Catholic Funeral Mass Program

The whole order, in sequence

This is a full funeral Mass as it is celebrated in an American parish, written the way it would appear in the program. It follows the Order of Christian Funerals, the ritual book used across the United States.

Introductory Rites: at the door

A Catholic funeral begins outside the church, not in it. The priest or deacon meets the coffin at the door with the family and the pallbearers, greets everyone, and sprinkles the coffin with holy water. This is a deliberate echo of baptism: the person is being received back into the church they were first carried into.

1. 1

   Greeting

   A few sentences of welcome. Short, and often the only moment in the whole liturgy that speaks directly to the family.

2. 2

   Sprinkling with holy water

   The coffin is sprinkled at the door. This is not optional decoration; it is the opening act of the rite.

3. 3

   Placing of the pall

   Family members spread the white cloth over the coffin. It is white because it recalls the baptismal garment. If your family is doing this, put their names in the program so the ushers know who to look for.

4. 4

   Entrance procession

   The coffin is led up the aisle behind the cross, followed by the family, while the entrance hymn is sung. The Paschal candle stands lit near the coffin for the whole Mass.

5. 5

   Placing of Christian symbols

   Optional. A Bible, a cross or a rosary may be laid on the pall. Nothing else goes on the coffin inside the church, which surprises families who wanted to place a flag or a photograph. Those are usually placed after the coffin leaves.

6. 6

   Collect

   The opening prayer, said by the priest with everyone standing. It closes the Introductory Rites and everyone sits.

Liturgy of the Word

Two readings, a psalm and a Gospel, then the homily. This is the part of the Mass the family shapes most, because you choose the passages and the people who read them.

The first reading is usually from the Old Testament, and during the Easter season it is taken from the Acts of the Apostles or Revelation instead. The responsorial psalm is sung by a cantor with the congregation answering the refrain. The second reading comes from the New Testament letters. Then everyone stands for the Gospel Acclamation and the Gospel, which is read by the priest or deacon and is never read by a family member.

The homily follows. It is preached on the readings and on Christian hope, and it is not a summary of the person’s life. A good priest will weave in what he knows of them, and it helps enormously to give him two or three real details a day or two beforehand. The Universal Prayer, also called the Prayer of the Faithful, closes this section: a series of short petitions read by a family member, with the congregation answering each one. Print the response line in the program.

Liturgy of the Eucharist

The altar is prepared and the gifts of bread and wine are brought forward. Family members are usually invited to carry them, and it is a quiet, visible role for someone who does not want to speak. Two people is typical; grandchildren often do it.

Then comes the Eucharistic Prayer, with the congregation joining in the Holy, Holy, Holy, the memorial acclamation and the Great Amen, followed by the Lord’s Prayer, the Sign of Peace, the Lamb of God, and Communion. Do not print the words of the Eucharistic Prayer in the program; print the congregation’s responses only, if anything.

Funerals draw people who do not go to Mass, and the Communion line is the moment they feel most exposed. One sentence in the program removes that: say that Catholics who are prepared may receive, that anyone else is warmly invited to come forward for a blessing with arms crossed over the chest, and that staying in the pew is equally welcome. Write it plainly and nobody has to guess.

Words of remembrance

After the Prayer after Communion, and before the Final Commendation begins, a member or friend of the family may speak in remembrance. This is where the eulogy goes at a Catholic funeral.

Practices vary by diocese and by parish, but the common shape is one speaker, three to five minutes, written out, with the text shown to the priest beforehand. That is not a lack of trust. It is because a speaker who has not written it down will run to fifteen minutes at a lectern in front of people they love, and everyone in the room can feel it happen.

If more than one person wants to speak, the vigil the night before is the place for it, and so is the luncheon afterwards. If you are writing the remembrance itself, how to write a eulogy has a structure that holds up when you are grieving, and eulogy examples has complete ones at the right length.

Final Commendation and Farewell

The last few minutes in the church, and for most families the part they remember. The priest invites everyone to pray in silence. The coffin is sprinkled with holy water again and incensed, the incense standing for the prayers of the people rising and for reverence toward a body that was a temple of the Spirit.

Then the Song of Farewell is sung, often a setting of the prayer that begins “Saints of God, come to his aid”, and it is the moment when the congregation is asked to let go. After the Prayer of Commendation, the coffin is led out, to the ancient antiphon that begins “May the angels lead you into paradise” or to a recessional hymn, and that carries everyone into the parking lot.

Print the Song of Farewell in the program by name even if the family did not choose it. People want to know what they are singing.

Rite of Committal at the cemetery

The committal is a short, plain service at the graveside, or at a columbarium or mausoleum. It usually runs fifteen to twenty minutes once everyone has arrived and parked, and it is often the point at which people are most tired and least sure where to stand.

A few practical notes. If the grave is not yet blessed, the priest blesses it as part of the rite. Not every family stays to see the coffin lowered, and there is no expectation that you do. If military honors are being rendered, the funeral director will coordinate them and they come after the prayers, not during; the flag is folded and presented to the next of kin. Put the cemetery name and address on the back panel of the program, because half the congregation will be following someone else’s car.

The vigil the night before

The vigil, still widely called the wake, is a separate liturgy held at the funeral home or the church, usually the evening before the funeral. It is where the family receives visitors, and in many American parishes it includes the rosary.

Its structure is simple: an opening song and greeting, a scripture reading, a short reflection, the prayer of intercession, the Lord’s Prayer, and a concluding prayer and blessing. Where a rosary is prayed, it is often prayed first and the vigil follows, or the two are combined.

This is the service where several people can speak, where friends tell the stories that would not fit in a funeral Mass, and where the atmosphere is allowed to be warmer. Families who feel constrained by the formality of the Mass usually find that the vigil is what they were looking for. A vigil rarely needs its own printed program; a single card with the order and the rosary intentions is plenty.

Choosing the readings

The Lectionary sets out the passages appointed for funerals, and the parish will hand you a booklet or a sheet of the options. These are the ones chosen most often. Pick one from each group, and read them aloud before you decide, because they sound different spoken than they look on a page.

John 14:1-6, which begins with the promise of many rooms in the Father’s house, and Wisdom 3, which begins with the souls of the just being in the hand of God, are the two most requested in American parishes, and neither is a cliché to the people hearing it. Psalm 23 is nearly universal; there is more on it, including how to lay it out in a program, in Psalm 23 for a funeral. For passages with the short ones marked, see scripture for a funeral program.

Use the parish’s translation on the printed program rather than one copied from a website, so that what people read matches what they hear.

Who does what, and what to decide first

Most of the Mass is not yours to arrange, which is a relief once you realize it. Here is the short list of decisions the parish will actually ask you for, usually in a single meeting with the priest or the parish funeral coordinator.

You are allowed to leave most of these to the parish. Saying “we would like Psalm 23 and Amazing Grace, and you choose the rest” is a perfectly normal answer, and every parish funeral coordinator has heard it. Nothing about the liturgy is diminished by a family that is too tired to pick a second reading.

Once the order is settled, it goes straight onto the inside panel of the booklet. The Catholic funeral program template has the whole thing as a fill-in-the-blank layout, and Reposa will assemble it into a print-ready PDF with the prayer cards to match. For other traditions and formats, start at the funeral order of service guide.