Intimate Farewell: Private Family Burial Guide

When someone we love passes away, words often fall silent. What remains is presence — the closeness of a few hearts, the stillness of a shared farewell, the quiet gratitude for a life that touched our own.

A private family burial offers the most intimate and personal way to say goodbye. It is not shaped by formality, but by sincerity — by simplicity, tenderness, and reverence. It is a ceremony that allows space for what cannot be spoken.

Master Reding from the Nigredo Monastery gently guides you through this sacred moment — with empathy, dignity, and calm attention. Together we discuss the form of the ceremony: perhaps a short meditation, a personal story, a prayer, a song, or the lighting of a candle. Every element can be shaped according to your wishes and the character of the departed.

Such a burial may take place at the cemetery, in nature, by a lake, or even in your own garden. Some families choose a quiet chapel, others a mountain meadow, or the very place where the person found peace in life. In these moments of stillness, the boundary between life and death softens — and love becomes the bridge that endures.

A private burial is not an ending, but a conscious act of letting go, a gentle honoring of a life that was, and a faithful gesture toward the mystery that follows.

If you wish to plan such a ceremony, or simply need guidance through the time of farewell,
you may contact Master Reding at any time. He accompanies families with wisdom, experience, and compassion.

Prayer and Meditation – Private Family Burial

Now all the forests rest,
and fields, and humankind.
The whole wide world is sleeping.
But you, my soul, awake and start
to do the work your Maker loves.

The day is now declining,
the golden stars are shining
across the blue of heaven’s hall.
So shall I stand, when I am called,
when God shall lead me gently home
from sorrow’s vale to peace.

My head, my feet, my weary hands
are glad that labor ends.
My heart, rejoice — you shall be free
from toil and burden, pain and sin.

Go now, my tired limbs,
rest in the quiet night.
Soon will come the hour
when you will lie in earth’s embrace
and sleep in her eternal bed.

Spread out your wings, my joy,
and take your little one within!
Should darkness seek to frighten me,
let angels sing around my soul —
this child shall not be harmed.

And you, my loved ones,
let no sorrow trouble you tonight.
May God guard your sleep
and place his shining hosts
around your bed in peace.

Blessing and Farewell

Peace be with you on your final journey,
and rest in the calm of eternity.

May the love that bound you together remain — beyond all boundaries of time. May silence comfort where words can no longer reach, and may light guide you through the gentle gate of parting.

For those who have gone in love are never truly gone — they have come home to the heart of God.