Original version

BBC World Service East Asia

Heart and Soul

Documentaries

Religion & Ethics

Personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

Heart and Soul: A year and a day

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

A year and a day

16/03/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, A year and a day

Celebrate a life, or mourn a death: what is the right thing for a funeral?

Is celebrating the life, or remembering the dead the right thing for a funeral?

When Colin Brazier lost his wife Jo to cancer last summer, he felt pressure to put his grief on show, to make her funeral a celebration.
 
Friends expected him to give the eulogy at her funeral, and some wanted to wear bright colours to celebrate her life. But that felt completely wrong, and though one mourner turned up in shorts and flip flops, the service was a traditional one with hymns and mourners dressed in black. As a Catholic, the ritual of the Requiem Mass felt cleansing and appropriate.

As much of Europe and the US becomes more secular, Colin explores the modern funeral and the growth of the personalised, celebratory service, in contrast to the service he organised for Jo. With pall bearers dressed as super-heroes and wakes at McDonalds, is death being given its true state, and should it be a time to celebrate? 

In a highly personal programme, Colin talks to non-believers too, and asks how they navigate death without the framework of religion to guide them.

Presenter: Colin Brazier
Producer: Henrietta Harrison

Picture: Jo Brazier. Credit: Colin Brazier

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Heart and Soul

A year and a day

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service