Funeral processions
  • rarty
    Posts: 96
    The Roman funeral rite, as it came down to us, is set up to have two processions on foot: from the home of the deceased to the church, and then from the church to the grave.

    The old Ritual/Gradual prints a single antiphon and psalm to sing on the way to church, and then only In paradisum... and another antiphon and canticle for the way to the grave.

    OK, so that seems like some vestigial parts left over from some larger ceremony, since typical funerals simply do not have two candle-lit processions on foot, and haven't for a long time. And so it matches the typical practice, in which the coffin is simply carried in from (and back to) the front door, little different than the regular entrance/recessional of the Mass.

    But then the revised Ritual/Gradual really doubles down and makes the structure (home, church, grave) and processions even more clear (though also clearly optional) and greatly increases the music and psalms provided for each.

    It's nice, but is that something anyone has been able to incorporate, to any degree, into a parish setting: rural, urban, or small town? Or is it only pertinent where a funeral home and cemetery neighbor the church, or maybe a religious house?
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Rarty,

    In parts of the world which are less spread out than California (where I now reside), it isn't uncommon for short distances to exist from the geographical parish church and its surrounding houses and cemeteries.

    In a healthy Catholic world, processions exist, whether they take place from symbolic houses or real ones.

    In the northeastern U.S. -- where I grew up -- it is not uncommon to have funeral processions, long ones even, but they are by car - which makes singing a psalm and its antiphon a bit difficult.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,311
    I always wondered why, except in case of rain, why processions couldn’t begin on foot at the cemetery entrance with all of the servers and choristers per the rubrics.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen JonathanKK CCooze
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Since the vast majority of Catholic funerals in the USA occur on weekday mornings without choirs, it would be interesting to see how that would work. At national military cemeteries, the ingress and egress of the corteges is highly choreographed already.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Many of these rubrics and rites clearly are from a time when church and cemetery were in proximity to each other. These days, the no-longer-practicing children of Catholic parents show up for the funeral from hundreds of miles away. The deceased often has been ill for some years and pastors have been replaced since they were active. Many parishioners may no longer remember them. The cemetery is miles away or the remains are being shipped cross country after the funeral. I have been to too many funerals where there are no altar servers or candle bearers and the priest functions alone. The whole "procession" thing falls apart in practice.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    CharlesW

    Correct. My late parents' last parish was a rare Catholic parish in their neck of the woods with a small (I think filled except for additional interments in already committed plots) churchyard, but as my father as a WW2 veteran, they were buried 30 miles away in a vast national military cemetery that does several dozen interments daily - the arrival and sequencing of the corteges over a few hours are choreographed in real time via a telephone app, committals are done in one of the several committal shelters near the entrance, and burials are (unless the veteran was senior brass and/or a war casualty) done afterwards with no one other than cemetery staff present (there can be a dozen or more adjoining burials in the active sections of the cemetery each day, so this procedure is ruddered by the necessary logistics).
  • Reval
    Posts: 186
    As a hypothetical, let's say someone lived very close (less than one block) from his parish church. If he died, and had the funeral at the parish church, could the family request a processional from the home to the church? Would the family have a "right" to it? Has this ever been done since the funeral-parlor industry has taken over the care of the deceased?
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Actually, the funeral homes my parish has dealt with have been quite agreeable. I suspect most of them would cooperate. The problem might be nearly lame father, who is old, worn out, and no longer walks well. Older relatives might fall into the same category.
    Thanked by 1Reval
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 904
    We could make a "mix tape" (CD, flash drive, etc.) of gradual chants and distribute them for people to listen to in their cars during the procession.

    Or, more practically one could chant the In paradisum at the end of the funeral Mass in the church as the procession moves from the sanctuary to the outside regardless of whether people are getting into cars or walking to the cemetery. That doesn't take care of the procession to the church, but it's better than nothing.
    Thanked by 2PaxTecum hilluminar
  • PaxTecum
    Posts: 314
    @Earl_Grey

    This is precisely what I do.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Reval

    In at least some parts of the USA, you'd need to check with the municipal authorities to see if a parade permit was needed if streets were to be used.
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,311
    I think pretty much everyone does the In paradisum after the absolution, at least after traditional Masses. People try to do the Subvenite, but for example, where it is the custom (& I think improperly) to view the body at the church, it is hard to get someone to come and sing it and for the priest to do the initial rites.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    We sing the Subvenite at every Requiem, nearly.
  • PaxTecum
    Posts: 314
    At the final commendation (OF), the first text option for the blessing of the casket with insence (and holy water if it wasn't done at the beginning - though it typically is) is Saints of god come to his/her aid and Fr. Samuel Weber beautifully set that text to a simplified version of the subvenite responsory. I regularly use this as well.

    Traditionally the Subvenite is used prior to the beginning of the mass as the coffin enters church (if I understand correctly, please correct me if I am wrong). Generally there is no time for this.

    Can the Libera Me be used during the final commendation in the OF?

    I've always been slightly confused about these few things.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    Can the Libera Me be used during the final commendation in the OF?
    Yes, GR p696.

    In rural and Catholic parts of Ireland and Scotland there are still funeral processions from home, however they do not seem to be formally liturgical. As here where there are planes, cars and boats, but also a lot of procession on foot.
    Thanked by 1PaxTecum
  • PaxTecum
    Posts: 314
    In the small town my family is from in Italy, it is the custom to form a procession on foot from the church in the center of town to the cemetery which is about half a mile away. Typically the rosary is said with "eterno riposo dona a loro signore..." added after each decat.
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