LiturgyTools.net: Catholic Vigil for the Deceased - a planning template for funerals

This is an order-of-service template for the Catholic "Vigil for the Deceased".

This is a part of the overall Catholic funeral services, and usual happens the night before the main funeral service.

The worksheet has one line for each item that typically occurs in a funeral-vigil liturgy, and space to record the details: what readings and hymns, who is doing them, what key the music is in. It can be used along side other funeral planning advice sites/guidelines, to record the specific choices for a ceremony.

Downloadable template files

Micrsoft Word version, which you can change

PDF version, which you can print, but not change

This form is designed so that: everything fits on one page, and very major item is listed - so anyone can see at a glance what happens when.

It is is particularly intended for:

Family and friends, and whoever is helping them to plan the liturgical details of the funeral service
Musicians who need to know what they need to play / sing, and when it occurs in the service
Audio visual and other technical people, who need to know what equipment is needed where and when
Anyone else (eg sacristans, altar servers, photographers) who needs to know exactly which parts of the service are needed in.

And it may be useful for other people who have a role in the service but are nervous about knowing exactly when they need to carry it out etc.

See Catholic Funeral Templates - an overview (link coming soon) for more information about the overall funeral structure.

Always consult your local priest / ministers during funeral planning, to be sure of local customs, requirements etc.

This template is absolutely not a replacement for the official ritual books that specify the texts and detailed requirements for times of public worship. Instead, it is a tool that every involved in serving the liturgy (leaders, readers, musicians, technicians, sacristans, ushers, etc etc) can use to understand who does what, and when. If there is any disagreement between the ritual book for your area and the template, then the template should be changed to fit the ritual: the Microsoft Word file is for this, while the PDF version will always print nicely.

Make a copy of the template by right-clicking on these icons, and choosing the option (eg save target as, save file as) to save the file into your computer.