Originally posted by Elder Gus Harter
The mother of one of our faithful members began attending Providence Church in Davao. She live in Samal Island located in Davao Bay. In order to attend she had to rise at four in the morning to catch a ferry across the bay. She told us last Sunday she was going to join our church next Sunday and requested to be baptized. In the first of the next week she suffered a stroke from high blood pressure and died on the way to the hospital. Her daughter our member wanted us to take part in the funeral. This was my third funeral by relatives of our church family and extremely sad. She was only 49 years old. They display the casket in the home with a glass top over the body. Her families were members of a local independent Catholic Church (not associated with the Roman Catholic). The time between the death and the burial is sometimes very lengthy because on the casket is an offering plate to receive donations to pay for the burial. They do not bury the body until sufficient money to cover the funeral is received.
Upon arriving at her home which was a small coconut farm. I estimate about 200 people were already at gathered. A large canvas was spread beside the house to allow the visitor to stay out of the weather. A large table of rice, various meats and vegetables were placed on the table spread under the canvas. Friends, neighbors and family brought abundance of food to share with the mourners who came. I first visited the room upstairs where the body of Lucia Alconriza was displayed her casket. The family was there to greet us. We sung a few songs and one of our members offered a fifteen-minute discourse to comfort the family. We were treated to a sumptuous meal.
I then wander through the crowd. There was a table set for card playing and I noticed they were playing poker. I was told this was the standard at a funeral and the winners always give a generous portion of his winnings to the expense of the funeral. The Catholics had a short service after our meeting and the casket was carried down the stairs. The father of the house then took a new plate and shattered it on the stairs. This was a local superstitious that this action would stop another family member from dieing in the coming year.
We then proceeded toward the funeral. There were five jeepneys filled with people, several buses, and dump truck with over a hundred souls and about 20 motorcycles with four to five people on each one. We first went to the church to hear a sermon given by a lady minister and all the family was given a flower to place in a vase behind the casket. After the service we went to the graveyard. I was asked to speak. I spoke for about twenty minutes. They all listen with interest. I do not know how much they understood of my English. But I could not have asked for a more reverent congregation. They concluded the gathering by songs sung by the entire crowd. Tears by the family and friends flowed freely as they placed there loved one in a concrete vault above the ground and sealed the tomb. We drove from the scene with a heavy heart for a loving and lonely father and five mourning children.
G.H.
Photos of the Funeral
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