At St. Mary of the Assumption, we accompany families in their time of loss with the hope of Christ’s Resurrection. The following resources will help you understand how the Catholic Church celebrates the funeral rites, what is permitted in the liturgy, and how to prepare.
Dear Friends,
When we lose a loved one, our hearts are heavy. On behalf of the parish, please accept my sympathy and prayers. In times of grief, families often wonder: “Why should we have a Funeral Mass and Catholic burial? Can’t we just keep things simple?” Let me share just a few reasons why the Funeral Mass is such a gift.
1. Because the body matters.
Our loved one’s body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). It hugged, worked, and loved. At the Funeral Mass, we honor that body and commend it to God, trusting Jesus’ promise: “I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:40).
2. Because the Mass is more than memories.
The Funeral Mass is not just “saying goodbye,” it is Christ Himself offering His death and resurrection for the soul of our loved one. St. Monica once told her sons: “Only this I ask, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord” (Confessions IX, 11).
3. Because burial is an act of hope.
When we bury the dead, we are not “covering over,” we are planting a seed. St. Paul says: “What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable” (1 Cor 15:42). The cemetery is not the end, it is God’s garden of resurrection.
4. Because prayer helps our loved ones.
St. John Chrysostom preached: “Let us help and commemorate them... our offerings for the dead bring them consolation” (Homily on 1 Corinthians 41:5). No tribute or poem is greater than the prayers of the Mass, where heaven and earth unite. And yes, a little humor: I often tell families, “If I die, please don’t scatter me in Walmart’s parking lot. Bury me like a Christian, then go eat some cake in the hall. But first, give me a Funeral Mass — I’ll need all the prayers I can get!”
Final Word
The Funeral Mass is not about rules, it’s about love — love for God, love for the person we’ve lost, and love for the hope we share in Christ.
In Christ’s mercy,
Fr. Arokia Dass David
Pastor
SCHEDULING A FUNERAL AT ST. MARY'S
Please call the parish office (435) 649-9676. A bereavement ministry coordinator will get back to you. Please note, a date cannot be finalized until the availability of the priests can be checked.
WHAT TYPE OF FUNERAL SERVICE SHOULD I DO?
"The Catholic funeral rite is divided into several stations, or parts, each with its own purpose. For this reason we recommend following the complete structure and making use of each station."
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
VIGIL SERVICE (WAKE)
"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, no. 56). The Vigil Service usually takes place during the period of visitation and viewing at the funeral home. It is a time to remember the life of the deceased and to commend him/her to God. In prayer we ask God to console us in our grief and give us strength to support one another. The Vigil Service can take the form of a Service of the Word with readings from Sacred Scripture accompanied by reflection and prayers. It can also take the form of one of the prayers of the Office for the Dead from the Liturgy of the Hours. The clergy and your funeral director can assist in planning such service. It is most appropriate, when family and friends are gathered together for visitation, to offer time for recalling the life of the deceased. For this reason, eulogies are usually encouraged to be done at the funeral home during visitation or at the Vigil Service.
FUNERAL LITURGY
The funeral liturgy is the central liturgical celebration of the Christian community for the deceased. When one of its members dies, the Church encourages the celebration of the funeral liturgy at a Mass. When Mass cannot be celebrated, a funeral liturgy outside Mass can be celebrated at the church or in the funeral home. At the funeral liturgy, the Church gathers with the family and friends of the deceased to give praise and thanks to God for Christ's victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God's tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery. The funeral liturgy, therefore, is an act of worship, and not merely an expression of grief. "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, no. 56).
The Vigil Service usually takes place during the period of visitation and viewing at the funeral home. It is a time to remember the life of the deceased and to commend him/her to God. In prayer we ask God to console us in our grief and give us strength to support one another. The Vigil Service can take the form of a Service of the Word with readings from Sacred Scripture accompanied by reflection and prayers. It can also take the form of one of the prayers of the Office for the Dead from the Liturgy of the Hours. The clergy and your funeral director can assist in planning such service. It is most appropriate, when family and friends are gathered together for visitation, to offer time for recalling the life of the deceased. For this reason, eulogies are usually encouraged to be done at the funeral home during visitation or at the Vigil Service.
RITE OF COMMITAL (BURIAL OR INTERMENT)
The Rite of Committal, the conclusion of the funeral rite, is the final act of the community of faith in caring for the body of its deceased member. It should normally be celebrated at the place of committal, that is, beside the open grave or place of interment. In committing the body to its resting place, the community expresses the hope that, with all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, the deceased awaits the glory of the resurrection. The Rite of Committal is an expression of the communion that exists between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven: the deceased passes with the farewell prayers of the community of believers into the welcoming company of those who need faith no longer, but see God face-to-face.
WHY A CATHLIC FUNERAL?
PLANNING THE MASS
At the funeral Mass, there will be two readings, a responsorial psalm, and a Gospel reading. You may choose the following options. For parish funeral guidelines, please click HERE.
OLD TESTAMENT READINGS
2 Maccabees 12:43-46
He made atonement for the dead.
Judas, the ruler of Israel, took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind; for if he were...
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
There is an appointed time for everything.
There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn...
Job 19:1, 23-27
I know that my Vindicator lives.
Then Job answered and said: Oh, would that my words were written down! Would that they were inscribed in a record: that with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever! But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust...
Wisdom 3:1-9 or 3:1-6.
The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they...
Wisdom 4:7-14
An unsullied life, the attainment of old age.
But the just man, though he die early, shall be at rest. For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time, nor can it be measured in terms of years. Rather, understanding is the hoary crown for men, and an unsullied life, the attainment of old age. He who pleased God was loved...
Isaiah 25: 6. 7-9
He will destroy death forever.
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces...
Lamentations 3:17-26
It is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the Lord.
My soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is; I tell myself my future is lost, all that I hoped for from the LORD. The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall; remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me. But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope...
Daniel 12:1-3
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.
I, Daniel, mourned and I heard this word of the Lord: “At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep...
RESPONSORIAL PSALMS
Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”
Psalm 27 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation."
Psalm 42 – “My soul is thirsting for the living God."
Psalm 103 – “The Lord is kind and merciful.”
NEW TESTAMENT READINGS
Romans 6:3–9
We too might live in newness of life.
Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life...
Romans 8:31b–35, 37–39
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Brothers and sisters: If God is for us, who can be against us? He did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died...
1 Corinthians 15:51–57
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Brothers and sisters: Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility...
2 Corinthians 4:14–5:1
What is seen is transitory, what is unseen is eternal.
Brothers and sisters: Knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. Therefore, we...
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
We shall always be with the Lord.
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord...
GOSPEL READINGS
The Gospel reading will change based on the deceased.
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