for the dead, to give alms, and perform other good works, to apply indulgences to them, but especially to have Holy Mass celebrated, and to assist thereat. Whilst giving the first place to the Divine Sacrifice, she approves and makes use of various kinds of suffrages, according to the circumstances, devotion, or social condition of the deceased or his heirs.
It is a Catholic custom religiously observed from the remotest antiquity to have Mass celebrated for the dead with solemn ceremonies, and a funeral with as much pomp as their means will allow. The expense of this is an alms given to the Church, an alms which, in the eyes of God, greatly enhances the price of the Holy Sacrifice, and its satisfactory value for the deceased.
It is well, however, so to regulate the funeral expenses, that a sufficient sum be left for a certain number of Masses, and also to give alms to the poor.
That which must be avoided is, to lose sight of the Christian character of funerals, and to look upon the funeral service less as a great act of religion than a display of worldly vanity.
What must be further avoided are the profane mourning emblems which are not conformable to Christian tradition, such as the wreaths of flowers, with which, at a great expense, they load the coffins of the dead. This is an innovation justly disapproved by the Church, to which Jesus Christ has intrusted the care of religious rites and ceremonies, not excepting funeral ceremonies. Those of which she makes use at the death of her children are venerable by their antiquity, full of meaning and consolation. All that presents itself to the eyes of the faithful on such occasions, the cross and the holy water, the lights and the incense, the tears and prayers, breathe compassion for the poor souls, faith in the Divine Mercy, and the hope of immortality.
What is there of all this in the cold wreaths of violet?
