“Offertory” at Catholic Funerals
This setting cleverly inserts themes from the absolution of the body.
Requiem
Place Me Among the Sheep, Not the Goats
The Dies Irae is part of why my choir prefers singing Requiems to Nuptial Masses. Here’s why you should spend a few minutes with this Sequence on All Souls Day.
Holy Souls in Purgatory • 15th-Century Missal Illumination
Detail from the Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau
Solemn High Mass with Faure’s Requiem on All Souls’ Day
Missa Solemnis to be offered at St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington, DC
A Requiem on All Souls Day at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
This work is based on the Gregorian Chants of the Requiem Mass. It was directly inspired by the Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the 2012 Sacred Music Colloquium in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Spirit of All Souls’ Day
A thought from Dietrich von Hildebrand
Four Real Reasons for Roman Catholic Funerals
The real purpose of a Roman Catholic funeral is not what most people think.
Will All Men Be Saved? 1
Hope vs. Certainty
A Midlife Crisis and My Funeral
At my funeral, please pray for my soul. Please don’t “celebrate my life” (do that after…) or “celebrate my resurrection.” Pray.
Preparing Funeral Liturgies
Who Should Pick the Readings?
Wakes in Church & Funerals at the Parlor
A Dramatic Reversal
All Souls — gave hope to me, too.
Do not miss the opportunities of All Souls Day, especially as it falls on a Sunday.
Living with Uncertainty
But blessings come and go. Crosses are plentiful. Uncertainty makes life scary. But, no matter who you are, rich or poor, lowly sinner or saint, these words are prayed (hopefully sung) in the funeral mass: “In Paradisum…”
It’s What We Do
Explaining how to handle death at so many funerals.
Funerals and Last Things
Having stable, familiar, unchanging plans in place can be very reassuring, rather than the pressure to be original and creative.