On Tuesday November 5th, 2024, our parish completed a three-night series of talks titled, “Memento Mori.” The final talk was about funeral liturgy planning, offering options and advice for preparing a funeral liturgy. This post will highlight some of the ideas and resources offered within that session. To view the full video presentation on YouTube, click here.
What is the Funeral Liturgy?
The Funeral Liturgy itself happens in three parts: The Wake (or Vigil Service), the Funeral Mass, and the Burial (or Rite of Committal). In some ways, this is a parallel to the great Easter Triduum where the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday does not formally end, but is picked up again on Good Friday, and brought to its culmination in the Holy Easter Vigil. If you’ve ever attended these liturgies, you know that each one is unique—the same is true, perhaps to a different degree, with the funeral liturgy.
The Vigil (Wake)
The Wake/Vigil is intended to draw the community together through the sharing of memories in the context of prayer. By this, we can find some solace in the good remembrances that are offered. “At the vigil, the Christian community keeps watch with the family in prayer to the God of mercy and finds strength in Christ’s presence.” (Order of Christian Funerals, #56) It is here that the sharing of memories may take place, including a eulogy of some type should the family desire it. This is the time to celebrate the life of the deceased, with fond remembrances and stories shared of their good deeds in life.
Funeral Mass
Part two of the funeral liturgy is the Requiem Mass. The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops succinctly calls this “the central liturgical celebration of the Christian community for the deceased.” The family and friends of the deceased gather to offer prayers for the departed, and entrust them to the hope of God’s eternal love and mercy.
We celebrate the Funeral Mass because the person who has died needs prayer, and we earnestly hope that our beloved friend or family member will be with God in heaven. The Mass is the supreme sacred action we participate in. The Second Vatican Council proclaimed that “every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.” (SC 7) There is no greater act of prayer that we can do than celebrate a Mass for the intention of the soul of our departed. So we give the dead the best form of prayer that we can offer, participating in the holy sacrifice of the Mass for their ‘soul’ intention.
Rite of Committal
Finally, we lay our deceased loves ones to rest. This is formally known as the “Rite of Committal.” When planning the funeral liturgy, there isn’t anything you need to do as far as picking music or readings, as this rite is shorter than the other two parts of the funeral liturgy. The family and friends who have gathered are brought into prayer, and the place of committal is blessed if needed, before prayers appropriate to the circumstance of burial.
Making Selections for the Funeral Liturgy
The Catholic Church provides us with options to narrow down the scripture we can select to be read for a funeral liturgy, but this can still be overwhelming to sort through. Planning ahead by taking time in prayer with the possible scripture passages is a great way to meditate on death and eternal life, and by select reading options for your own funeral in advance, that is one more thing your family will not have to do when you pass.
The music at Mass should “[correspond] to the spirit of the liturgical celebration itself and the nature of its individual parts, and [not] hinder the active participation of the people.” (MS 9) This means that any selected music for a Catholic funeral Mass ought to similarly correspond to the spirit of the funeral liturgy, which is best indicated by the texts of the propers:
Entrance Antiphon: Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her. IV Esdr 2:34-35
Communion Antiphon: Let perpetual light shine upon him/her, with your Saints for ever, for you are merciful.
Eternal rest grant unto him/her O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her,
with your Saints for ever, for you are merciful. IV Esdr 2:34-35
Final Considerations
“…May our farewell express our affection for him/her; may it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope. One day we shall joyfully greet him/her again when the love of Christ, which conquers all things, destroys even death itself.”
In the liturgy, we try to showcase the truth in that prayer through our selection of readings and music, as well as our prayerful celebration of the liturgy itself. Throughout this profound time of prayer, “we offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, commending the dead to God’s merciful love, while pleading for the forgiveness of their sins. In doing so, we who are filled with sorrow are built up with hope and consolation.” (paraphrasing the Order of Christian Funerals #4) A more succinct version of this might sound something like, “Worship God, commend the dead, comfort the living.”
With these thoughts in mind, we prepare the funeral liturgy with a keen reverence for liturgical celebration that grounds our prayers in the hope of eternal life, as proclaimed from the Gospel. If you need assistance in making selections for your funeral Mass, or want to get a plan put together to ‘have on file,’ reach out any time!
