How to Arrange a Catholic Funeral Service

Series Summary

A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In the United States and Canada, in most cultural groups and regions, the funeral rituals can be divided into three parts: visitation, funeral and burial service. In this free video series, a licensed funeral director and embalmer provides help for planning a funeral after the passing of a loved one. Learn how to arrange a Catholic funeral service, how to arrange a cremation or how to behave at a funeral. Find out how to buy a cemetery plot, how to plan a wake and how to write an obituary. With this advice, coping with the death of a friend or family member will become a less complicated process.

Video Transcript

"Our topic today is to discuss how to arrange a Catholic funeral. A Catholic funeral is arranged pretty much the same as most any other funeral service except for some of the rudiments of the Catholic service that entail using the Catholic priest, using the Catholic church and using a few instruments that the funeral director has to use to handle the Catholic funeral. One of the differences is once the body is placed in the casket the casket then many times will have a crucifix placed in the cap handle or the lid of the casket. Usually there will be a crucifix placed behind the casket looking down on the casket and there will be a praydu which is a kneeling rail placed in front of the casket so that family members or friends when they come to pay their respects will walk up to the casket, kneel down, say a prayer and then visit with the family. The visitation itself is pretty much the same as it would be with a traditional Protestant funeral service. The only differences would be that there may be prayer cards available for the family to pick up or to select and have a prayer. There is usually rosary beads placed in the deceased's hands. The family or the friends will come up many times as I said and have a prayer but the main difference in the Catholic service and the Protestant service would be during the service itself which is usually always held at the Catholic church and the minister once you get to the Catholic church the priest will have a ceremony at the door of the church prior to proceeding or the processional down the aisle of the church itself. The ceremony during the Catholic funeral is very customonial. They go through the same basic rituals with each and every Catholic service. Many times they will add in the personal aspects but the Catholic part of it is usually pretty much the same from one Catholic funeral to the next Catholic funeral."