Need hymn suggestions for funeral mass

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Hello all,
Thanks for letting me post.
Wife is Catholic, I’m Episcopal. Wife’s grandfather has passed away at 102. Practicing Catholic all of his life. Funeral is in RI this Thurs.

Since I am the musician in the family (music degree), I have been given the task of selecting the music for the Funeral Mass. I have never been to the church where the Mass will be held and all I have been told is “they have an organ”. I plan on calling the organist with my suggestions, but I am not up to speed on the Liturgy. The church we attend at home uses accoustic guitar and flute (The Morning Has Broken Memorial Choir) so I am at a loss where to start. I grew up Methodist so my reference point is “A Mighty Fortress” and “O For A Thousand Tongues” etc etc.

Mother in law never attempts to sing at any service (even Christmas) so she doesn’t have a clue. I would like to suggest some nice hymns so Grandpa can go out in style.

We need ideas for
Entrance, Communion Hymn, Meditation, Recessional

Thank you very much
Paul in SC

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I’m very sorry for your loss. The first hymn to come to mind is “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” Adapted from Psalm 23 by Henry Baker.
 
My sincere sympathies to you and your family, Paul…

I think it depends what sort of mood you wish to set - obviously people are in mourning, but some hymns such as “Nearer My God to Thee” or “Abide With Me” (lovely though they are) are instantly associated with funerals and may be a bit too sombre for the family’s liking. On the other hand, the funeral is supposed to be a rite with a tone of hopefulness - looking forward to the resurrection, so you may want hymns which convey this hope.

As BeeSweet said earlier, “The King of Love My Shepherd is” is a beautiful hymn. I prefer when it is sung to the tune “St Columba” - I think the tune suits the words; but I think it is also sung to the tune “Dominus Regit Me”. This hymn is suitable for the beginning or the end of the Mass,

“Lord of All Hopefulness” (Hymn-tune: “Slane”) has a very appropriate text and is suitable for the entrance, as is “Be Thou My Vision” - sung to the same hymn-tune.

A hymn such as “Be Still My Soul” (tune: “Finlandia”) would be appropriate as a post-Communion reflection or perhaps as an offertory hymn. As for Communion time, a hymn with a Eucharistic text is obviously preferable - “Soul of My Saviour” (tune: “Anima Christi”) and “Sweet Sacrament Divine” (tune: “Divine Mysteries”) are two of my favourate ‘traditional’ hymns - they are strong hymns with beautiful texts.

For a recessional you could use the ‘Shepherd’ theme again with “The Lord’s My Shepherd” (tune: Crimond), or another beautiful one is “Lead, Kindly Light” sung to the hymn-tune “Sandon”.

If you are lucky enough to have a congregation which will sing, the above hymns are entirely appropriate as I think they all have strong melodies and words which suit the occasion, and I think they are generally well known.
 
Thank you very much for the kind suggestions. I’ve been doing a bit of research for the past few hours and here is what I have so far.

Mother in law wants nothing “dirgy” so that eliminates all of the beautiful minor key adagios!!!

Intro
Praise to the Lord the Almighty

Communion
Rejoice the Lord is King (?)
The King of Love my Shepherd is (?)
Soul of My Savior (thanks NPC)

Meditation
Be Thou My Vision
What Wondrous Love is This

Recessional
It is Well With My Soul (may be too Southern)
Not sure yet

Thanks
 
pgee said:
Thank you very much for the kind suggestions. I’ve been doing a bit of research for the past few hours and here is what I have so far.

Mother in law wants nothing “dirgy” so that eliminates all of the beautiful minor key adagios!!!

Intro
Praise to the Lord the Almighty

Communion
Rejoice the Lord is King (?)
The King of Love my Shepherd is (?)
Soul of My Savior (thanks NPC)

Meditation
Be Thou My Vision
What Wondrous Love is This

Recessional
It is Well With My Soul (may be too Southern)
Not sure yet

Thanks
Click to expand...
PLEASE check this out with MIL - because the deceased was a fine old Catholic fellow. As a Communion hymn, even if only presented as a quiet instrumental (and repeated):

“Panis Angelicus”

It is truly the classic for Communion, uplifting and reverent and NOT dirg-y.

Every Catholic in the Church (over age 50 yrs) will know the hymn by music if not by words.

It’s magnificently beautiful.
 
How about “Jerusalem, My Happy Home.” The tune is “Land of Rest.”

Betsy
 
At my parish, the closing song is always (unless it’s a priest’s funeral) “This Day in New Jerusalem,” adapted by Fr. (William) James Bessert.

I think it is an absoultely beautiful funeral song (if it’s done right) that is sad and happy at the same time-hard to explain, but I love it to pieces.
 
that one song - can’t remember the name - it’s in our hymn book ill try to find it because i think it might work sorry im not of more help right now. sorry about your loss.
 
Do you know if your wife’s grandfather had any favorite hymns? If so, perhaps you could include it/them. One song that my mother liked a lot was Holy God We Praise Thy Name so we used that as the closing song for her funeral. At first I wondered if it would be appropriate since it’s not exactly funereal. But what could be more hopeful than to leave the church while praising God?

I was at a funeral on Thursday and I don’t remember the words to the song, but the tune was Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. My first reaction was to be surprised, but if you really believe in eternal life, then it is a time to be hopeful.
 
Yes, the recessional at my father’s funeral was also Holy God We Praise Thy Name. It was appropriate because we were praising God for my father’s life, it was his favorite hymn, and he was a member of the Holy Name Society. Also, most Catholics know it so they would be likely to sing.

Praise to the Lord the Almighty is a good choice for the entrance hymn.
 
Well, being from the South, I am used to folks discussing their favorite hymns and making sure folks knew which ones they wanted. It’s quite common for older people to write out their wishes in advance these days, but Grampus wasn’t that type.

Unfortunately, my wife’s family doesn’t really think about music and/or how it can contribute to the service, so I’m quite free to do whatever. Maybe that’s a good topic for another thread!!!

I just want to suggest appropriate titles to the organist and then we can work out the details.

Many thanks to all who have responded. Grampus was a great guy who lived independent ly and drove daily until he fell about three weeks ago. Downhill fast from there. He lived a lovely life and provided generously to his children, grandchildren (sent two of them to college) and his great grandchildren.

.
 
I have always loved On Eagle’s Wings by Michael Joncas. They played it at my grandfather’s funeral over 25 years ago and I am still moved by it when I hear it. It is a beautiful and perfect song for a funeral, IMO. Here is the refrain…

*And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand. *

May the good Lord grant you wife’s grandfather eternal rest and may He truly anoint this celebration of his life. God bless!
 
Also, consider “Nearer My God to Thee.” It is a well-written, solemn hymn that can be used as a nice instrumental as well as vocal.
 
pgee said:
Thank you very much for the kind suggestions. I’ve been doing a bit of research for the past few hours and here is what I have so far.

Mother in law wants nothing “dirgy” so that eliminates all of the beautiful minor key adagios!!!

Intro
Praise to the Lord the Almighty

Communion
Rejoice the Lord is King (?)
The King of Love my Shepherd is (?)
Soul of My Savior (thanks NPC)

Meditation
Be Thou My Vision
What Wondrous Love is This

Recessional
It is Well With My Soul (may be too Southern)
Not sure yet

Thanks
Click to expand...
Ok, i’ve been playing for catholic funeral masses for years, so here’s what I suggest:

Entrance Song: I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Offertory Song: The King of Love My Shepherd Is

Communion: On Eagle’s Wings

Song of Farewell: May the Angels

Closing Song: Precious Lord, Take My Hand
 
The first liturgy I ever planned was my mother’s funeral Mass. She died during the Christmas season, but, the funeal occurred on the Monday after the Baptism of the Lord. This is what I chose for her:

Entrance:
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

Psalm: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Preparation: Ave Maria (this was sung at her wedding in 1965 and it was something that she requested for her funeral (she died of ovarian cancer)

Communion: We Have Been Told

Recessional: Sing With All the Saints in Glory

When my beloved grandmother died two years ago, her funeral Mass (which I also planned) was on the Thursday before Holy Week:

Entrance: Attende Domine

Psalm: My shepherd is the Lord, nothing indeed shall I want (her request).

Gospel Acclamation: Praise and honor to you O Lord, Jesus Christ (setting from the Worship III hymnal–sounds Gregorian and has a matching Kyrie)

Preparation: What Wondrous Love is This

Communion: We Have Been Told

Commendation: In Paradiseum

Recessional: Salve Regina (in Latin–Grandma had a great devotion to the blessed Mother)

Other good ones to use:

Entrance:
Jesus Christ is Risen Today (used for my maternal grandmother)
How Firm a Foundation (might be good for your grandfather)

Preparation:
Jerusalem, My Happy Home (already suggested)

Communion:
Panis Angelicus (staple down here)
Alleluia, Sing to Jesus

Recessional:
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
God, We Praise You --both of these are variations of the Church’s hymn of praise, Te Deum

Now, something else to consider, depending on how big the Church is, you could very well use the Litany of the Saints as the entrance hymn because the Church is asking for the saints to pray for your grandfather’s soul. There is a precedent for this, as the prayer was used for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Of course, when you have 115 cardinals, the papal household and the casket processing into St. Peter’s Square, you’re going to have a lot of saints in the mix. But, the normal litany isn’t that long.
 
benedictgal - re Panis Angelicus at Communion.

Staple down in Texas?
Also a staple in the Midwest (Chicago) and in California.
 
It is Well With My Soul is a beautiful piece. The story behind it is tragic yet inspiring.

Precious Lord, Take my Hand is also good.

We also did “Eye Has Not Seen” for my son’s funeral:

Eye has not seen
Ear has not heard
What God has ready for those who love Him.
Spirit of Love, come give us the mind of Jesus.
Teach us the wisdom of God.

(second verse)
Our lives are but a single breath
We flower and we fade
Yet all our days are in God’s hands
So we return in love what love has made.
 
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