Catholic Graveside Service Only: The Rite of Committal

Many Catholic families hold the whole funeral at the cemetery: no vigil the night before, no Mass, just the family, a priest or deacon, and the grave. The Church provides for this. The service is called the Rite of Committal, and when there has been no funeral liturgy before it, the fuller form, the Rite of Committal with Final Commendation, is used, so that the farewell the Mass would have held is not lost. It takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Nothing about it is lesser.

When a graveside-only funeral is chosen

• A small family, or one scattered across the country, who can gather once.
• A person who was not practising but wished to be buried as a Catholic.
• A burial of cremated remains some time after a memorial elsewhere.
• Cost, distance, or a parish that could not schedule a Mass in time.

Any of these is reason enough. The parish will not refuse a committal because there was no Mass; ask the parish office or the funeral home to arrange a priest or deacon. Where neither is available, a trained lay minister may lead the rite.

The order of the Rite of Committal

The structure is fixed; the readings and some prayers are chosen from options. With the final commendation included, it runs like this:

Invitation  ·  the minister gathers the family and names the person
Scripture reading  ·  a short passage, often from the Gospels or Romans
Song of farewell  ·  sung or said, if the final commendation is included
Prayer of commendation  ·  the farewell on behalf of the Church
Prayer over the place of committal  ·  the grave or niche is blessed
Words of committal  ·  the body or the remains are committed to their resting place
Intercessions  ·  short prayers for the person, the family, and all who mourn
The Lord's Prayer  ·  said by everyone
Concluding prayer and blessing
A sign of farewell  ·  a flower placed, earth cast, a hand on the casket

Without the final commendation (because a Mass was held first), the song of farewell and the prayer of commendation are left out and the rite is shorter still. The minister will tell you which form applies.

The committal of cremated remains

The Church permits cremation. What it asks is that the remains be treated as the body would be: buried in a grave, or placed in a columbarium or mausoleum, in a single container, with the same rite. The Rite of Committal has its own wording for cremated remains, and the minister uses it; the family does not need to find a separate "committal prayer for cremation". The Church's 2016 instruction asks that ashes not be scattered, divided among relatives, or kept at home, so that the resting place can be visited and prayed at. If the family had planned otherwise, say so to the priest early; there is usually a way to honour the wish within the rite, such as burial at a place the person loved, where the cemetery is consecrated or the grave is blessed.

Who takes part

• The minister: a priest, a deacon, or a lay minister trained by the parish.
• A reader: one family member may read the scripture if the minister agrees.
• Pallbearers: six, if the casket is carried from the hearse to the grave.
• Everyone: the Lord's Prayer and the responses. Print them; many present will not be Catholic.

A eulogy does not belong in the rite itself. If someone wants to speak, the minister will usually allow a few words after the blessing, at the graveside, before people disperse.

Practical things

• Fifteen to twenty minutes, standing, outdoors. Chairs for the elderly; the funeral home or cemetery provides a few on request.
• Weather: the rite goes ahead in rain; a tent over the grave is usual. In a hard winter, some cemeteries hold the committal in a chapel and inter later.
• Military honors for a veteran happen after the blessing: the flag folded and presented, Taps. Tell the funeral home so the honor guard is arranged.
• Afterwards: a meal somewhere nearby is customary and often where the real remembering happens. Put the address on the program.

What to print

A single page is right: their photograph and dates on the front; the order above, the Lord's Prayer, and the address of the gathering on the back. The guide to graveside services covers the non-Catholic forms, and the Catholic funeral Mass guide covers the full funeral when a Mass is held.