Wake vs. Visitation in a Funeral Service

Today, people generally use the terms wake and visitation interchangeably to refer to the portion of a "traditional funeral" service during which surviving family members, friends, and loved ones gather in the presence of the deceased individual to pay their respects, and to offer comfort and support to the immediate family and to each other. This interchangeable usage is particularly common in the United States and Canada.

Usually held the day before the funeral service and/or interment, or the same day, this part of the modern funeral service is often conducted at a funeral home, cemetery, church or other places of worship, or another location selected by the next-of-kin when arranging the service.

Technically, however, this contemporary gathering of surviving family members, friends and loved ones in the presence of the deceased individual, who usually lies in an open or closed casket, is a visitation (although it might also be called a viewing).

What Is a Wake?

Traditionally, wakes were held at the homes of surviving family members, or some other close relative, following the death of a loved one, during which time the family would keep watch over the corpse and pray for his or her soul until the family departed for his or her burial.

Throughout the wake, relatives, friends, neighbors, coworkers and others who knew the deceased and/or the family would visit the household for many of the same reasons we attend visitations today: to pay their respects to the deceased individual and to offer comfort and support to the immediate family and to each other. It was not uncommon (because of the 24/7 nature of wakes) for visitors to volunteer to "sit up" with the deceased during the wee hours of the night so that family members could get some sleep.

How a Visitation Is Different From a Wake

The concept of a visitation, as described above, is relatively modern and mirrored the rise and eventual prominence of undertakers, morticians, and funeral directors in modern funeral/burial rites, i.e., individuals dedicated to caring for the dead and overseeing all aspects of their funeral and/or interment, which began to take hold in the late 1800s.

Wakes, on the other hand, are significantly older and pre-date the rise of Christianity. The Celts and the Anglos-Saxons held wakes, or vigils, for the dead, possibly because of the many superstitions surrounding death and corpses, and fears that "evil spirits" might take possession of the body, that existed at the time.

Regardless, and while wakes in the traditional sense still occur worldwide, most people will understand what you mean if you refer to a visitation as a wake and vice versa.