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A
funeral of the 1950s
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| calitri
tradizioni |
| Primitive
and visceral emotions were the concomitants of a death, although
financial considerations were involved also. The death of an oldster
was even considered a blessing, but that of a still young father
often spelled humiliation and hunger for the widow and children. |
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The death of a wife meant there would no longer be a woman to take
care of the house and children. In this case, relatives on the male
side and obliging friends would try to find a woman, possibly single,
a spinster, or even a widow, in order to help the poor chap. |
| Relatives,
neighbors, and friends, would silently tend to the dying: the house
entrance remained open, and everyone could enter or exit at will.
Visitors sat on chairs lined against the walls. Some recited the
rosary in an undertone or sotto voce. A candle burning in front
of a sacred image was the sign that a person was dying. |
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When the person in his/her death throes finally expired, there was
an explosion of weeping and wailing on the part of the family. At
this point, those present went about preparing the body and transforming
the room into a sort of mortuary chapel. |
| The
body was dressed in its best clothes (usually set aside for this
purpose years before death); new shoes went on the feet and, in
the case of men, a hat also was placed there. In accordance with
an old pagan custom, a coin was placed in the man’s suit pocket,
to guarantee the soul’s journey into the world beyond. |
| The
women folk tidied up the house, placed the best cover on the bed
where the body was to lie, arranged the chairs for the visitors,
set the ritual four candelabra around the bed, and finally placed
the body on the bed. The men stood by silently and off to the side. |
| At
this point, the family members took their seats around the bed,
and resumed their wailing. |
| The
women, holding in their hands a handkerchief, coordinated the clapping
of hands with the wailing, retracing with lamentations moments in
the life of the dead person, his sacrifices, suffering, the times
spent together. When one stopped, another resumed the lamentation. |
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tradizioni |
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