Catholic Funeral Traditions

This article is a part of our religious traditions series. Below we will help you understand the timeline of the services that take place for this religion and clarify any unfamiliar terms. Please note that our timelines start when the deceased is picked up by the funeral home and brought into their care. For information on what happens before a loved one is taken into the funeral home's care, read our article on what to do when someone dies.

Before you continue, we wanted to let you know that After Goodbye works with local funeral homes to list their services on our website. Funeral homes bundle commonly purchased services into packages for your convenience. You can see these packages, compare them across other funeral homes and personalize your arrangements from the comfort of your couch. Our services are completely free, find funeral homes near you now.

Does the Catholic church approve of cremation?

  • The Catholic church recognizes cremation as a valid method of disposition, but you should always first check with your local clergy if it is accepted. Therefore, we broke out the common timeline of services that may be chosen for both burial and cremation. It's worth noting that the same services for a burial, a vigil and a funeral service, can also still be held for a cremation. Even a graveside service can be held, if the plan is to bury the ashes. However there are other options that we will explain in the cremation funeral timeline below.

Burial Funeral Timeline

Below is a general timeline of the funeral services you can expect when working with a funeral home. Again, these timelines depend greatly on the type of funeral services you plan and the availability of the funeral home.

Day 1

  • The deceased is picked up by the funeral home staff and transported to the funeral home.

  • Immediate family and friends are notified of the passing.

Day 2 to 3

  • The family gathers the information required for filing a death certificate.

  • The family makes arrangements with the funeral home and schedules dates for the services to be held.

  • The family notifies of extended family and friends of any funeral services they've chosen.

Day 4

  • The vigil, sometimes called a wake or rosary service, is the first service in a catholic funeral ritual. This may also be referred to as a visitation by the funeral home, as it is a gathering of family and friend in the presence of the deceased. The purpose of this service is to come together as family and community to confront the reality of a loss. The term "keep vigil" refers to staying present in this moment of mourning by telling stories, reading scriptures, psalms and saying prayers. As often times saying prayers utilizes rosary beads, it has also been referred to as a rosary service.

Note - it is not uncommon to hold more than one day of vigil's to offer additional time for out of town family and friends to make travel plans for the funeral.

Day 5

  • The funeral service, sometimes called a funeral mass is a more religious service that will take place at either a church or funeral home chapel with the deceased present. The purpose is to gather family and community once again to give thanks to god for the life of the deceased and to return them to god through prayer.

  • The graveside service, sometimes called a committal service or last rites, will take place at the cemetery where the deceased will be buried. The purpose of this service is to be the final "physical" goodbye between those present and the deceased, until they meet again in the afterlife.

Cremation Funeral Timeline

Below is a general timeline of the funeral services you can expect when working with a funeral home. Again, these timelines depend greatly on the type of funeral services you plan and the availability of the funeral home.

Day 1

  • The deceased is picked up by the funeral home staff and transported to the funeral home.

  • Immediate family and friends are notified of the passing.

Day 2 to 3

  • The family gathers the information required for filing a death certificate.

  • The family makes arrangements with the funeral home and schedules dates for the services to be held.

  • The family notifies of extended family and friends of any funeral services they've chosen.

Day 4

  • The vigil, sometimes called a wake or rosary service, is the first service in a catholic funeral ritual. This may also be referred to as a visitation by the funeral home, as it is a gathering of family and friend in the presence of the deceased. The purpose of this service is to come together as family and community to confront the reality of a loss. The term "keep vigil" refers to staying present in this moment of mourning by telling stories, reading scriptures, psalms and saying prayers. As often times saying prayers utilizes rosary beads, it has also been referred to as a rosary service.

Note - it is not uncommon to hold more than one day of vigil's to offer additional time for out of town family and friends to make travel plans for the funeral.

Day 5

  • The funeral service, sometimes called a funeral mass, is a more religious service that will take place at either a church or funeral home chapel with the deceased present. The purpose is to gather family and community once again to give thanks to god for the life of the deceased and to return them to god through prayer.

  • The deceased is transported to the crematory where they will be cremated.


Note - There are other services you can select after cremation occurs, in place of or in addition to the above services. We have noted them under the "Additional Services" section below and continued the timeline as if the services were selected in addition to the above.

Additional Services:

Day 7 to 14

  • The memorial service, sometimes called a memorial mass, is held for the same purpose as a funeral service. The main difference between the two services is that an urn with the deceased's ashes is present for the memorial service, instead of the body. Since this service is not time sensitive, it is a good option for families looking for schedule flexibility for out of town family and friends to be a part of the service.

  • If you plan to bury the ashes, then you may also want to include a graveside service. A graveside service, sometimes called a committal service or last rites, will take place at the cemetery where the deceased's ashes will be buried. The purpose of this service is to be the final "physical" goodbye between those present and the deceased, until they meet again in the afterlife.

If you're looking for more information about funeral costs or planning a funeral, check out our funeral planning page for more articles and answers to your questions.

Other articles you may be interested in

Sources