You will need to inform the parish office of the death of your loved one so that we can pray for them. Please contact the Parish office.

You will need to approach a funeral director who will guide you through all the practical details and costs. In the first place, the funeral directors will liaise with the family, the church and the cemetery or crematorium to find a date and time for the funeral to take place. Once this date is agreed, please contact the parish office for an appointment with Fr Martin who will celebrate your loved one’s funeral. Please contact the Parish office.

The focus of a Catholic funeral is to offer worship and thanksgiving to God, the author of all life; to pray for the deceased, and to offer support to the bereaved. It is a religious service where we express our Christian hope that those who have gone ahead of us marked with the sign of faith may one day rise in glory. This normally takes the form of the celebration of a Requiem Mass, the highest form of prayer in which the Sacrifice of Christ himself is made present. In offering this Sacrifice, we commend to God the soul of the deceased in union with Christ himself. However, there may be circumstances when a family request the more simple Funeral Service.

Fr Martin will guide you through the three main things that you will have to consider whether you decide to have a Requiem Mass or a Funeral Service for your deceased loved one:

i) The Scripture Readings

ii) The Sacred Music

and

iii) the option of having a eulogy

All the readings must be taken from the Bible as these best express our hope that our dead share in the death and resurrection of Christ. In every age and culture, The Word of God is a source of encouragement and consolation for the faithful of God. It is Jesus who speaks when the Scriptures are read in church. Even when we read these readings to ourselves privately we are invited to listen for the voice of the Lord of Life.

Here is a selection of “funeral” readings for you to consider a collection of the readings approved for use at catholic funerals.

At every Catholic service there is at least one reading from scripture. At a Requiem Mass there are usually two and sometimes, three readings: a Gospel reading which is read by the priest or deacon and a reading taken from elsewhere in the Old or New Testaments.

It is important to choose a reader or readers who will proclaim the word of God in a clear, audible and confident manner. You want people to hear the reading(s) that you have chosen for your deceased’s funeral. Sometimes a family will ask someone to read who has never stood up in public to read, let alone at a funeral. When they do read at the Funeral, it is clear how uncomfortable they are when doing so. The key is to choose a person who is likely to be able to contain their emotions and communicate the scripture reading with clarity and meaning.

If you are struggling to find a reader, please say so and Fr Martin will help you.

Some families choose not to have intercessions. Others do. The choice is yours.

If you do decide to have intercessions and have someone to read them, then you can compose your own or use some of the following suggested prayers: 

Intercessions for a funeral

All the music during the Requiem Mass or Funeral Service must be drawn from the repertoire of Christian hymns and compositions that express our faith in the Crucified and Risen Christ.

Non-religious music, such as, popular music can be requested through the undertakers for crematorium services or used at any social gathering you might have after the funeral.

When considering what to sing, do take into account the make up of the congregation and how they will respond to the invitation to sing. Try and choose hymns that people are familiar with and are likely to sing. Here are some suggestions of popular and appropriate hymns for a funeral: Funeral Hymns

This is when a member of the family or someone close to the family speaks briefly (three or four minutes) about the deceased. This is not a biography of the deceased but an attempt to describe why the deceased was so important to the family, to distil their essence and to thank God for who they were and what they gave in their earthly lives. 

There is no obligation to have a eulogy and some families decide that they wish to remember their deceased loved one in a more private and less formal fashion. 

Other families decide that they do want a eulogy and that there is someone who will write and be able to deliver the eulogy on the day of the funeral. To speak more personally about a deceased loved one is not an easy thing to do. No one, especially family members, should feel under any pressure or sense of duty to give a eulogy.

If you decided to have a eulogy, we strongly advise that you write it out in full so that the eulogy remains focussed and succinct. 

Should we have a reception afterwards?

This is up to the family but the informal atmosphere of a reception is the best place for the display of photos and the use of popular music enjoyed by the person who has died or is associated with them by others. These things can encourage conversation and the sharing of personal memories of the one who has died, in ways that are especially helpful to the bereaved, to family and friends.