Help in arranging a funeral at St Mary's and St John Bosco
When you come to arrange a funeral, you may have had recent contact with the Parish Priest at St Mary’s and St John Bosco in connection with the sickness of your loved one, or it may be a long time since you or the deceased had any contact with the Church.
Either way you can be assured that our Parish Priest and community of St Mary's and St John Bosco will welcome you and do all they can to help you with the funeral arrangements.
Firstly you will need to contact an undertaker and you can find a list of local undertakers in Yellow Pages.
Your undertaker will co-ordinate the availability of the Priest, the Church and the cemetery or crematorium.
There is no longer any prohibition on Catholics being cremated and assuming that a decision has already been made between cremation and burial, the main choice you will need to make is whether to have a funeral service or a funeral Mass at the Church before the buirial or cremation.
If in doubt, talk to the Parish Priest about this and come and see him anyway or ask him to come and visit you at home to discuss the details of the service.
A non-Catholic spouse who dies can have a Catholic funeral if, during their lifetime, they showed a particular attachment to our Parish.
The undertaker should be aware (but may need reminding!) that no firm arrangements should be made for the funeral until they have spoken to the Priest as he may have other arrangements which he cannot change or the Church may already be booked for something else.
In planning the service, bear in mind that secular music and readings are not normally permitted in a Mass and that the homily is primarily an exposition of Catholic faith in the Resurrection rather than a tribute to your loved one.
If you wish someone to speak about the deceased, this is more appropriate after Holy Communion and secular music or readings should be left to the service at the cemetery or crematorium.