What color vestments would you like used at your funeral mass?

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Saxum said:
Black makes more sense to me because that’s what the mourners usually wear.
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Cultural differences have given us all sorts of funerary attitudes and traditions. I have always admired the celebration aspect of a funeral, and wouldn’t mind a New Orleans style of celebration. I think I will ask everyone to wear bright colors with no black. Even gold makes sense. No, we do not know a person goes straight to heaven, but we also do not know that he doesn’t, and yet we use black.

How about this. I want a funeral celebrated within context of the Mass of the day and whatever color used for that day.

I note no one chose red, btw.
 
pnewton said:
Cultural differences have given us all sorts of funerary attitudes and traditions. I have always admired the celebration aspect of a funeral, and wouldn’t mind a New Orleans style of celebration. I think I will ask everyone to wear bright colors with no black. Even gold makes sense. No, we do not know a person goes straight to heaven, but we also do not know that he doesn’t, and yet we use black.

How about this. I want a funeral celebrated within context of the Mass of the day and whatever color used for that day.

I note no one chose red, btw.
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I choose red, though it wasn’t a specific option in the poll. I actually don’t suppose I’ll care much about earthly matters then, but red will mean that my funeral is being celebrated in my own Byzantine tradition with the prayers that I have loved and found comfort in as I pray at others’ funerals. And if the priest should happen to choose another color, that’s fine with me. Just be sure to pray for my soul.
 
As far as I’m concerned, red (symbolism of other rites respected) in the Latin rite is the colour of martyrdom. In my view it would be very presumptious to wish to be regarded as a martyr at a funeral.

I would like people at my funeral to assume that I have gone to purgatory and to pray for my soul. Black symbolises this, as does violet.

White, in my mind, symbolises that the deceased has gone straight to Heaven and red symbolises a martyr’s death. In both these cases, prayers for the person’s soul would seem to be without purpose as the person is already in Heaven.

I would rather have a colour that symbolised that my soul needs praying for. Black symbolises this (and if black is not available then violet would be next choice, but no other colours).
 
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Brendan_64 said:
as I’m concerned, red (symbolism of other rites respected) in the Latin rite is the colour of martyrdom. In my view it would be very presumptious to wish to be regarded as a martyr at a funeral.
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And this speaks to cultural differences, which are reflected in in varying practices of the church. In the Ruthenian Church, dark red, along with other dark colors, is worn during penetential seasons…and funerals.
 
Brendan_64 said:
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I would rather have a colour that symbolised that my soul needs praying for. Black symbolises this (and if black is not available then violet would be next choice, but no other colours).
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Frankly, that would be violet—the color of penance.

The priest-celebrant at a funeral wears black because it is a color of mourning, not of penance.

In contrast, the traditional color for the deceased priest at his own funeral is violet, to symbolize his own penance for his own sins. He is in purgatory, so he is vested in violet. If he’s ever canonized, then his relics are vested in white (or red if a martyr).
 
Personally I like the hope for new life I see in the color green
 
KS_Housewife said:
Personally I like the hope for new life I see in the color green
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I can see that.

Many of the Eastern Churches use green at Pentecost for exactly that reason.

The rubrics don’t allow green for a funeral, but I can see the connection. In practice, I wouldn’t do it, but still I see the value.
 
Rose would be my second choice. It would allow for rose-colored vestments to be worn a 3rd time the year I reposed.
 
pnewton said:
I was wondering what the rules were, so I looked it up.
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Really?

I know you’ve been around here a long time. Discussing the color of vestments for Masses for the dead has been a longstanding tradition for November at CAF. We all know Thanksgiving is coming soon when the thread about funeral vestments pops up. It’s as predictable as the leaves changing, and as indispensable as football.

I would have thought you had the rubric committed to memory by now. 😁
 
FrDavid96 said:
I would have thought you had the rubric committed to memory by now. 😁
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The great thing about getting older is you can learn something for the first time more than once. 😀

Feel free to quote me on this one.:older_man:t2:
 
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pnewton said:
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FrDavid96:
I would have thought you had the rubric committed to memory by now. 😁
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The great thing about getting older is you can learn something for the first time more than once. 😀

Feel free to quote me on this one.:older_man:t2:
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I’ll look through the archives.

Let’s see here…November 2016…🔍🔎🔍🔎🔍🔎
 
I’ll leave that to my family to decide.

I just hope the priest and everyone who knew me talks about all my screw-ups so the remember to pray for me! Our culture just hates to speak ill of the dead. I hope they ignore that in my case.

Come to think of it, maybe I’ll go say a Chaplet for my deceased relatives and friends right now.
 
Hypothetically, I’d like green.

But if I even get a funeral mass I’d be thankful — no one in my family is Catholic. Maybe I should leave a video will specifically asking for a funeral Catholic Mass — lest I haunt them from (hopefully) purgatory.
 
Since I will probably have a Requiem Mass funeral since I attend the EF, I won’t get much say in the matter. All Requiem Masses have black vestments.
 
Frankly, it is not going to make one whit or scintilla of difference to me.

However, I have considered having a pine coffin, made by the Trappist monks of New Melleray, Iowa. At her request, I ordered one for my mother’s funeral.
 
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