Memorial Service in Zurich – Cemetery Hönggerberg – No sound of the excited time penetrated this loneliness!
In the heart of Zurich, where the pulse of the city meets the silence of its gardens and cemeteries, Funeral Officiant Abbot Reding from the Nigredo Monastery offers ceremonies of farewell marked by dignity, stillness, and compassion. Each funeral is an act of remembrance and reconciliation — a moment in which life, death, and eternity meet. Rooted in Christian and Zen spirituality, Abbot Reding accompanies families through the passage of loss with words that bring both clarity and peace.
Whether the ceremony takes place in a chapel, on a cemetery, or in a quiet corner of nature, it is always personal, non-denominational, and open to all faiths. In Zurich, the farewell becomes a gesture of love — a meeting of heart and silence in the midst of life itself.
You who have loved me – look not upon the life I have ended,
but upon the one I now begin.
Prayer and Meditation – Funeral in Zurich
The gentle breezes are awake,
they whisper and weave by night and day,
they work in every corner.
O fragrant air, O newborn sound!
Poor heart, take courage and rebound –
for now all things must turn.The world grows fairer every day,
and who can tell what still may come?
The blooming will not end.
The deepest vale, the farthest hill,
now blossoms bright and soft and still –
so, troubled heart, let go, transcend.So still it lies, the moorland plain
beneath the noon’s warm golden glow;
a rose-red shimmer drifts again
around the ancient graves below.
The thyme is sweet, the blossoms rise,
and fragrance fills the summer skies.Beetles scurry through the grass
in tiny coats of golden gleam;
the bees from heather bell to bell
move softly in a honeyed dream.
The birds flit out, their songs resound,
the air is full of lark-song round.A low, half-fallen cottage stands,
alone and quiet in the sun;
the cottager leans at his door,
content, his toiling day is done.
His boy sits carving by the stone,
a reed flute in his hands alone.The village clock tolls faint and slow,
its echo drifts from far away.
The old man’s lashes fall in sleep,
he dreams of honey-harvest day.
No sound of restless time or strife
has entered this secluded life.
A Day in Autumn
This is an autumn day, the like I’ve never seen!
The air is still, one scarcely breathes its stream.
And yet, from every branch and tree,
the loveliest fruits fall silently.O do not break this feast of peace –
this harvest is the work of grace.
For now falls only what must cease,
what sunlight gently will erase.
Places of Farewell – Cemeteries in Zurich
Zurich offers several cemeteries of quiet beauty and profound stillness, each with its own atmosphere of reflection and peace.
The Sihlfeld Cemetery is a wide, park-like landscape at the heart of the city — a space where paths lead between ancient trees and gentle lawns, inviting visitors to pause and remember.
The Enzenbühl Cemetery, by contrast, rests high above the lake. From its shaded paths, one can see the rooftops of Zurich and the distant Alps — a meeting place of heaven and earth, where the farewell takes on the calm of eternity.
Whether in the city’s center or along its forested edges, each site carries its own dignity and light. Here, amidst the rhythm of the living city, the funeral ceremony becomes a moment of silence and reconciliation — a gesture of gratitude for life itself.
All peace upon your final journey – rest in light and serenity. For what passes away remains in the light of remembrance.