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Committal Service
Following
the service in the church, the body is brought to its final resting place.
Those related to the deceased continue to accompany him or her on this
third part of the final journey. The body is transported to the cemetery or
the mausoleum and there is committed to its place of rest. In a Catholic
cemetery the body is also committed into the care of the wider Church
community that is responsible for the cemetery and for the bodies of the
deceased placed within it.
"The
rite of committal, the conclusion of the funeral rites, is the final act of
the community of faith in caring for the body of its deceased member."
(OCF, 204) This service is
usually led by the priest who has celebrated the funeral Mass. In his
absence it may also be led by a deacon, a religious brother or sister, a
pastoral minister in the parish, by a friend or family member or by the
funeral director. (OCF, 215) The
person leading the service should offer the prayers designated by the
Church for the rite of committal.
The
committal service consists of a short reading from Scripture, a prayer
committing the deceased to his or her final resting place and commending
the deceased to God in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, a
series of intercessions for the deceased, the Lord’s Prayer and a blessing.
The
committal service begins with an Invitation to prayer. Those gathered are invited to pray
that the deceased may be welcomed to heaven and that one day they may be
reunited with the deceased in the presence of Jesus Christ. This invitation
is followed by a Scripture Verse taken from the New Testament.
A
Prayer over the Place of Committal follows. This prayer varies, usually
depending upon whether the place of committal is a Catholic or non-Catholic
cemetery. The Words of Committal then follow as the body is committed to
the ground or its place of interment. The actual committal may take place
at this time, or at the conclusion of the rite. Intercessions for the
deceased now follow. These intercessions may be read by someone other than
the priest, deacon or layperson leading the service. After these
intercessions, the Lord’s Prayer is prayed. This is followed by a
Concluding Prayer and a Prayer over the People. This final prayer varies
depending upon whether it is offered by a priest, deacon or by a layperson.
After
the prayer over the people, a
song may bring the service to an end and a gesture of leave-taking may take
place. For example, the mourners may place flowers or soil on the casket.
Burial, Entombment and Cremation
The final disposition of the
body of a deceased Catholic may take place in one of three ways. The body
may be buried in the ground, entombed in a mausoleum, or may be cremated
and the human remains then interred. While cremation is permitted, the
Church clearly prefers that bodies of its members be buried or entombed.
“The long-standing practice of burying the body of the deceased in a grave
or tomb in imitation of the burial of Jesus’ body continues to be
encouraged as a sign of Christian faith. However, owing to contemporary
cultural interaction, the practice of cremation has become part of Catholic
practice in the United States…” (Reflections
on the Body, Cremation, and Catholic Funeral Rites, Bishops’ Committee on
the Liturgy, 1997)
If
cremation is chosen as the final disposition of the body, the cremation
should take place after the church service and not before since Catholic
funeral rites are designed to be celebrated in the presence of the body.
After the vigil service and the church service, the body is taken to the
crematorium and there a committal service may be celebrated. When the
cremated remains or “ashes” are returned to the family, these cremated
remains are to be buried in a cemetery or entombed in a mausoleum. The committal
service may be repeated at this time. Our
reverence for the cremated human remains does not allow them to be
scattered, separated or disposed of in any other way.
In
other words, if the body of the deceased is to be cremated, the vigil service
and the church service take place as described earlier. The family and
mourners gather in the presence of the body for the vigil service. At the
appropriate time, the body is brought to the church for the church service.
After this service, the body is brought to the crematorium.
If
the mourners accompany the body to the crematorium, a rite of committal is
celebrated there. The mourners then depart, and the body of the deceased is
cremated at a later time. Some days later, the cremated remains of the
deceased are returned to the family. These cremated remains are then buried
in a cemetery or entombed in a mausoleum. When this occurs, the family
members and friends gather once more, now to commit the cremated human
remains to their final resting place.
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