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Views from the Choir Loft

Preparing Funeral Liturgies

Fr. David Friel · January 4, 2015

REPARING FUNERAL LITURGIES is a common feature of parish life. Very often, this takes the form of a priest meeting with the surviving family either at their home or at the parish office. Other times, the parish has a bereavement team that facilitates the process. It is an important task, especially because of the sensitivity and fragility that so often accompany the experience of grief. These can be moments for the Church to shine with warmth and compassion, but they can just as easily be moments in which we flounder.

It has often been noted that, in the Catholic faith, we “prepare” liturgies, we do not “plan” them. This simple precision of language helps to convey the true sense of what we should be doing. The reality in the Ordinary Form is that certain aspects of the liturgy do, in fact, have to be prepared. So, for a funeral Mass, what are those aspects that need preparation? Though probably not exhaustive, here is a sample list of questions to be raised in preparing the funeral:

1. Date & time of the Funeral Mass
2. Will any Christian symbols be placed upon the casket at the start of Mass?
3. Which readings (from the abundant options given in the Lectionary) are best suited for this Mass?
4. Who will read the readings?
5. Will there be family members bringing forward the offertory gifts?
6. Will friends or family members serve as pallbearers?
7. In what cemetery will the deceased be interred?

As anyone who has been involved in such preparations well knows, not every family that comes to the Church seeking a loved one’s burial is a perfect, Church-going, cradle-Catholic family. This can present significant challenges in preparing certain aspects of the liturgy, particularly if some members of the family are non-Catholic.

MONG the most difficult parts of the preparation can be the choice of readings. Very often (though certainly not always), the family members are totally unqualified to be making such choices.

One family I remember working with during my first year as a priest paged through the second reading options and asked if all the options were “this gloomy” and “mentioned sin.” Never mind that each of the Pauline options contains beautiful theology concerning how the death & Resurrection of Jesus have conquered sin and enabled us to have eternal life.

People often pass over the option from 1 Maccabbees because its opening word is “Judas” (probably not worth pointing out to them that this is NOT the Iscariot). The beautiful passage from Lamentations 3 is often similarly discounted when only read halfway through. I can hardly remember a time when a family has chosen the passage from Job, since they never get past the line referring to “Bildad the Shuhite.” There have been numerous requests, however, to read this-or-that poem or prayer in place of the sacred texts.

Offering the choice of readings might be something better reserved until later in the preparation meeting, once there has been sufficient time to gauge whether the family has the aptitude to make such selections. In fact, the choice might well only be offered to families who have demonstrated some knowledge of Scripture, or at least some connection with the Church or a relationship with Christ. It is, after all, not a God-given command that the family should be consulted about funeral readings. Nor is it clericalism to suggest that a priest (or committed layperson) could, in many cases, select more appropriate readings. This is very often (and increasingly) the case.

If nothing else, these encounters are a reminder to us all of the importance of training our people in the practice of the faith, which includes nourishing within them a love for the Holy Scriptures. Experience shows that marginal Catholics, as well as many rather involved Catholics, are sorely malnourished in terms of Biblical studies. And, as St. Jerome warns us, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

OTICE that the deceased’s list of favorite hymns is absent from the above list of things to be prepared for a Requiem Mass. Why? Because, like every other Mass, the Requiem has its own set of propers appointed to be sung at various points of the liturgy. These propers, when sung in their original form or even in some other adaptation, are so well suited to the Mass of Christian Burial. Their texts and melodies are eminently appropriate for conveying the hope, the sorrow, and the mystery of the occasion. One fantastic resource for preparing music for funerals is available through Gary Pekala and CanticaNOVA. Another very good resource is this post by fellow blogger, Andy Motyka.

Also absent from the list of preparations is any mention of a “eulogy,” since this is not something integral to the funeral liturgy. I have given a fuller treatment of this topic here.

The question of where to hold the wake is also absent from the list. Fuller treatment of that issue is available here.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: CanticaNOVA Publications, Hymns Replacing Propers, Novus Ordo Lectionary, Propers, Requiem Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“There are no hymns, in this sense, till the fourth century; they were not admitted to the Roman office till the twelfth. No Eastern rite to this day knows this kind of hymn. Indeed, in our Roman rite we still have the archaic offices of the last days of Holy Week and of the Easter octave, which—just because they are archaic—have no hymns.”

— Adrian Fortescue (25 March 1916)

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