Mass for the Dead in English: What Is Said, and in What Order
A Catholic funeral is not a service with a eulogy bolted onto the middle. It is a Mass, with its own prayers, its own readings, and its own farewell, and almost all of it is said in words you can follow. This page is the order of a Mass for the dead in English: what the priest prays, what the Church asks for the person by name, and where in the rite your own dead can be named.
Four different things people call "a Mass for the dead"
The phrase covers four practices, and knowing which one you are asking for saves a confusing conversation at a parish office.
- The funeral Mass. The body or the urn is present. The Church's full rite for the dead: welcome at the door, the Mass itself, the final commendation, then the committal at the grave.
- A memorial Mass. The same Mass for the dead, celebrated without the body, often weeks or months later, or in a second city where family could not travel. It is not a lesser Mass.
- An anniversary Mass. Offered on the date of death, or on the birthday, or in November. One intention, one name.
- The thirty Gregorian Masses. Thirty consecutive days of Mass for one person. The old form for the dead, usually asked for in the first month after a death.
At the door: the welcome
The priest meets the coffin at the entrance of the church and sprinkles it with holy water, the water of baptism, because the Mass for the dead is the completion of a baptism and not a separate ceremony. A white pall is then laid over the coffin if there is one, which is the garment given at baptism; the point is that everyone is buried in the same cloth, whatever they could afford in life.
The Easter candle stands beside the coffin, lit. It is the candle of the Resurrection, and it is there to say without words what the prayers will say at length.
The entrance: Eternal rest
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
The Mass begins with that antiphon, the same words every time, whether the person was a bishop or a stranger, and it is the reason the old name for this Mass is the Requiem: the first Latin word of this chant. Then the collect, which asks God for the person in the language the Church uses for its dead, forgiveness and rest and light. If you have ever wondered why the opening prayers of a funeral feel calm rather than dramatic, this is why: the Church is not arguing a case, it is asking for mercy.
The readings you will hear
The Church gives families a choice, and the choices say a lot about what it thinks death is.
- Wisdom 3. "The souls of the just are in the hand of God." The oldest reading in the funeral set, and the one most often chosen.
- Romans 8. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Usually paired with a hard death, and often with a sudden one.
- John 11, the raising of Lazarus. Jesus weeps at the tomb, and then calls his friend out. The shortest verse in the Bible is in this reading, and it is the one that does the most work.
- John 14. "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places." The reading for a funeral where the family needs the promise stated plainly.
- John 6. The bread of life. Chosen when the family wants the connection between the Mass and the dead made explicit.
A family may choose a relative or a friend to read, and in most parishes the readings must come from this list. If you have been asked to read, ask the parish office which text has been chosen rather than preparing your own.
The Eucharistic Prayer, and the memento of the dead
This is the centre of the Mass for the dead, and the part most people do not know is there. Inside the Eucharistic Prayer, at the point where the priest remembers the living and the dead, there is a prayer for the person by name. In the second Eucharistic Prayer it runs like this:
Remember also, Lord, your servant N., whom you have called from this life. In baptism he died with Christ: may he also share his resurrection, when Christ will raise our mortal bodies and make them like his own in glory.
In the third Eucharistic Prayer the Church widens it out to all its dead and then names the person:
Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection, and all who have died in your mercy: welcome them into the light of your face. Have mercy on us, we pray, and on all who have fallen asleep in Christ, that with the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and all the saints, we may praise you through your Son, Jesus Christ.
If you take one thing from this page, take this: at a Mass for the dead, the name of the person is prayed out loud inside the Eucharist itself, at the altar, with the bread and the wine on it. Everything else in the rite is arranged around that moment.
The Final Commendation
After Communion, before the body leaves the church, the Church says goodbye in a set of responses that is older than any of the languages it is now said in.
Saints of God, come to his aid. Come to meet him, angels of the Lord. Receive his soul and present him to God the Most High.
The priest then walks around the coffin with holy water and incense, and the Church prays that Christ, who called the person, will take them to himself, and that angels will lead them to the bosom of Abraham. The words for a woman are the same, with her in place of him. Then the body is carried out, and the last thing sung is the farewell:
May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your coming and lead you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.
At the grave the rite continues with the committal, which is short: a prayer, a blessing, and the earth. If the family has chosen cremation, the committal may happen later, with the same words.
What the singing is, and what it is not
The traditional chant for this Mass includes the Dies irae, a long and dramatic poem about judgment. It is no longer part of the ordinary form of the funeral Mass, though it survives in chant recordings, in the older form of the Mass, and in the concert settings of Mozart and Verdi. If you hear it at a Catholic funeral today, you are hearing a choice rather than a requirement.
"Amazing Grace" is asked for at many funerals and is not part of the Church's liturgical books, so where it is sung, it is usually outside the parts of the Mass that belong to the rite. The music proper to a Mass for the dead is chant and hymnody written for it, and a parish musician will usually steer a family toward that if asked.
The order of the Mass in one table
| Part | What happens | Where your dead are named |
|---|---|---|
| At the door | Sprinkling with holy water, the white pall, the Easter candle | In the opening greeting |
| Entrance | Eternal rest, the collect | In the collect |
| Word | Two readings, psalm, Gospel, homily | Usually in the homily and the bidding prayers |
| Eucharist | Offertory, preface, Eucharistic Prayer, Communion | In the memento of the dead, by name |
| Farewell | Final commendation, incense, In Paradisum | Throughout, and in the responsory |
| At the grave | The committal | In the committal prayer |
How to ask for one in English
If you are arranging a Mass for someone who has died, the request itself takes one sentence. Give the name the person was baptised with, and say what you are asking for: "I would like a Mass offered for the repose of the soul of Maria Kowalski." Add the date of death if it is recent.
Then choose the number. One Mass is the ordinary request. Three on consecutive days are a triduum, nine a novena, thirty the Gregorian Masses. Leave the offering the diocese has set; Canon 945 calls it a stipend and not a price, and no priest may take more than the amount fixed for his diocese. Ask for the date, and ask how the name will be announced, because that is the part families most often do not know to ask.
If there is no parish within reach, or the parish diary is full into next year, a Mass can be requested online and celebrated by a Catholic priest elsewhere. It is the same sacrifice, on a different altar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Mass for the dead the same as a funeral Mass?
A funeral Mass is a Mass for the dead with the body or the urn present. The prayers are the same when a memorial Mass is celebrated later without the body, and the Church does not treat it as a lesser celebration. Both are the Mass, offered for one person by name.
Can a Mass for the dead be said in English?
Yes. Since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council the funeral rites are celebrated in the language of the people, so in the United States, Britain, Ireland, and Australia a Mass for the dead is normally said in English. The chants may still be sung in Latin, and In Paradisum often is.
Can I have a Mass said for someone who was not Catholic?
A Mass can be offered for any of the dead, and the Church does not require you to prove anything about the person's faith. Speak to the parish priest; in practice Masses are requested for non-Catholic parents and spouses, and the intention is simply that God be merciful.
How long does a Mass for the dead last?
About an hour, usually a little less without a long homily. A funeral Mass with music, a eulogy, and the final commendation runs closer to seventy minutes. The committal at the grave adds fifteen minutes.
What is the difference between a Mass intention and a funeral Mass?
A Mass intention is the person or purpose a Mass is offered for, and every Mass has one. A funeral Mass is a particular rite in which that intention is the person who has died, celebrated with the body present. An anniversary Mass is an ordinary Mass with the same intention for the same person.
Have a Mass offered for your dead, in English. One Mass, a triduum of three, a novena of nine, or the thirty Gregorian Masses. The celebrated date comes back by email.
Request a Mass Intention →Catholic Mass for the Deceased → · All Souls' Day Mass → · Catholic Prayers for the Dead → · How to Pray for the Dead → · Mass Intentions Explained →
Having a Mass said for someone who has died
Most people do this once: after a funeral, or in the first November that follows a death. Nobody explains what happens next, so here is the order of things.
- Give the name the person was baptised with. “Repose of the soul of Elena Ruiz” is already a complete intention. If the death is recent, say the date too — in November every parish office is holding dozens of slips of paper.
- Decide how many Masses. One is the ordinary request. Three on consecutive days make a triduum, nine a novena, thirty consecutive days the Gregorian Masses — the old form for the dead, usually asked for in the first month.
- Choose the altar. Your own parish, a monastery, a shrine. If your parish diary is full into next year, another Catholic priest is not a second-best option: it is the same sacrifice.
- Leave the offering. Canon 945 calls it a stipend, not a price, and the diocese sets the amount, not your budget. Here: $10 for one Mass, $30 triduum, $90 novena, $325 for the thirty Gregorian Masses. A virtual candle is $4.99.
- Ask for the date and ask how the name is announced. Some parishes print intentions in the bulletin, some read them before the offertory, some keep a book in the sacristy. Write the day down.
- If you cannot be there, pray at that hour. From 1 to 8 November a visit to a church or a cemetery, with confession, Communion and a prayer for the Pope, carries a plenary indulgence that may be applied to the dead.
No parish within reach? Leave the name here and a celebrated date comes back by email.
Offer a Mass for your dead this November
The amount is already filled in on the secure form. Candle $4.99 · one Mass $10 · triduum $30 · novena of nine $90 · thirty Gregorian Masses $325.