Requiem Mass

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Hi. I have been serving Low Mass in the EF for a couple of months ( daily Mass ) as just a single server. I am an “older” server.

I was asked today if I would serve at a Requiem Mass this coming Thursday !.

There is literally nobody else available. I have have to say that the prospect fills me with terror.

I have attended one Requiem Mass in the EF in the past but have absolutely no experience and given how important it is to get it right, would appreciate any guidance anyone can offer.

My priest said that if I arrive early on the day he would give me some tuition, but I would prefer to be properly prepped before then !!. I hope someone out there can guide me. There is nothing really on the net about serving a Requiem sadly. Might be good if someone did publish something:) Thanks:)
 
bridekirk said:
Hi. I have been serving Low Mass in the EF for a couple of months ( daily Mass ) as just a single server. I am an “older” server.

I was asked today if I would serve at a Requiem Mass this coming Thursday !.

There is literally nobody else available. I have have to say that the prospect fills me with terror.

I have attended one Requiem Mass in the EF in the past but have absolutely no experience and given how important it is to get it right, would appreciate any guidance anyone can offer.

My priest said that if I arrive early on the day he would give me some tuition, but I would prefer to be properly prepped before then !!. I hope someone out there can guide me. There is nothing really on the net about serving a Requiem sadly. Might be good if someone did publish something:) Thanks:)
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There is relatively little difference, other than when the casket is met at the entrance of the church, before Mass, and the final sending at the end of Mass. No reason to panic. Most people would have no idea if you were not exactly on mark at any particular point; the family of the deceased is far more likely to be in grief than they are in critique mode of your serving, and it is entirely possible you will have people attending who have little or no familiarity of the EF to begin with and no clue as to what might be right/wrong/different of your serving.

Do everything with reverence and you will be fine; and whatever the pastor will tell you beforehand will be sufficient.
 
reggieM said:
You’ll know most of it from serving Low Mass. There are some adjustments to the prayers at the foot of the altar and especially at the end if it is a funeral ceremony,
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otjm said:
There is relatively little difference, other than when the casket is met at the entrance of the church, before Mass, and the final sending at the end of Mass.

Do everything with reverence and you will be fine; and whatever the pastor will tell you beforehand will be sufficient.
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I might also be helpful to have a look at a missal before hand. It will explain the differences in the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar (they’re shorter than usual), as well as give an idea of the processional and recessional.
 
Thanks so much for the info and advice 😊

I am slowly putting a picture together from various sources. E.g. no Holy Water Blessing in Sacristy, No kissing of Biretta or Crust, Waiting for appropriate time at Dies Irae. What is the order of procession going in and leaving and what will I be carrying ( if anything) Holy Water / aspergellium etc ?. Can you advise 're this? Thanks again!👍
 
bridekirk said:
Thanks so much for the info and advice 😊

I am slowly putting a picture together from various sources. E.g. no Holy Water Blessing in Sacristy, No kissing of Biretta or Crust, Waiting for appropriate time at Dies Irae. What is the order of procession going in and leaving and what will I be carrying ( if anything) Holy Water / aspergellium etc ?. Can you advise 're this? Thanks again!👍
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The easiest answer is that the priest will tell you and then you just carry whatever it is.
But there are 5 or 6 different types and styles of Requiem.
Low Mass or Sung Mass (or Solemn which I doubt you will have).
With incense or without incense for both.
With body present or without body present for both.

So actually multiply those options out and there’s more than 5 or 6 - but anyway.
With one server, you’ll either carry nothing, the processional cross, the Holy Water or the thurible. I don’t think it’s actually prescribed as part of the liturgy itself - it’s customary usages. But with one server, either the holy water or incense has to be set out and either one or the other carried.
 
OK, thanks again for all your help and advice 🙂 It will be a Low Mass I think, but yes there will be incense and Holy water I believe at the end when we walk anti clockwise round the casket
 
Here is a check list of differences. This assumes that the Requiem Mass is not a funeral Mass. Everything as in a normal Low Mass except:
  • At the prayers at the foot of the altar, the "Judicam Me’ psalm/response and ‘Gloria Patri’ is omitted.
  • There is no ‘Gloria Patri’ at the end of the Introit psalm.
  • No Gloria
  • There is a Tract after the Epistle followed by the ‘Dies Irae’ sequence which is rather long (19 verses). You may want to wait until verse 13 (Qui Mariam absolvisti,) before you rise to move the altar missal from the Epistle to Gospel side.
  • After reading the Gospel, the priest does not kiss the missal and you do not respond Laus Tibi Christi.
  • During the Offertory, do not kiss the cruets. Also the priest will not bless the water cruet before taking it from you.
  • The Agnus Dei is different. Do not strike your breast during the verses as we are not asking for the Lord’s mercy.
  • at the end of the Mass, the priest will omit the Ite Missa Est and substitute "Requiscat in pace’ to which you respond ‘Amen’ (not Deo Gratias).
  • Finally, there is no Final Blessing. The priest will move directly to the Last Gospel.
  • When you return to the sacristy, the priest will not give you a blessing.
Print it out and review it beforehand.
 
Hi and thanks for all your work !! I will keep this. In fact it is a funeral mass sorry to mislead 😦
 
May God give you the information you needed
in this thread and above all give thanx to God
for the privilege to send someone off to eternity!!
 
Also, bridekirk, you’ll clearly notice the solemnity of the setting and in general you will move a little more slowly. A funeral procession in the EF is slower than for a Sunday Mass, for example.
Additionally, you will see the black vestments and the funeral pall is also black.
The meaning and reason for this is a recognition of the grief felt by the loved ones in the loss. There is nothing wrong with being sad about this. Our society often frowns on expressions of sadness but in the Catholic faith it is not something bad. Our Lord wept at the death of Lazarus, as we know.
Finally, you will hear In Paradisum sung at the end and perhaps as a devotional exercise, review and pray the words in translation before - to get a feel for it. Speaking of tears, I have a hard time holding them back when I hear that.
It’s an amazing quality of “bright sadness” - or sadness and joy mixed. Heaven for the soul, but still a loss for us in the pews. We look up from the valley of tears to the angels, martyrs and the Holy Jerusalem.
Martyrs. That’s what it is all about.
 
Thanks to you all for both the practical advice and inspiring words. I feel strengthened by it, and with the knowledge that Our Lord will lead me I will do the best I can.

Thank you and God Bless you
 
Hi,

Well, I have now served my first Funeral / Requiem Mass and thanks to you all it seemed to go OK, despite my crib sheet falling out of my cassock sleeve right at the beginning and staring at me tantalisingly from afar !.

I know I had a few hiccups, but I feel fairly confident nobody noticed. It was a steep learning curve, but the intensity of the experience will ensure I know exactly what do do next time 🙂

Thanks again to everyone. !!😛
 
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