- Pall (cloth)
A pall is a cloth which covers a
casket at funerals. [CathEncy|wstitle=Pall] The word comes from the Latin "pallium" (cloak), through Old English. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pall pall - Definitions from Dictionary.com ] ]The use of a rich cloth
pall to cover the coffin during the funeral grew during the Middle Ages; initially these were brightly coloured and patterned, only later black, and later still white. They were usually then given to the Church to use forvestment s or other decorations. [Françoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane; "Dress in the Middle Ages"; p. 151, Yale UP, 1997; ISBN 0300069065]The rules for the pall's color and use vary depending on religious and cultural
tradition s. Commonly today palls are pure white, to symbolize the white clothes worn duringbaptism , and the joyful triumph over death brought about by theResurrection . The colour is not fixed, though, and may vary with the liturgical season. Traditionally, it was common for the pall, as well as the vestments of the clergy to be black. The pall will often be decorated with a cross, often running the whole length of the cloth from end to end in all four directions, signifying the sovereignty of Christ's triumph over sin and death on the cross.The pall is placed on the coffin as soon as it arrives at the church, and will remain on the coffin during all of proceedings in the church. If the family members wish to view the deceased, this would normally be done previously at the
funeral home before the coffin is brought to the church; but customs will vary from denomination to denomination. The pall will be removed at the graveside, just before the coffin is lowered into the ground. But if the remains are to be cremated, there will be a curtain which the pall-covered coffin will go through, and behind which the pall will be removed.Military funeral s often use the nation'sflag as a pall. In theUnited Kingdom , members of theRoyal Family or thepeerage may use a flag bearing their arms as a pall.References
ee also
*
shroud
*Christian burial
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