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Suggested Music

A list of appropriate and common choices for music at a funeral liturgy is provided here for your convenience. Song numbers refer to the parish’s Glory & Praise hymnal.
 

If you have a religious song or musical request not on the list, please discuss your ideas with the music director; in general, almost any song from the parish’s Glory & Praise hymnal would be suitable.

 

Many Catholics are unaware that the Church has preselected suitable texts to be chanted at funeral Masses. Those texts, very often passages from Scripture, have an ancient and venerable history of being sung at Catholic funerals. Instead of recently composed songs, if you would prefer to have any or all of the Church's proper antiphons from the Mass for the Dead chanted in either Latin or English, the music director can provide that too. Scroll down to the section below the online form to see the antiphon texts, graphics of their musical notation, and for embedded recordings of the music director chanting them so you can hear how they sound being sung.

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If you opt for songs to be sung during the entrance procession and during Communion, short versions of the proper entrance and Communion antiphons for a Catholic funeral Mass will still be chanted before those songs begin.

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Click on a song's title to listen to a sample recording:

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Proper Antiphons for a Funeral Mass

The texts, music, and recordings below are the default or most common proper chants for funeral Masses. Catholic funeral rites provide for more options than these. If you are familiar with the options in The Roman Missal or in the Graduale Romanum and would like to choose an option other than what are presented here as samples, please bring it up with the music director. If you prefer to have songs at the funeral instead of these chants, then ignore this section and return to the top of this page.

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Besides chanting the antiphon, one or more verses would be sung between occurrences of the antiphon for as long as is needed to cover the liturgical action. Communion, for example, would have lots of verses sung to cover the time it takes for the assembly to receive Communion.

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You may notice that the English and Latin versions of the chants are sung to very similar melodies; that's because the English chants have been composed to resemble the original and ancient Latin Gregorian chants as much as possible. Due to that, it is easily possible to sing both the Latin and English texts by alternating them, if you would like to have the chants sung in both languages.

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If you click on the PDF link below, you can view a sample handout that was used at a funeral that featured all the Church's proper chants. A combination of English and Latin chants were chosen for that funeral. Since these chants are not in the parish hymnal, if you opt to have these chants sung at the funeral, a handout like this would be provided for guests at the funeral Mass at no additional charge so that people could follow along and perhaps even join in the singing. The printed handout folds into a four-page booklet:

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English

 

Entrance

Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her.

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Offertory

Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord.

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Communion

Let perpetual light shine upon him/her O Lord, with your Saints for ever, for you are merciful.

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Final Commendation (this is the default for all funerals)

1. Saints of God, come to his/her aid! Hasten to meet him/her, angels of the Lord! (R:) Receive his/her soul and present him/her to God the Most High.

 

2. May Christ, who called you, take you to himself; may angels lead you to the bosom of Abraham. (repeat response)

 

3. Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her. (repeat response)

 

Recessional

May the angels take you into paradise; may the martyrs come to welcome you on your way, and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of angels welcome you, and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have everlasting life.

Eternal rest
00:00 / 00:49
Out of the depths
00:00 / 00:42
Let perpetual light
00:00 / 00:46

Latin

 

Entrance

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

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Offertory

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine exaudi orationem meam. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

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Communion

Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.

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Final Commendation

1. Subvenite sancti Dei, occurite angeli Domini. (R:) Suscipientes animam eius: offerentes eam in conspectus Altissimi.

  

2. Suscipiat te Christus, qui vocavit te: et in sinum Abrahae angeli deducant te. (repeat response)

 

3. Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine: et lux perpetua luceat ei. (repeat response)

 

 

Recessional

In paradisum deducant te angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.

Requiem aeternam
00:00 / 01:33
Lux aeterna
00:00 / 00:50
De profundis
00:00 / 01:32
May the angels
00:00 / 00:47
In paradisum
00:00 / 01:00
Antiphons
Dies Irae

The Dies Irae Chant

The Dies Irae is a traditional Latin chant for Masses for the dead. The video linked to below shows me chanting it with another cantor; I'm the vocalist on the right. The Dies Irae is not often chosen for funeral Masses, but it is an option, should you want it sung.

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Click here to watch the video.

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