My grandfather, who was Catholic passed away. None of the rest of the family really knows anything about traditions since we are all protestant. The priest of the church he used to attend handled a lot of stuff (ie: last rights, and running the funeral ceremony), but he was not very helpful in telling us anything else that needed to be done now that the funeral is done. Sadly, my grandfather's old priest is no longer in the area, and the new guy is not very helpful. He sort of acts like we are heathens or something because we are not Catholic. Regardless, we wanted to do things the "proper Catholic way" because that was what my grandfather would have wanted.
We heard that you can give some amount of money to the church to have some sort of mass dedication, but don't know if that is typical...or how much is expected. Any advice would be appreciated.
[ December 05, 2006, 02:09 AM: Message edited by: Lupus ]
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
*bumping this in case our Catholic's didn't see it*
(I have been to many Catholic funerals, but have no idea of the stuff "after" that you are talking about)
FG
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
quote:We heard that you can give some amount of money to the church to have some sort of mass dedication, but don't know if that is typical...or how much is expected. Any advice would be appreciated.
We did this at my old parish. There was a big book with the intentions for that mass written in it. You could choose any date/mass time you wanted. It did require a donation, but I don't know how much. The names were read during the general intercessions (short prayers that are read after the creed is recited). They'll also read the name of those who have died the week prior, so if you want to get a mass intention for your grandfather, you might want to choose another date that was special to him, such as his birthday.
I'm not a practicing Catholic right now, so one of the other Catholics on the board may be able to give you more information.
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
I think the donation is customary rather than required. I'm not sure what the rate would be. The last time I had an intentional mass said I donated $25.
Posted by katdog42 (Member # 4773) on :
$5 is usually the donation to have a mass said, those this is certainly not required in most places. It's fairly customary to have a mass said for a deceased loved one, especially on the first anniversary of their death.
Otherwise, there really aren't any expectations on your part (and the mass is also definitely optional... you don't have to do that).
If you have more questions just ask. Kat
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
I want to reiterate that, at least at our church, people who have passed are named in the prayers during that week. This is separate from any donation or mass intention. You do need to let someone (usually the parish secretary) know if they don't already. I wouldn't necessarily leave that up to the priest.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
Yeah, the mass dedication is somewhat typical it is by no means necessary. Certainly it's a nice thing to do, but I wouldn't be too worried if you didn't have it done.
As has already been said, all that's really required is a funeral service (mass is optional) and a non-cremated burial.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Cremations have been allowed since 1963*. It is preferable to do it after a funeral mass with the body present, but it is okay to do them after with the cremated remains - the liturgy is slightly different.
*edit to add: as long as the purpose of cremation is not for some reason that is contrary to Christian teaching.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
okay - now that last statement got me curious.
How would some purposes of cremation be contrary to Christian teaching?
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Since I think the original reason for not allowing cremations is that they were a pagan ritual (and some theological stuff about the resurrection of the body about which I am a little vague - surely if God can fix whatever killed you in the first place...) perhaps the Church wouldn't approve of a cremation as part of a pagan rite?
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Well, the deceased could want his wives and servants burned along with him.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
my bad, I knew it was an older thing about cremations, but wasn't sure if that had been lifted.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Yeah. They lifted part of it in 1963 and part in 1997.
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
Cremations are allowed, but only if the ashes are burried or placed in some form of vault, i.e. not scattered or kept on a mantle.