7) Sacred icons or images from the home (especially antique ones):

A small devotional book or a blessed reminder specific to the ritual is one thing, but burying valuable or antique family icons is quite another. Sacred images are meant to support the living in prayer. Burying them is often a mistake: it deprives the home of a spiritual treasure and exposes the image to degradation.

8) Sharp objects or tools

Knives, scissors, needles, trade tools (hammer, scalpel, instruments).

Sometimes this is done for “protection” or to represent identity (“he was a carpenter, let him have his tools”). But the soul is not defended with metal: it is accompanied by prayer.

9) Letters and notes “for them to read”

Many people write farewells, apologies, or final messages and place them inside. It’s understandable… but true communication isn’t on paper, but through prayer, remembrance, and acts of love.

If you have unfinished words, you can whisper them in front of the coffin or at the cemetery, and transform them into prayer: that has more spiritual meaning than burying a message.

10) Esoteric or occult objects

Talismans, runes, zodiac signs, “protections,” red thread, “charged” objects, amulets bought from supposed “healers.”

This is incompatible with the Christian faith and can bring spiritual confusion. Saying goodbye doesn’t need “magical defenses”: it needs faith, respect, and prayer.

So… what should accompany the person?

In a dignified Christian farewell, the essentials are:

A cross (according to the tradition of each community)

A small prayer book or appropriate image for the rite, if applicable

The elements of the religious ceremony (according to the minister and the family)

And for the living, the most important things happen outside the coffin:

Daily prayer

Requesting a memorial Mass/service according to local practice

Charitable works in their memory

Supporting the family in their grief

Why are these mistakes made? Almost always for three reasons:

Lack of knowledge: inherited customs are repeated without knowing their origin.

Grief: the mind seeks to “do something” to soothe the anguish.

Superstition: faith is confused with mechanical rituals.

And that is what should be calmly addressed: faith does not operate through objects, but through love, prayer, and truth.