L
lizaanne
Guest
The entire liturgy was in Arabic, so thankfully there were “missals” for us to use to follow along. And, if you know the OF Mass well enough you could tell by what the priest was doing where he was to keep up.
Lots of standing and sitting, much more so than I’m used to. The singing was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I noticed that the women really did not sing or respond, it was mostly the men. And the women sat on one side of the church and the men on the other - for the most part, it wasn’t 100% this way, but I would say 95% of the people were separate.
After the liturgy we went to the cemetery for a grave side prayers. The granddaughter spoke about her grandmother, then everyone threw roses into the grave while the casket was placed into the grave liner then into the grave, and the grave was sealed/filled in with dirt. It was so very emotional.
After the cemetery we went to a family home where the men were all in one room and all the women in another. The men really did not talk very much, and the women were praying the rosary together and mourning/crying very openly (hearing the rosary in Arabic was lovely!). My DH and my dad learned some protocol for the situation, such as standing when someone leaves, and praying for the deceased together before shaking hands with everyone in the room before leaving. I was particularly impressed by the amount of custom and protocol followed - it was very formal in some ways, something we seem to lack to the same degree in typical American culture.
EVERYONE wore black - there were only about two or three men who wore lighter suits, but out of the well over 100 people there, everyone wore solid black.
At lunch, the women prepared the meal, put out all the food, and the men all ate first. (The food was AMAZING!!!)
I think the small contingent of our family that was there (seven of us) were TOTALLY out of our element, and this was a new experience for all of us. My DH and I felt incredibly honored to have been a part of this very very personal time for this family (a mother/grandmother had passed away). It was like being transported to another country for a day. What a wonderful experience!
Anyway - just thought I’d share with you all, it’s not often that we experience a culture so very different from our own in such an intense way.
~Liza
Lots of standing and sitting, much more so than I’m used to. The singing was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I noticed that the women really did not sing or respond, it was mostly the men. And the women sat on one side of the church and the men on the other - for the most part, it wasn’t 100% this way, but I would say 95% of the people were separate.
After the liturgy we went to the cemetery for a grave side prayers. The granddaughter spoke about her grandmother, then everyone threw roses into the grave while the casket was placed into the grave liner then into the grave, and the grave was sealed/filled in with dirt. It was so very emotional.
After the cemetery we went to a family home where the men were all in one room and all the women in another. The men really did not talk very much, and the women were praying the rosary together and mourning/crying very openly (hearing the rosary in Arabic was lovely!). My DH and my dad learned some protocol for the situation, such as standing when someone leaves, and praying for the deceased together before shaking hands with everyone in the room before leaving. I was particularly impressed by the amount of custom and protocol followed - it was very formal in some ways, something we seem to lack to the same degree in typical American culture.
EVERYONE wore black - there were only about two or three men who wore lighter suits, but out of the well over 100 people there, everyone wore solid black.
At lunch, the women prepared the meal, put out all the food, and the men all ate first. (The food was AMAZING!!!)
I think the small contingent of our family that was there (seven of us) were TOTALLY out of our element, and this was a new experience for all of us. My DH and I felt incredibly honored to have been a part of this very very personal time for this family (a mother/grandmother had passed away). It was like being transported to another country for a day. What a wonderful experience!
Anyway - just thought I’d share with you all, it’s not often that we experience a culture so very different from our own in such an intense way.
~Liza
