Funeral Mass advice
  • jczarn
    Posts: 65
    First of all, please pray for the repose of the soul of my father, who died unexpectedly earlier this week.

    I will be singing all of the music for the Funeral Mass (Ordinary Form) tomorrow, but still had a couple of questions because I don't have access to a copy of the Order of Christian Funerals (and this parish is not accustomed to doing anything other than a 4-hymn sandwich). Everything will be Gregorian chant, expect for a couple of Polish hymns that a friend of my Mom will be singing for post-Offertory and post-Communion.

    1) When do I sing the introit? I was told that the casket will be brought into the back of the Church, at which point a pall will be placed over the casket. Do I sing the introit before this happens, while this happens, or after this happens?

    2) Kyrie or no kyrie? I read this thread: http://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/7242/kyrie-when-penitential-rite-is-omitted/p1
    but I still came out kind of foggy. The music director at the parish says no Kyrie, since the penitential act is replaced by the reception of the body. It seems to me that since the Kyrie is not necessarily part of the penitential act, that the explanation he provided is incorrect. However, is there some explicit instruction elsewhere that they Kyrie is to be omitted during a Funeral Mass? If I am supposed to sing it, when do I sing it?

    3) For the Final Commendation, I will be singing "In Paradisum". Will it be obvious when I am supposed to start and finish singing?

    Anything else I need to know?

    Thank you all for your advice and your prayers!
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    I was instructed to not use a kyrie for funerals, although the priest didn't explain why. You definitely need to coordinate everything with the officiating priest. I can't answer all your questions, but may the soul of your father rest in peace, and may his memory be eternal.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Wow, sorry to hear about your father! :(

    As Charles says, and I would like to reiterate strongly: SPEAK TO THE PRIEST. No one here can tell you what the priest will want and do. Let him know EXACTLY what you will be singing, even to the point of showing him the music, and make sure you're crystal clear what you're doing when. Priests can be rather individual about funerals, so it's best to get your info from the horse's mouth.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    Exactly, Gavin. Although with one priest I worked with, I am sure my information came from the other end of the horse. :-)
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • Chris HebardChris Hebard
    Posts: 124
    May he rest in peace.

    1) The celebrant greets the procession at the back of the church, and pronounces a blessing while he sprinkles the casket with holy water. After the blessing, begin the Introit. The pall is placed on the casket, and the procession moves into the church. If you can, prolong the Introit until the mourners are settled in their pews, and the celebrant is at his chair. Caution: some priests like to add an explanation while the pall is being placed.

    2) No Kyrie. (Order of Christian Funerals, USA 1989, ## 162--164.)

    3) After the prayer after communion, and after any words of remembrance, the celebrant approaches the casket, and invites the people to pray (## 170--171). Then the rubrics prescribe "All pray in silence" (#172), which I find is rarely observed. As soon as the priest starts to prepare the thurible, begin singing the Last Farewell. If you're keeping it all chant, you can use the one of the responsories "Subvenite" or "Credo quod redemptor meus" (pp. 696--697 in the Gregorian Missal, 1990), while the priest circles the casket with incense. When the celebrant finishes the incense, he says a prayer of commendation. Then the celebrant (or deacon) says "In peace, let us take N. to his place of rest." At this point, start "In Paradisum." Caution: some priests like to recite "May the Angels" at this point.

    Review with the celebrant beforehand.
    Thanked by 1jczarn
  • jczarn
    Posts: 65
    Wow, thank you all for the prayers and information you all have given. I will definitely contact the priest; it has just been difficult since the parish secretary would not/could not put me in contact with him because today is his day off. He has (along with the parish music director) already approved the "program" that I have come up with (with some odd stipulations, such as "you must have at least one hymn" and "the our father must be recited, not chanted"). However, I agree that I should double check everything with him.

    The information you have all given me at least helps me to know what I need to ask in whatever limited time I have with him before Mass tomorrow morning.

    Thanks again!
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    I believe that it is usual for the casket to already be inside the church before the funeral starts, in which case, the introit is sung during the entrance of the sacred ministers.

    Why no Kyrie? I've never been to a funeral or requiem that didn't have one.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen ClergetKubisz
  • Chris HebardChris Hebard
    Posts: 124
    hartleymartin--

    The original post stipulated the ordinary form, and that the casket was to be received at the church for the Mass. In that case, the rubrics that I cited above are clear.

    Occasionally I have attended funerals where the casket was brought to the church for a vigil prior to the Mass. In such cases, "the Mass begins in the usual way" (OCF # 158).
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    "the Mass begins in the usual way"


    "Good Morning!"
  • ClergetKubiszClergetKubisz
    Posts: 1,912
    "Good Morning!"


    Thomas Day had something to say about this phrase...
  • WiesOrganista
    Posts: 128
    In 23 years, I have never done a Kyrie or seen a pall placed on the casket at the back of the church. Interesting. Honestly, nowadays, I farm almost all my funerals out just so I don't have to play "On Eagles Wings".
    Thanked by 2CharlesW Hilary Cesare
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    I will strafe your house with F-16s,
    Blow you into kingdom come....

    Yeah, I detest that one, too. Unfortunately, "musicians" who should have known better, played that trash so it will come back and haunt the rest of us forever. Yuck!
  • jczarn
    Posts: 65
    Thank you again for all of your help. I was a little nervous, simply because I have much more experience singing for EF Masses than for OF, but everything went smoothly (and the Mass was celebrated surprisingly reverently, given my experiences attending Mass at that parish several years ago).

    If it's of help to anyone down the line, I have attached the program/"worship aid" (with personal info removed) that I put together for the Mass. Yes, I know a word doc is probably not the best format for something like this, but I just modified it from a template I found floating around the internet a while back. It probably won't display correctly if you are using OpenOffice or anything like that, so I also attached the pdf in case anybody wanted to look.
    FuneralMassProgramGeneric.doc
    2M
    FuneralMassProgramGeneric.pdf
    2M
  • MarkThompson
    Posts: 768
    Looks nice and simple. You'll want to correct the one place (at the very end of the pdf) where it says "Requiem aeternum."
  • janetgorbitzjanetgorbitz
    Posts: 968
    Corrected Word document with correct spelling of Communion verse...
    FUNERAL PROGRAM-OF-Latin.doc
    2M
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