What the program prints, and what it leaves to the priest
A worship aid is not a script of the whole Mass. Print the items guests need in order to participate — the hymn titles and numbers, the reading citations, the responsorial psalm response, and the points where the congregation stands, sits or kneels. The prayers the celebrant says are not reprinted; nobody follows those from paper.
On a folded bifold that leaves the inside-left panel for the Mass order and the inside-right for the obituary or life story. If the vigil and the committal are both being printed for the family, they usually go on the back panel above the acknowledgement, in a smaller size. The general order-of-service page shows the same layout for a non-liturgical service, and the wording page has copyable lines for the cover, acknowledgement, and closing.
Readings, psalms, and the music
The Order of Christian Funerals provides a set of readings to choose from for each part of the Liturgy of the Word, and the parish will hand you the list. Print the citation rather than the text — “First Reading — Wisdom 3:1–9” — because citations are short, unambiguous, and never a copyright question. The responsorial psalm is the exception worth printing in full: guests are asked to say the response aloud, and they can only do that if it is in front of them.
Music is where programs most often go wrong. Hymn texts still in copyright need a parish reprint licence, and the licence number usually has to be printed on the aid itself. Public-domain hymns carry no such condition. If you would rather avoid the question, print the hymn title and number from the parish hymnal and let the book do the rest. Our poems and verses library is public-domain and KJV throughout, for the back-panel selection.
If it is a cremation, or a memorial Mass
Catholic practice permits cremation, and where the diocese allows it the cremated remains may be present at the Funeral Mass, treated with the same reverence as the body. If the remains are interred before the Mass, what you are planning is a memorial service instead: the reception of the body and the rites attached to it drop out, and the program is shorter by those items. Ask the parish which it is before you set the heading line — it changes the words on the front panel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the order of service at a Catholic funeral?
Catholic funerals follow the Order of Christian Funerals, which sets out 3 rites: the Vigil for the Deceased (the wake), the Funeral Liturgy — normally a Funeral Mass — and the Rite of Committal at the grave. The Funeral Mass itself runs from the reception of the body at the church door, through the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, to the Final Commendation and the procession out. Your parish confirms the final order; practice varies between dioceses and parishes.
Is there a eulogy at a Catholic funeral Mass?
Not as part of the Mass itself. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (382) directs that there be a short homily at a Funeral Mass but never a eulogy. Many parishes do allow one person to speak brief words of remembrance after Communion, before the Final Commendation, and some ask that it be kept to a few minutes or moved to the vigil instead. Ask the parish before you print the program with a name against it.
Can we print the hymn words in a Catholic funeral program?
Only if the parish holds a reprint licence for them. Hymns still in copyright are covered by parish licences such as OneLicense or CCLI, and the licence number normally has to appear on the worship aid. Older hymns in the public domain can be printed freely. The parish music director will know which of your chosen hymns falls where, and it is a quick question that avoids a real problem.
Does the parish or the family make the funeral program?
It varies. Some parishes produce the worship aid themselves and only need your readings, hymns and names; others expect the family or the funeral home to supply it and will simply approve a draft. Either way the parish liturgy coordinator should see it before it goes to print — they catch the reading citations and the spelling of the priest's name.
What is the difference between a funeral Mass and a memorial Mass?
A Funeral Mass is celebrated with the body present. A memorial Mass is celebrated when the body is not there — after cremation and interment, or weeks later when family can travel. The structure is nearly identical, but the memorial Mass drops the reception of the body and the rites that go with it, so the program is shorter by those items.