Bereavement is a complex emotion and process associated with a variety of rich traditions and customs meant to honor the deceased and comfort loved ones. These traditions vary greatly between religions, cultures, and belief systems.
Few of us know what to do when it comes time to prepare for a funeral. After being stricken by grief, knowing the right things to say or do can be very challenging when loved ones are struggling with their own emotions, comforting others, and trying to settle practical issues.
But the right prayers, scripture passages, or poems can help mourners process their grief and find solace in the most difficult of times.
Funeral Prayers
- A Funeral Prayer: Beauitful Memorial Prayers and Scriptures: The readings and scripture passages on this page would make good readings for a Christian funeral service.
- Funeral Prayers for Mourners: Click through this slide show to find prayers to God that may help mourners put their feelings into words.
- Knowing Jesus: Funeral Prayers: These Christian funeral prayers include Shock and Sadness at a Sudden Death of a Friend and Prayer for Strength in Planning a Funeral.
- 10 Funeral Prayers for Cards, Services, Programs or Memorials: The Christian prayers on this page can be recited during a funeral service or used on prayer cards.
- Funeral Prayers – Funeral Ideas for Families: This collection of traditional funeral prayers covers most circumstances.
- Islamic Funeral Prayer & the Finality of Death: Here you can learn about the Salat al-Janazah, the traditional Islamic funeral prayer.
- Catholic Prayers for Death and Dying: These Catholic prayers are meant to comfort someone who is dying and bless them as they depart.
- Anglican Prayers for Use with the Dying at Funeral and Memorial Services: Help those who are dying and those who are left behind to grieve to find comfort with these prayers.
- Jewish Funeral Prayers – This collection of funeral prayers are traditional heard during Jewish ceremonies.
- Heartfelt Funeral Prayers to Comfort Those Who Grieve: Christians may find comfort during this difficult time by using these prayers.
Bible Verses
- Bible Verses and Scriptures for Memorials and Sympathy: With more than 30 Bible verses and religious scriptures, this page provides plenty of options for passages that may help comfort those in mourning.
- Bible Verses For Funerals: Find the perfect scripture passage for a funeral service with the help of this page.
- Bible readings for funerals: Choose from these readings popular with those seeking to comfort Christian mourners after a loss.
- Bible Verses for Funerals – Funeral Scripture Verses: The Bible contains many passages suitable for helping Christians to process grief, including the ever-popular 23rd Psalm.
- Psalms of Comfort: This page suggest psalms suitable for any Judeo-Christian coping with a loss, including Jewish mourners sitting shiva.
- 25 Comforting Bible Verses about Death and Dying in Christ: Many Bible passages can help Christians to turn their focus toward heavenly rewards after death.
Funeral and Memorial Poem
- Poems for Funerals: Poetry can help people express feelings that are difficult to convey. The Academy of American Poets has compiled poems about death suitable for reading at a memorial service, incorporating both classic and contemporary works.
- Memorial Poems & Prayers: These passages are suitable for in memoriam cards.
- 16 Non-Religious Funeral Readings From Poems: Use these passages from literature to comfort mourners at a funeral service for someone who was not religious.
- Funeral Poems and Prayers: This collection of funeral poems and prayers covers religious and secular poems and Bible verses related to death and dying.
- Five Uplifting Readings About Death: Coming up with the right words to mourn someone while celebrating the life that they lived can be difficult, but these passages from poems can help.
- Memorial Poems, Death Poems and Sympathy Quotes – This page gives you heartfelt ideas on what to write in sympathy cards or what to say in condolence messages.
- Six Uplifting Poems About Death That Celebrate Life: Poetry can help us find ways to pull ourselves out of the depths of grief and feel comfortable celebrating a life well-lived.
- Memorial Card Verses: These verses, from the point of view of the mourners or the deceased, may help people find comfort at a difficult time.