I was confused because this summer I was teaching my funeral choir SEP Introit, which they found very beautiful and has been singing 'Glory be' with it. Then I noticed that there's no "Gloria Patri' at the Introit while I was rehearsing with my chant schola for All Souls Missa Cantata.

Once again, I find it's very helpful to know how the Traditional Mass is done to understand and do OF Mass also.

Also, my pastor wants to do "Alleluia,The Strife is O'er' at the end of the funeral Mass, and told me that the Funeral Mass is about the resurrection, but it seems closer to Masses in Lent (also the instruction of not having organ solo even in OF) than Easter according to the tradition. Very interesting.

I programmed 'In Paradisum' at the end, but I was told that the parish has been using it during incensing the casket ( I'm new here, and it's better to follow how it's done right now), so we need another hymn at the end.

Thanks, Charles.
It's probably like giving kindergardners highschool materials. The parish is just not ready yet for 'advanced' sacred music.

My main confusion I think is that is funeral Mass about praying for God's mercy like in Lent, which I thought it was, or resurrection like in Easter? It seems that Vatican II has changed the concept (with the white vestment as well as having 'Alleluia' and etc), so hymns in the funeral Mass also reflect that?

Just by way of background on the OCF in the OF, the opening discussion in that ritual book frames the reformed ritual as follows:

1. In the face of death, the Church confidently proclaims that God has created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, has broken the chains of sin and death that bound humanity. Christ “achieved his task of redeeming humanity and giving perfect glory to God, principally by the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead, and glorious ascension.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 5)

2. The proclamation of Jesus Christ “who was put to death for our sins and raised to life to justify us” (Romans 4:25) is at the center of the Church’s life. The mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection gives power to all of the Church’s activity. “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the sublime sacrament of the whole Church.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 5) The Church’s liturgical and sacramental life and proclamation of the Gospel make this mystery present in the life of the faithful. Through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and eucharist, men and women are initiated into this mystery. “You have been taught that when we were baptized in Christ Jesus we were baptized into his death; in other words when we were baptized we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life. If in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5)

3. In the eucharistic sacrifice, the Church’s celebration of Christ’s Passover from death to life, the faith of the baptized in the paschal mystery is renewed and nourished. Their union with Christ and with each other is strengthened: “Because there is one bread, we who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:17)

4. At the death of a Christian, whose life was begun in the waters of baptism and strengthened at the eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds forged in life. The Church also ministers to the sorrowing and consoles them in the funeral rites with the comforting word of God and the sacrament of the eucharist.

5. Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just. The Mass, the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral.

6. The Church through its funeral rites commends the dead to God’s merciful love and pleads for the forgiveness of their sins. At the funeral rites, especially at the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice, the Christian community affirms and expresses the union of the Church on earth with the Church in heaven in the one great communion of saints. Though separated from the living, the dead are still at one with the community of believers on earth and benefit from their prayers and intercession. At the rite of final commendation and farewell, the community acknowledges the reality of separation and commends the deceased to God. In this way it recognizes the spiritual bond that still exists between the living and the dead and proclaims its belief that all the faithful will be raised up and reunited in the new heavens and a new earth, where death will be no more.

7. The celebration of the Christian funeral brings hope and consolation to the living. While proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and witnessing to Christian hope in the resurrection, the funeral rites also recall to all who take part in them God’s mercy and judgment and meet the human need to turn always to God in times of crisis.

The Dies Irae is all about the Resurrection. The General Resurrection, specifically, but without the Resurrection of Christ, it's nothing to sing about!

In the writing above by Msgr. Charles Pope, it is mentioned that Dies Irae is written originally for Advent and the Second Coming.
We believe in Resurrection and ask for God's mercy for our failures from our human weaknesses with humility, therefore we have hope.

I found the entire reflection is very helpful in understanding Funeral Mass in general, even if we may not sing it often.

Recessional ideas, if In paradisum won't be sung-
Be Thou my vision
The King of love my Shepherd is
Jerusalem, my happy home

agreed about the EF Requiem.
Please sing it when I need it!

P.S. We have previously addressed funeral hymns, based on the propers, if anyone cares --
http://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/uploads/2011/06/Funeral Hymns.pdf

Perhaps, through the month of November, we in the OF could think of programming more hymns for the repose of the holy dead?

They shouldn't be all that too hard too find, since the tradition of remembering them seems to have been observed across many Christian denominations until relatively recent times.

As an example, here's an easy one we've used for some time as a post-lude for the Sunday before Veterans Day.

ETERNAL REST, GRANT THEM
(Tune: “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”)

1. Eternal rest, grant them,
The souls of veterans,
O Lord, we pray;
And let eternal light,
Shine on them in Thy sight.
Re-cei-ve them, O Lord of Might,
W-i-thout delay.

2. Their battles, most unknown,
And scars, by Thee alone;
O Lord, we pray:
Re-qui-em Ae-ter-nam
Do-na-a E-e-is
Et Lu-x Pe-r-pe-tu-a
Lu-ce-at E-is.

3. And, Queen of Heaven, do
Remember all souls true,
Yet suffering;
Turn to them with thine eyes,
Which now see Paradise,
That the-y ma-y also rise,
Sal-ve Re-gi-na.

3. O Triune God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To Thee we sing:
Long may our land be bright,
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.

Except for the first line, the final stanza is cribbed straight from "My country 'tis of thee" (America):

Our father's God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

Therefore, attention should be paid to what is determined by this General Instruction and the traditional practice of the Roman Rite and to what serves the common spiritual good of the People of God, rather than private inclination or arbitrary choice.