Please follow the links below to understand the format for the Funeral for your loved one in our Parish. This will help you to understand the liturgy and the meaning of the Funeral Mass. It will also help you to prepare to participate in the Mass and choose the Readings.
Celebrating the Catholic Funeral Mass for your loved one HERE
Participation of your family and friends HERE
Choosing the Music HERE
Choosing the Readings
Celebrating the Catholic Funeral Mass for your loved one
The funeral mass in the Catholic Church is also known as a Requiem Mass. In celebrating the Funeral Mass in our parish, we will offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the life of your deceased loved one. We commend them into the hands of God’s merciful love and we pray to God for the forgiveness of their sins. In the funeral Mass, we are expressing the union of the earthly Church with the Church in heaven, in the communion of saints. The Requiem Mass brings all your family, friends and parishioners gathered, into the mystery of Christian death in the light of the risen Christ. We as family and community, get an opportunity in the Mass, to gather together to remember your loved one, to offer prayers for them, and to ultimately celebrate the hope of eternal life through the Eucharist. This powerful expression of faith, unites all of us (the living) with your deceased loved one in the communion of saints.
Order of Christian Funerals – Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship
“Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just. The Mass, the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1689
“The Eucharistic Sacrifice. When the celebration takes place in church the Eucharist is the heart of the Paschal reality of Christian death. In the Eucharist, the Church expresses her efficacious communion with the departed: offering to the Father in the Holy Spirit the sacrifice of the death and resurrection of Christ, she asks to purify his child of his sins and their consequences, and to admit him to the Paschal fullness of the table of the Kingdom. It is by the Eucharist thus celebrated that the community of the faithful, especially the family of the deceased, learn to live in communion with the one who “has fallen asleep in the Lord,” by communicating in the Body of Christ of which he is a living member and, then, by praying for him and with him.”
Participation of your Family and Friends
The celebration of Mass presents a lovely opportunity (not obligation) for you, as family and friends, to actively participate in the funeral liturgy. These areas include …
When the coffin is received at the Church prior to the start of the Funeral Mass
- The placing of the Pall (white garment) on the coffin.
- The placing of the Christian symbols (Cross and Bible) on the coffin.
- (Optional) Personal symbols of the deceased’s life.
- (Optional) “Address” (few words about the deceased) This tribute should be brief (3-4mins), and may be delivered when the coffin has been received at the Altar in the Church and prior to the start of the Funeral Mass, when family and friends are seated. The “Address” should respect the sacred surroundings of the Church and the funeral liturgy. It is appropriate that the person delivering the address should speak with the celebrant in advance.
During the Funeral Mass
- The Scripture readings.
- The prayers of the faithful.
- The presentation of the gifts of bread and wine in the offertory procession.
Choosing the Music
Music and hymns enhance the funeral liturgy and are recommended by the Parish.
When choosing music for the funeral liturgy, it is important to remember that the hymns chosen ultimately reflect and offer our worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the life of your deceased loved one. Those involved should first consult with the main celebrant of the Funeral Mass as to what hymns and parts of the Mass are to be sung. The hymns chosen should reflect the part of the Mass where they are to be sung.
Secular lyrics have no place in the Church’s sacred liturgy, and so no secular music is permitted during the funeral Mass. Some instrumental music can be acceptable during the liturgy if discussed. An appropriate piece of secular music can be sung at the end of the funeral liturgy as the coffin is leaving the Church. No CDs or ‘Bluetoothing’ secular music is permitted at any point during the funeral liturgy. Please respect the sacredness of the liturgy and the Church space at all times when considering the music. Also please respect that judgment regarding the appropriateness of the music will be made by the main celebrant.