Funeral Service in St Gallen Region – You fountain that pours in our desert, you stream that flows into eternal life!

Memorial Gathering – Café denkbar, St. Gallen

After the farewell, it is often healing to share memories and stories together. In the heart of St. Gallen’s Old Town, near the baroque cathedral and the historic Abbey Library, lies Café denkbar – a place that truly lives up to its name: a space for reflection, remembrance, and gratitude.

Soft light, calm conversation, and the gentle clinking of cups create a setting where friends and family can share recollections, photographs, or quiet silence. The café can be reserved for several hours as a memorial gathering place – a circle of comfort, presence, and peace after the funeral ceremony.

Prayer and Meditation for the Departed

We praise you, King of Glory,
for you give us food in due time.
You satisfy in goodness all who live,
all who lift their hands to you in need.

Redeemer, who gives drink to the thirsty,
Savior, who loves us to the end –
You endured the cup of anguish and pain,
and now you offer the cup of glory.

Each time we eat this bread,
we proclaim your death, O Lord.
You are nourishment for our pilgrimage,
rest for the weary, strength for the frail.

In you is life through all eternity,
the manna of immortality.
You are the spring in our desert,
the river flowing to eternal life.
Yours are the honor, the wisdom, the power –
to you our praise shall rise forever.

Farewell – The Journey Across the Sea

I travel, my friend, by boat –
far shall I journey.
My final word: a word of gratitude.
To you as well, green island of rest,
the huts drift onward in their wandering quest.

Waves around me, no sail in sight;
the water murmurs – where lies the open sea?
To other shores I sail – that is life’s great venture:
a coming and going, a seeking and finding.
So step into the boat, and loosen the ropes.

These verses describe the final voyage as a quiet passage across the sea of existence – a journey carried by gratitude, faith, and release. Each ceremony led by Father Reding becomes a bridge between worlds: an honoring of what was and a surrender to what continues.

The Region of St. Gallen – Places of Silence and Beauty

The St. Gallen region unites spirit, culture, and landscape in a rare harmony.

• St. Gallen City – with its baroque cathedral, the World Heritage Abbey Library, and peaceful parks – offers a dignified urban setting filled with quiet reverence.
• Säntis & the Alpstein Mountains – rising south of the city, they remind us through their timeless stillness that every life is part of a greater cycle.
• Lake Constance and Walensee – where water meets the horizon, these are ideal places for scattering ashes or water ceremonies in natural serenity.
• Sarganserland, Werdenberg, and Rorschach – regions of chapels, vineyards, and small cemeteries, where a personal and intimate farewell can unfold beneath open sky.

Here, nature itself becomes a sanctuary – mountain and valley, wind and water bearing witness to the mystery of return.

Contact and Guidance

Master Reding, founder of the Nigredo Monastery and experienced funeral officiant, leads every ceremony with reverence, compassion, and inward stillness. He helps families see death not as an end, but as a transformation into light and peace.

To other shores we journey – that is the adventure of being human.