SALT LAKE CITY — The Catholic faith teaches that death is not the end of a person’s existence, and that the bonds that were forged in life are not broken by death, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops states. For this reason, and to console those who are mourning the loss of a loved one, the Church’s funeral rites offer the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
The Vigil Service
Most Catholic funeral services begin with a vigil service or wake, during which “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).
Typically, family and friends visit during the vigil, which can take place at a funeral home. The vigil 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,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ An Overview of Catholic Funeral Rites.
The rosary may be recited during the vigil, or other prayers may be offered, along with reflections. One source for prayers is the Office for the Dead, which can be found in the Liturgy of the Hours.
The vigil is the appropriate place for a eulogy to be given.
Clergy and funeral directors can offer suggestions for how to plan a vigil.
The Funeral Liturgy
The Church considers the funeral liturgy the central liturgical celebration for the deceased; therefore, “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,” according to An Overview of Catholic Funeral Rites.
Rite of Committal
The Rite of Committal, “the final act of the community of faith in caring for the body of its deceased member,” according to An Overview of Catholic Funeral Rites, typically is celebrated at the cemetery or columbarium.
“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,” states An Overview of Catholic Funeral Rites.
Although the Catholic Church prefers her members be buried corporeally, “cremation has become part of Catholic practice in the United States and the around the world,” states the USCCB.
However, “Although cremation is now permitted by the Church, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body. The Church clearly prefers and urges that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites, since the presence of the human body better expresses the values which the Church affirms in those rites,” according to the Order of Christian Funerals.
If cremation is chosen, it ideally “would take place at some time after the Funeral Mass, so that there can be an opportunity for the Vigil for the Deceased in the presence of the body,” according to the USCCB’s Creation and the Order of Christian Funerals. “This allows for the appropriate reverence for the sacredness of the body at the Funeral Mass: sprinkling with holy water, the placing of the pall, and honoring it with incense. The Rite of Committal then takes place after cremation.”
Because the Church requires that the cremated remains receive the same respect that is given to the human body, “The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains [at] the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires,” states Cremation and the Order of Christian Funerals.
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