Description Ossuary with Photo Holder The ossuary, also called reliquary, is a box or container in which the bones of the deceased are kept after exhumation. Afterwards, it is either stored in the cemetery’s charnel house or placed back in the lower left side of the grave, next to a relative, so that they may rest together in the afterlife. After the exhumation, the bones are washed with wine and water in the proper ritual at the cemetery church, carefully wrapped in a white cloth, and then placed in the reliquary. The safekeeping of the recovered bones is carried out upon request of the family and under the responsibility of the cemetery service. The placement of the bones in the ossuary is a significant ritual, accompanied by a memorial prayer offered by the priest, so that the deceased may be accompanied to their final resting place. It is a sacred moment for the relatives of the departed—an unpleasant yet necessary process for a last farewell to the one who has passed away.
