Evening and Night Funeral Ceremony – Fällanden, Zurich
When the day withdraws into silence and the last light fades behind the trees, the soul begins to listen. A funeral held in the evening or at night carries a sacred stillness — a moment where light and shadow meet, and farewell becomes a journey toward peace and eternity.
By torchlight or by the quiet glow of fire, Master Reding, funeral officiant and eulogy speaker from the Nigredo Monastery, leads a ceremony that unites prayer, nature, and human presence. Each word and gesture honours both life and its transformation — a farewell woven into the rhythm of night and eternity.
Prayer and Meditation for the Departed
The Father in Heaven spoke the first word;
from nothing He created worlds,
and His will shall stand forever,
moving from place to place.The Father in Heaven spoke the first word.
Before we came to life,
He called us each by name
and calls us still and still again.The Father in Heaven shall speak the final word –
the word of judgment,
when time and world have ended,
upon the shore of all creation.The Father in Heaven shall speak the final word.
One day, beyond these passing days,
He will speak it anew
in the light eternal there.The Father in Heaven, at the beginning and the end –
in His strong hands
lie origin, purpose, and meaning.These words remind us that everything born of love
returns to love —
and that darkness itself is only the shadow of light.
Evening and Midnight – The Hour of Stillness
When the day comes to rest, the world begins to change. The sounds fall silent, the air grows still, and the heart begins to hear what the noise of life conceals. At midnight often do I gaze, when all my work is done, and none within the house yet stirs, upon the stars begun.
They wander far and wide above, like lambs upon the field, in flocks and strings of silver light, their quiet grace revealed. And pure they shine, both near and far, in calm, eternal glow;
I see the heavens’ majesty, and cannot cease to know.
Then softly speaks within my breast my heart beneath the dome: “There must be something in this world far better than its pain and joy.”
I lie upon my bed awake, long hours in thought remain; I search within, and silently I yearn to find that same.
In the stillness of night, the heart senses that life is more than joy or sorrow, more than beginning and end. It is a movement of spirit — a quiet return to the eternal.
The Night as a Sacred Threshold
An evening or night funeral is a passage between worlds. The fire and torches recall the living flame of the spirit, burning even in the wind of eternity. Amidst the trees, under the stars, farewell becomes prayer — not loud, but deep; not final, but luminous.
Master Reding leads this passage with reverence and care, weaving together prayer, silence, and elemental ritual — earth, fire, water, and air — to create a ceremony of transformation. The night becomes a mirror of the soul’s journey: death is no end, but a return to the divine light.
A Moment of Eternity
Evening holds a grace all its own. It softens the boundaries between worlds, and what was visible gives way to what is eternal. Thus, the evening and night funeral ceremony becomes a celebration of passage — a quiet, radiant symbol of unity: life and death, light and shadow, earth and heaven, reconciled.
Location: Waldhuus Fällanden (small hut in the forest to rent) - Canton Zurich