LiturgyTools.net: Catholic Funeral Mass planning template

This is an order-of-service planning template for the Funeral Mass - the longest part of a Catholic funeral service.

The worksheet has one line for each item that typically occurs in a funeral Mass 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 alongside other funeral planning advice sites/guidelines, to record the specific choices for your ceremony.

It is complementary to the Mass participants booklet template, which can be used to make a leaflet / worship-aid for people who are attending the Mass.

Planning templates

MS Word version - lets you change the contents eg add local feasts

PDF file - prints with exactly the same format you see on screen

To download a file, click a link above. You’ll be taken to a page were can either print it or save a copy of it onto your own computer.

This form is designed so that everything fits on two pages and every major action is listed: anyone can see at a glance what happens, and when, during the funeral Mass in a Catholic the church. It is is 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
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 what's going on.

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 (eg readers, pallbearers).

See Catholic Funeral Templates - an overview for more information about the overall funeral structure.

Consult your local priest / ministers during funeral planning, to be sure of local requirements and customs - because the overall funeral liturgy can have three parts, there may be some item that don't happen where they are show on the template.

This template is absolutely not a replacement for the official ritual books which have the texts and detailed requirements for times of public worship.

Rather, it is a tool that people 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.