Propers for funeral for unborn child
  • Hello all:

    I've been asked to provide music for a funeral for a stillborn child. I cannot find any information on music for propers (preferably in English) for such a Mass; I do recall the usual funeral propers do not apply.

    If you know of something, would you mind passing it along to me?

    Thank you, and please keep this child and his family in your prayers; the death occurred last week and the family has asked for a funeral, to take place next week.
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,084
    Why not p. 1379 of the Roman Missal:

    F. For the Funeral of a Child
    Who Died before Baptism
    Should a child whom the parents wished to be baptized, die before Baptism, the Diocesan
    Bishop, taking into consideration pastoral circumstances, may permit the funeral to be
    celebrated in the home of the deceased child, or even according to the form of funeral rites
    otherwise customarily used in the region.
    In funerals of this kind there should ordinarily be a Liturgy of the Word, as described in
    the Roman Ritual. Nevertheless, if at times the celebration of Mass is judged opportune, the
    following texts should be used.
    In catechesis, however, proper care is to be taken that the doctrine of the necessity of
    Baptism is not obscured in the minds of the faithful.
    Entrance Antiphon Rev 21: 4
    God will wipe every tear from their eyes,
    and there shall be no more death
    or mourning, crying or pain,
    for former things have passed away.

    Collect
    Receive the prayers of your faithful, Lord,
    and grant that those you allow to be weighed down
    by their longing for the child taken from them
    may be raised up by faith to hope in your compassion.
    Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
    who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
    one God, for ever and ever.
    Or
    O God, searcher of hearts and most loving consoler,
    who know the faith of these parents,
    grant that, as they mourn their child,
    now departed from this life,
    they may be assured
    that he (she) has been entrusted to your divine compassion.
    Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
    who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
    one God, for ever and ever.
    Prayer over the Offerings
    Graciously accept this offering, O God,
    as a sign of our devotion,
    so that, trusting in the designs of your providence,
    we may be raised up by your gentle and fatherly care.
    Through Christ our Lord.
    Preface for the Dead, pp. 622-631.
    Communion Antiphon Is 25: 8
    The Lord God will destroy death for ever.
    He will wipe away the tears from every cheek.

    Prayer after Communion
    Having received the Communion
    of your Son’s Body and Blood, O Lord,
    we ask you faithfully
    to comfort amid the sorrows of this life
    those whom you have graciously nourished
    by these sacred mysteries,
    so as to strengthen their hope of life eternal.
    Through Christ our Lord
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Thank you! Do you or anyone else have chant settings of those? If not, I'll take a crack at it.
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,084
    Attached are the relevant pages from Fr. Weber's Volume 4 of The Proper of the Mass, which is available for download for free.

    Weber.pdf
    407K
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    Votive Mass of the Holy Angels?
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    That was what was traditionally used in the preconciliar ritual for *baptized* children that died before attaining the age of reason, but the current Missal already has its own Order of Christian Funerals.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Thank you all! Got what I needed.
  • I've shared it before, but in the event that you still need a psalm:
    Psalm 116 (for infant death) The Lord protects the simple I was helpless but he saved me • Full score.pdf
    218K