Catholic Funeral Traditions

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.

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.

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