Question on catholic funerals

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jesusmademe

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Is a burial mass really the same as a Requiem mass? There are some Youtube videos of burial masses but without the Requiem and thus the question. When is requiem mass celebrated. You would as a non-catholic with no catholic burial experience think that a burial mass would have the Requiem but burial masses is not neccesary a mass with requiem.
Why do I find videos of burial without Requiem?
It would not be strange if the videos where of protestant videos. They prayed for the deceased and that is good anyway. I have been to funerals in Svenska Kyrkan so please explain the Catholic tradition.
 
Yes, but why does the church celebrate requiem masses without the Requiem??? It confuses me!
How can you have a requiem mass without the Requiem??? Or maybe some of the parishoners or people at the funeral refuse to have the Requiem sung. Maybe they Only allow protestant hymns. And the church just went allong with that and accepted it.
What is going on? Why do some people say no to Catholic liturgical traditions? I am confused?
 
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What do you mean by ‘singing the Requiem’’?

Are you confused by the existence of various musical settings by famous composers, which are sometimes sung in classical music concerts?
 
Every funeral Mass I’ve been to has had the Requiem prayer said (in vernacular). Is there a particular reason you feel it isn’t a proper funeral Mass if the prayer isn’t sung/chanted?

Eternal rest grant unto him/her O Lord. And May perpetual light shine upon him/her.
May his/her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
 
“Requiem” is the first word of the Latin funeral Mass in the Catholic Church.

In the Catholic tradition, “Requiem” was used as the name for the whole funeral. Even though Catholic funerals are rarely celebrated in Latin nowadays, they are still called “requiems” at least in English speaking countries.

Similarly, the word has been adopted by many non Catholics for their own funerals
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mfac11 said:
Every funeral Mass I’ve been to has had the Requiem prayer said (in vernacular). Is there a particular reason you feel it isn’t a proper funeral Mass if the prayer isn’t sung/chanted?

Eternal rest grant unto him/her O Lord. And May perpetual light shine upon him/her.
May his/her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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Actually, this prayer isn’t part of the funeral liturgy (i.e., the Mass in church). (IIRC, it shows up toward the end of the committal.)
 
I will check with my parish priest and/or deacon or even our cantor (who knows a whole lot about music and traditions during the Mass) tomorrow about requiem Masses and funeral Masses. I have only been to one Catholic funeral, with the body of the deceased present, in Sweden so I need some more information before I reply. The other one was a requiem Mass, in a language that I don’t speak, so I am not sure what was said or sung.

I have been to several funerals in the Swedish Lutheran church so I’ll try to remember what is done in a slightly different way or not at all. I’ll be back sometime tomorrow or on Monday.
 
It is a funeral without the Requiem intrioutus. Nowadays there is a protestant hymn instead.
What is going on? This is my confusion.
Heiligenkreutz (I Think is the correct name of the abbey) said that most People had Requiem introitus as their favorite chant. Why then do People have protestant hymns instead?
There should be a valid reason.
I am no cradle catholic so i dont understand what is going on.
 
At all Massses for the dead that I have attended in the Cathedral the Requiem were sung.
I have never asked my spiritual director about this but it is my experience that is non-catholics and converts who say that a hymn rather then the introitus is aprotestantizing of a catholic tradition… most of us like Den blomstertid nu kommer but not at a Mass in the summer although it is one of my favourite hymns. A famous hymn about death could work at a funeral but I would still want the introitus at a catholic funeral mass.
Cradle Catholic ussually never really talk like this as much.
 
My guess is you are referring to the Introit? This is optional, the family may choose it or select a hymn.

If it is important to you for your funeral, go ahead and plan your Mass with your parish. Parishioners often do this, we keep in their parishioner record the music, the readings, any special instructions. When/if you move parishes, you simply move your funeral instructions. This sort of pre-plan takes so much off of your family when they are grieving, it is a work of mercy!!
 
Just because the author of the text or tune is a protestant doesn’t make the content of the song protestant. It could be in harmony with Catholic teachings. If not, some words might be changed so it will be or the song would not be sung at all.

The Catholic hymnbook Cecilia would be a lot thinner as there were very few Catholic hymns written in Swedish from the 17th century until the first half of the 20th century. You have to take into consideration that from 1593 all Swedish citizens had to be members of the Lutheran church and there was even a death penalty or being forced to leave the country if someone wanted to be Catholic, for a Swedish citizen in Sweden from 1617 until 1873. In the year 1900 there were about 2500 Catholics in the whole country. After WWII, workers from southern Europe immigrated to Sweden and that is when the Catholic Church started to grow.
 
OP, you seem to be quite passionate about something that’s a legitimate (and thus thoroughly Catholic) option for funeral Masses. That’s fine. Just be careful you don’t conflate your personal preferences with proper liturgy to the point that it becomes your way or no way.
 
Is it that People want hymns or is it that they dont know much about Gregorian chant?
I have heard that People even sang hymns in the medieval Times but I am no expert.
If you rather sing hymns than have Gregorian chant then please explain. I am just wondering.
 
jesusmademe said:
Is it that People want hymns or is it that they dont know much about Gregorian chant?
I have heard that People even sang hymns in the medieval Times but I am no expert.
If you rather sing hymns than have Gregorian chant then please explain. I am just wondering.
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If I could have Gregorian chant for my whole funeral Mass, I would love it…but that ain’t going to happen. 🙂
 
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There is one Catholic Mass for the Dead. It is not strictly speaking called a “Requiem” Mass, but in Latin, Liturgia defunctorunm: missae pro defunctis (Liturgy of the dead: Mass for the dead).

The Requiem is only one option, but the best-known one, for the Introit. There are a total of seven possible introits that can be licitly used, in the Graduale Romanum. The others are:

De necessitatibus meis eripe me; Ps 24, introit for Friday in the first week of Lent
Ego autem cum iustitia apparebo; Ps 16 from Thursday of the second week of Lent
Intret oratio mea in conspectu tuo; Ps 87 from the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (coming up tomorrow at the abbey!)
Si iniquitatis observaveris, Domine; Ps 129 from the 28th Sunday in OT
Sicut oculi servorum in manibus; Ps. 122 from the first Monday in Lent
Verba mea auribus percipe, Domine. Ps. 5 from the first Thursday in Lent.

All psalms numbered according to the Vulgate.

Only one, “Requiem in aeternam” is proper to the Mass for the dead. The others are all used at various other Masses. In Eastertide, only one Introit is prescribed: Ecce oculi Domini (Ps 32)

The Liturgy of the dead includes the Mass of course, but also the vigil with the deceased, first station at the home of the deceased, procession into the church, second station: in the church (the Mass for the dead), the procession to the cemetery, and third station at graveside. It’s unlikely that most will ever experience more than the Mass for the dead unless one is the pope or a cardinal!

These are all described in the 1974 Graduale Romanum which is the official chant book for Gregorian chant in the post-Conciliar church.
Techno2000 said:
If I could have Gregorian chant for my whole funeral Mass, I would love it…but that ain’t going to happen.
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It is possible if you have your funeral in Sherbrooke, QC, where the Gregorian schola I sing with will gladly do your funeral in Gregorian chant for a very modest stipend. We have in fact done many. I like to say “we sing at funerals and a wedding” because we’ve sung at many funerals, but only 1 wedding in the 16 years I’ve been singing with them (and that’s cheating: it was the wedding of the daughter of one of our choristers, but I digress). We’ll even add the Dies Irae if you request it and the pastor allows it…

Personally I want chant at my funeral as well! I’d choose, from the options:

IN: Requiem in aeternam
GR: Laetatus sum (Ps. 121: I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”)
AL: In Exitu Israel ex Aegypto (Ps,. 113)
TR (if I die during Lent): De profundis (ps. 129)
OF: De profundis (Ps. 129)
CO: Lux aeterna (IV Esdr.) or Qui Manducat (John 6:57)
 
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Do you have a trained Schola at your parish? Are you willing to step up to the plate and recruit, train and lead a Schola?
 
jesusmademe said:
it that People want hymns or is it that they dont know much about Gregorian chant?
I have heard that People even sang hymns in the medieval Times but I am no expert.
If you rather sing hymns than have Gregorian chant then please explain. I am just wondering.
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I would rather have hymns. I like listening to Chant for meditation, but it’s not my preference for most liturgy. I’ve planned many funerals—we always chose the perfectly legitimate option of hymns.
 
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