WAKING THE DEAD.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 901, 24 December 1870, Page 2

WAKING THE DEAD.

The Right Rev. Dr Goss, Roman Catbo* lie bishop of Liverpool, has determined to put down, if possible, the disgraceful custom practised by Roman Catholics, of " wakes." In an address to the congregation at St Arm's church, Aughton, on the occasion of holding a confirmation on Sunday, he remarked he had heard that in that district waking the dead was still practised. He had given instructions to the priests, not only there, but in every part of his diocese, that whenever it came to their knowledge that a wake had been held over a dead body, the burial service must not be read, but he or she must be buried like a dog. The dead would thu3 be punished for the errors of the living. Waking the dead, as now practised was a hideous custom, merely a pagan and brutal revel, and could not ba too strongly condemned. Originally it was a Christian practice as soon as a person died for his friends and neighbors to gather round his corpse and pass the night in prayer for the repose of the soul of the departed. This was commendable but it had degenerated into a drunkeq and degrading revel. This injunction, h« trusted, would put a stop to what deserved reprobation.