For devout Christians, death is the moment of salvation, when they gain access to life everlasting. The wafer is administered to the Christian believer as a final sacrament on his deathbed, in the hope that eating it will cure him, but mainly in order to help him endure the pangs of death. Thus, consecrated bread serves as a mediator between the world of the living and the afterworld. The Armenian community in particular emphasizes this function of the host, placing it in the mouth of the deceased while his coffin lies in church before the burial.

Armenian funeral rites
Jerusalem , 2003
Photo Dan Arnon