Funerals in England 英国葬礼.pptVIP

Funerals in England 过去，英国人对丧事是要大操大办的，认为这样做才能对得起死者。体面的丧事，要动用几匹全身披着长可及地的黑丝绒外套的高头大马，拉着装饰一新、插着黑色鸵鸟羽毛的丧车，走过长街闹市。办这样规模的丧事对于丧家是个沉重的负担，有些丧家往往因办一件丧事而倾家荡产。 ? 随着时间的推移和社会风气的改变，英国的丧仪越来越简单化，对丧葬的看法已经有了变化。大肆操办，反而觉得有失体面。如今在英国，家中有人去世，随即与当地教堂商量安排举力丧礼的时间、地点和程序，然后在报上登个小启事。一旦见报或得到消息，亲友们就应该马上写封短信，或在自己的名片上写着“深表悼念”的字样，亲自送给死者最亲近的人，如死者的妻子、丈夫、母亲等，表示慰问，但按习俗不能进入死者家中。除特殊情况外，亲友们应尽量前往参加葬礼。参加葬礼的亲友一般只送鲜花和用鲜花制作的花圈，但如果在启事中写有“鲜花敬辞”的字样，亲友们就要尊重死者亲属的意愿，不要送花和花圈。 葬礼一般分两步进行。首先在教堂由牧师主持追思礼拜。死者的姓名、丧事日期、丧礼的程序等已先由丧事承办人印在一张纸单上，在礼拜开始前放在来宾座位上。参加葬礼的人按照纸单上事先安排好的程序唱圣诗、赞诗、祷告等，乐队也按程序奏哀乐。葬礼的下一步在墓地举行。按照习俗，参加墓地葬礼的人只是死者的家属、最亲近的亲戚和朋友。一般的朋友就不参加了。英国人对遗体的处理方式主要是土葬。葬时，死者要面向东方，表示迎接日出与复活之意。也有采用火葬的。进行火葬时，与进行土葬时一样，一般亲戚与友人在参加教堂仪式后就不去火葬场了。近年来，火葬在英国有新的发展。 英国的名人身后有幸进入威斯敏斯特教堂。他们或被埋葬在教堂内，或者在此树立纪念碑。这里一些著名政治家、科学家、军事家、文学家的墓地，其中有丘吉尔、牛顿、达尔文、狄更斯、布朗宁等人之墓。耳堂南翼的“诗人角”就是诗人和作家墓祠的荟萃地。 The funerals of monarchs and nobles were arranged by the heralds of the College of Arms in the Middle Ages and for much of the early modern period, until the rise of undertakers in the 18th century. A long, formal procession, led by conductors, included large numbers of poor people and a choir, followed by gentlemen, officers, heralds, and the corpse, then by the chief mourners and their principal guests. The interior of the church was hung in black cloth, with heraldic displays around the hearse .A number of funeral invitation cards, inviting mourners to accompany the corpse and bordered with pictorial memento mori, survive from the 17th century. horses，These great occasions influenced the form of funeral—led by plumes and horses—which were favoured by the Victorian middle classes. Arranging a funeral The person who has died might have left a paragraph in their Will describing the sort of funeral arrangements they hoped for. Naturally, the family will want to keep to such arrangements as far as possible. Not everyone knows that they have the right to a funeral in their parish church even if they have not been church-goers. Nor do practising Christians always real