What is the difference between the family having a wake and a viewing?
2007-06-19 06:28:38 · 14 answers · asked by ♥love is all that matters♥ 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I was born and raised in New Orleans. There it is called a wake. I now live in Texas. Here they call it a viewing. As far as I can tell, it's the same thing.
2007-06-19 06:33:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Wake is when the family and friends of the disease stay up all night awaiting the body to be return from the mortuary, usually,the day before the viewing. viewing is when the body is displayed for the public to see. Wake is normally held in the diseased house but viewing the most often done in the church.
2007-06-19 06:41:21 · answer #2 · answered by Frankie T. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before modern embalming, a deceased person was kept in an open casket, and someone watched over the body, in case they "Wake" up. It was fairly common for someone who was thought to be dead to revive. At the time, one of the methods used to determine whether or not someone was dead was to hold a mirror or glass under the nose. If there was no visible breath, it meant they were dead.
Incidentally, the deceased were usually viewed in the parlor of a home. After viewing the body, the family would gather in another room of the house, which came to be called "the living room".
2007-06-19 06:40:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A wake is when the body lies in state in a coffin in a special place for several days. ( The Irish used to keep the body in the house for 3 days.)
A viewing is when family and friends go to a mortuary and pay their last respects usually during the evening for a few hours.
2007-06-19 06:41:56 · answer #4 · answered by Sweetkat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wake Definition from our dictionary: Among the Irish, a vigil over a corpse before burial often accompanied by drinking & festivity. (The New Lexicon Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary).
Viewing would be viewing the deceased's body for your benefit before saying goodbye.
If you really want more clarifiction between the two, why not contact your local funeral home and ask them for more detailed information.
2007-06-19 06:37:26 · answer #5 · answered by kidlet_animal_luv 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
VIEWING/VISITATION - An opportunity for survivors and friends to view the deceased in private usually in a special room within the funeral home.
WAKE - A watch kept over the deceased, sometimes lasting the entire night preceding the funeral.
2007-06-19 06:33:01 · answer #6 · answered by Leather and Lace 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The viewing is normally held at the funeral home (with or without the body or ashes there) in the days before the funeral -- sometimes it is just called a reception. A wake is a gathering after the funeral, and in some families is a real party in honour of their loved one.
2007-06-19 06:31:43 · answer #7 · answered by redrosesix 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
a viewing is to display the body a wake is a celebration of the persons life.
2007-06-19 06:30:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
No difference... they are the same. I live in an area where they still wake folks at their residence.<><
2007-06-19 06:31:31 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just slightly different customs.
2007-06-19 06:31:32 · answer #10 · answered by Nora Explora 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋