The Mass of Christian Burial
St. Mary of the Assumption Parish
Dedham, MA 02026
(781) 326.0550 Fax (781) 326.1809
Name of Deceased:______Date of Funeral: ______
Funeral Home: ______Time: ______
Cemetery: ______
THE MASS
Words of Remembrance: At the beginning of the Mass, one family member or friend can say a few words in remembrance of the deceased. We ask that the speaker prepare and write out these remarks in advance and keep them to five minutes in length. Please note that the remarks should be respectful of the fact that we are in Church.
Read by: ______
READINGS
Old Testament: Reading: ______
Reader: ______
New Testament: Reading: ______
Reader: ______
Prayers of the Faithful Reader: ______
Presentation of Gifts (optional: usually 2-4 gift bearers)
Wine 1. ______
Water 2. ______
Ciborium/Paten 3. ______
Ciborium/Paten 4. ______
Music 1. Entrance Hymn ______
2. Responsorial Psalm ______
3.Offertory ______
4. Communion ______
5. Final Commendation______
6. Recessional______
Music for Funeral Masses--St. Mary of the Assumption, Dedham, MA
Music is a central part of the funeral Mass and can help in the grieving process. Music selections must be liturgical in nature and contain a sacred text. Although secular music is not permitted at the funeral mass, it can be included in a vigil service or reception following the mass. Requested music not on this list is subject to approval by the Music Director and the Pastor.
Recordings of this music can be found on www.youtube.com
Hymn texts can be found on www.hymnary.org
For assistance in selecting music, please contact St. Mary's Music Director, Kyle Bertulli at 774-277-2485
Processional--Please select one of the following.
Morning Has Broken
Amazing Grace
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Tunes: HYFRYDOL or BEECHER)
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Lord of All Hopefulness
Jerusalem, My Happy Home
I Know That My Redeemer Lives (Excluded in Lent)
Responsorial Psalm--Please select one of the following.
Psalm 23--The Lord is My Shepherd
Psalm 25--To You, O Lord, I Lift My Soul
Psalm 27--The Lord is My Light and My Salvation
Psalm 33--Lord, Let Your Mercy Be On Us
Psalm 42/43--Like a Deer That Longs for Running Streams
Psalm 63--My Soul is Thirsting For You, O Lord My God
Psalm 84--How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place
Psalm 90--In Every Age, You Have Been Our Refuge
Psalm 91--You, Who Dwell in the Shelter of the Most High
Psalm 103--The Lord is Kind and Merciful
Psalm 146--Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
Preparation of the Gifts--Please select one of the following.
Ave Maria (solo)--Schubert, Gounod, or other composer
Jerusalem, My Happy Home
Blest Are the Pure in Heart
There is a Balm in Gilead
Prayer of St. Francis (Make Me a Channel of Your Peace)
Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Christ Be Beside Me (Tune of Morning Has Broken)
Hail Mary: Gentle Woman
Communion--Please select one of the following
(two pieces can be selected for a larger gathering).
Panis Angelicus--solo (Franck)
The Lord's Prayer--solo (Malotte)
I Am the Bread of Life
Be Still My Soul
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Abide With Me
How Great Thou Art
Nearer, My God, to Thee
Jerusalem, My Happy Home
Prayer of St. Francis
Let There Be Peace on Earth
Final Commendation--Please select one of the following.
May the Angels Lead You Into Paradise
Jesus, Remember Me (TAIZE)
Song of Farewell (May the Choirs of Angels Come to Greet You)--Ernest Sands
O Lord, You Died That All Might Live (NAVY HYMN) (1 or 2 verses)
Celtic Song of Farewell (LONDONDERRY AIR)
Precious Lord, Take My Hand (one or two verses)
Recessional--Please select one of the following
I Know That My Redeemer Lives (Duke Street) (Excluded in Lent)
Love Divine All Loves Excelling (Tunes: HYFRYDOL or BEECHER)
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling
Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Amazing Grace
How Great Thou Art
For All the Saints (Excluded in Lent)
Let There Be Peace on Earth
Sing With All the Saints in Glory (HYMN TO JOY)
Blest Are They (Haas)
Hymns listed below are especially appropriate for those who served in uniform/military:
Battle Hymn of the Republic
America, the Beautiful
My Country 'Tis of Thee
For the Brave of Every Race (SALZBURG)
OLD TESTAMENT - FIRST READING
1. A reading from the book of Job 19:1, 23-27
Job answered and said:
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
They were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust:
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
The Word of the Lord.
2. A reading from the book of Wisdom 3:1-6, 9
The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men and women indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them and found
them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as
sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.
The Word of the Lord.
OLD TESTAMENT - FIRST READING
3. A reading from the book of Wisdom 4:7-15
The just, though they die early, shall be at rest;
For the age that is honorable comes not with the
passing of time,
nor can it be measured in terms of years.
Rather, understanding is the crown for people,
and an unsullied life the attainment of old age.
The one who pleased God was loved;
the one who lived among sinners was transported-
Snatched away, lest wickedness pervert one's mind
or deceit beguile the soul;
For the witchery of paltry things obscures what is right
and the whirl of desire transforms the innocent mind.
Having become perfect in a short while, this one
reached the fullness of a long career;
With a soul pleasing to the Lord;
Therefore, he sped him out of the midst of wickedness.
But the people saw and did not understand,
nor did they take this into account.
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and care is with his elect.
The Word of the Lord
4. A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah 25:6a, 7-9
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide
for all peoples.
On this mountain he will destroy the veil that
veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove from the
whole earth; for the Lord has spoken
On that day it will be said:
" Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the Lord for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!"
The Word of the Lord
OLD TESTAMENT - FIRST READING
5. A reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes: Chapter 3: 1-14
There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every affair under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from
embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
God has made everything appropriate to its time . . I recognize that whatever God does will endure forever; there is no adding to it, or taking away from it. Thus has God done that he may be revered . . . and God restores what would otherwise be displaced.
The Word of the Lord
6. A Reading from the Book of Isaiah: Chapter 35: 1-4
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert
shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom
abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of
Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Most
High, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a
fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will
come with justice, with the recompense of God.
God will come and save you."
The Word of the Lord
OLD TESTAMENT - FIRST READING
7. A reading from Proverbs 31: 10-31
When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing
prize. She brings him good, and not evil all the days of her
life.
She obtains wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful
hands.
Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from afar.
She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to
her household.
She picks out a field to purchase; out of her earnings she
plants a vineyard.
She is girt about with strength, and sturdy are her arms.
She enjoys the success of her dealings; at night her lamp is
undimmed.
She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the
spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her
arms to the needy.
She fears not the snow for her household; all her charges
are doubly clothed.
She makes her own coverlets; fine linen and purple are her
clothing.
Her husband is prominent at the city gates as he sits with
the elders of the land.
She makes garments and sells them, and stocks the
merchants with belts.
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs at
the days to come.
She opens her mouth in wisdom, and on her tongue is
kindly counsel.
She watches the conduct of her household, and eats not her
food in idleness.
Her children rise up and praise her; her husband, too,
extols her:
"Many are the women of proven worth, but you have excelled
them all."
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who
fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise
her at the city gates.
The Word of the Lord.
OLD TESTAMENT - FIRST READING
8. A reading from Ezekiel 34: 11-15
For thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after and tend
my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds
himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were
scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will lead them out
from among the peoples and gather them back to their own
country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel in
the land's ravines and all its inhabited places. In good
pastures will I pasture them, and on the mountain heights of
Israel shall be their grazing ground, and in rich pastures
shall they be pastured on the mountains of Israel. I myself
will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest says the
Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring
back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal,
shepherding them rightly.
The Word of the Lord.
3
NEW TESTAMENT - SECOND READING
1. A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans 5:5-11
Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has
been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has
been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet
died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with
difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a
good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will
we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were