and taken literally means that family and friends stay awake all night before the burial, taking turns staying with the body. * Milton ; Though wisdom wake , suspicion sleeps. If that sounds remarkably similar to what the viewing is for, that's because they're essentially the same thing. The body is usually present at wakes and viewings, which often take place at the funeral home in the days before the funeral service or at the funeral service location the day of the funeral. A viewing is an informal event where families and friends of the deceased gather to view the body. People at a wake or a viewing have the opportunity to talk and extend comfort toward one another with their own expressions of sympathy. Wakes A funeral service is a formal event where loved ones and friends say goodbye to someone who has passed away. Viewings may take place in a funeral home, though they’ll sometimes occur in the home of the deceased or their family. How do they differ from a funeral? Timing will partly be influenced by family preferences, such as how long it takes to gather remote family members for the funeral. Don't feel pressured to have to view the body during the wake. This interchangeable usage is particularly common in the United … View pregame, in-game and post-game details from the Wake Forest (NC) @ Millbrook (Raleigh, NC) playoff football game on Fri, 4/16/2021. In this stricter Catholic sense, the wake is called a "rosary.". Wakes are similar to a viewing and are traditionally an Irish Catholic ceremony based on old Celtic traditions. We can help you plan and host viewings, wakes, memorial services, and/or funerals. More specifically, wakes are a Catholic tradition, so if you go to a Catholic wake you can expect a priest to be there saying prayers. Wake means to stop sleeping, to rouse from sleep, to come to life, to become alert.Wake may be used as a transitive or an intransitive verb, related words are wakes,woke, woken, wakening.Wake may also be used as a noun, especially in Ireland, to mean sitting a vigil with the body of a loved one the night before burial. Our funeral homes in Winnipeg are here for you no matter how you want to honour your loved ones. Wake/Viewing vs. Funeral - Who Leads? The difference is that a wake has the Catholic underpinnings of tradition, plus the optional rosary service. Wakes are more likely to be in the deceased’s home, unlike funerals. The service may be held at a funeral home, a church or other house of worship, or another location. A funeral can take place at the family home, a funeral home, or a place of worship such as a church. Go to the wake expecting nothing more than to remember the life of the deceased, and go with the flow. 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