Funeral protocols

A funeral in your language and according to your rites

At Magnus Poirier, we speak 13 languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, Creole, Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese, German, Greek and Polish.

In addition, we welcome secular funerals as well as rites from seven religious persuasions: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Regardless of your language or beliefs, the funeral will be highly personalized and comply with your wishes in every respect.

Funerals can be public or private, religious or secular. We can also organize masses or other types of religious ceremonies or commemorations for you, exactly as you request.

Types of ceremonies

• Personalized secular funeral
• Traditional funeral with burial or cremation
• Catholic or Orthodox funeral
• Protestant funeral
• Muslim funeral
• Buddhist funeral
• Hindu funeral
• Affordable funeral
• Ecological funeral

Personalized secular funeral

Nowadays, demand for secular (non-religious) funerals is on the rise. There are many ways to make the ceremony very personalized, noble and memorable:

• A heartfelt eulogy for the deceased person is given
• Family members or relatives tell stories about them
• Attendees listen to music or a text the person liked or that evokes their memory
• Presentation of a tribute video
• Silent moment of contemplation
• Attendees place flowers or other objects in the coffin
• A comforting snack or meal is served after the ceremony
• Participants receive a souvenir (bookmark, album, jewelry, flower), etc. 

What’s more, a secular funeral does not preclude the burial of the casket in a cemetery. Other arrangements for the body are possible, such as cremation or an ecological funeral.

A funeral director is especially helpful before, during and after such funerals. While a priest will take care of a religious ceremony, your Magnus Poirier funeral director can advise you on a secular funeral, in addition to organizing and managing all the details:

• Preparing and publishing the obituary
• Reserving and decorating the funeral parlour or ceremony room
• Producing the tribute video or souvenir object
• Booking the services of a caterer, a lay officiant (actor or other), a musician-singer, etc.

In addition, your funeral director will make sure, if necessary, that the secular funeral avoid any religious references, out of respect for the guests or the deceased person. Finally, they will be able to guide you through the succession-related steps.

Traditional funeral with burial or cremation

Depending on the beliefs or religious rites of the deceased, funerals generally take place in three stages:

1. Presentation of the body in a casket at the funeral home
2. Ceremony in a place of worship or at the funeral home
3. Burial of the body in the ground or in a cemetery crypt, or incineration (cremation) of the body, with the ashes then buried, placed in a columbarium or given to the family.

The funeral can also take place in the presence of the ashes.

Catholic or Orthodox funeral

Mass with or without Eucharist. This mass can take place at the church of your choice or in the chapel of one of our funeral homes. We can take care of everything regarding the organization of the ceremony or advise you on religious services, candles, floral or other decorations, choice of musicians, etc.

Protestant funeral

Celebration. It can take place in the location of your choice: temple, funeral home, family home, cemetery or crematorium. The ceremony can take place alongside or without the casket, after cremation or after burial.
We can take care of everything regarding the organization of the funeral or advise you on religious services, funeral parlour decoration, choice of musicians, etc.

Muslim funeral

Magnus Poirier is one of the few companies in Quebec to offer Muslim funerals according to all traditional rites: funeral grooming, white shroud over the body, ritual prayer (صلاة الجنازة) and quick burial, with proper positioning of the casket and body in it.

Muslim funerals are held at our Al Iman funeral home. Its specialized staff, available at all times, includes men and women who practise Islam, including a spiritual advisor. Several languages are spoken: French, English, literal or dialectal Arabic as well as several Berber languages, notably Algerian and Moroccan.

Montreal Muslim Cemetery Inaugurated in 2015, it occupies a large part of the Laval Cemetery.

Buddhist funeral

Resources. Magnus Poirier has long maintained close relationships with monks, feng shui masters, incense suppliers and florists well versed in the traditions of Buddhist funerals. We can advise you on these resources or put you in touch with any of them.

Celebration Buddhist funerals can be held at the temple or funeral home of your choice. If cremation takes place, the family can attend. Whatever your Buddhist school of thought, we will help you hold a celebration that is at once simple, solemn and highly personalized.

The deceased person can thus begin their new life in the remembrance of the Buddha’s teachings, according to your rites of purification, offerings, and handling and positioning of the body. Lastly, we can organize commemorative ceremonies.

Hindu funeral

« As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one. » Bhagavadgita Gita.

Officiant. We can refer you a Brahmin.

Hindu funeral (Antyesti). This ritual, including the wake, can be held funeral home of your choice. Immediate family can attend the cremation. Whatever your traditions, we will accompany you and respect your ancestral customs (purification, offerings and presentation of the body). Lastly, we can host commemorative ceremonies.

Affordable funeral

Funerals at lower cost, held at times when our parlours are in lower demand, that allow for a simple yet dignified and respectful tribute.

Ecological funeral

Discover new funeral rituals such as ash dispersal, planting an urn at the base of a memorial tree, biodegradable caskets and urns, burial of ashes without an urn or other container… Even funerals can be an opportunity to make eco-friendly choices.