Funeral Planning

Planning a funeral mass for a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences we will face. This webpage offers you a step by step guide to help you prepare for either your own funeral mass or the funeral mass of a loved one.

When a Loved One is Seriously Ill
Please call Ascension office (225-473-3176 or emergency 225-590-7930) and request that a priest visit to give the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. The main office can also make arrangements for a Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist to visit your loved one, pray with them, and give them Holy Communion.

When a Death Occurs
Please call Ascension office (225-473-3176 or emergency 225-590-7930). The receptionist will take down information about your loved one, your contact information, and which funeral home will be assisting your family.
After you have visited with the funeral home, you will be contacted by a staff at Ascension Church. The church staff will help you set a time to visit the church to review the liturgy plan that you have created using the readings and musical selections given on this webpage.

At the Funeral Mass
The family will gather in the back of the church prior to the funeral mass (if the visitation was held at a funeral home). When the entrance hymn begins, the family will follow the priest and the casket to the front of the church. Family members will be seated in the reserved pews in the front of the church. Once at the altar, the casket will be sprinkled with holy water, draped in the pall, and a family cross can be placed on top of the casket.
At the end of mass, the pall will be removed and the family will follow the priest and the casket to the back of the church. The funeral directors will assist the family as they leave the church and prepare to depart for either the cemetery.

Funeral Readings

  Old Testament Readings Description Ref. #
1 Job 19:1, 23-27 "...I know that my Vindicator lives..."

789,1

2 Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 "...A time to be born, a time to die..." 453
3 Ecclesiastes 11:9--12:8 "...Before the silver cord is snapped..." 454
4 Song of Solomon 2:8-14 "...Arise my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!..." 198
5 Wisdom 1:13-152:23f "...God did not make death, nor does he rejoice..."

99

 
6 Wisdom 3:1-9 "...God did not make death, nor does he rejoice..."

84

 
7 Wisdom 4:7-15 "...The just man, though he die early, shall be at rest..." 85
8 Sirach 1:1-10 "...All wisdom comes from the LORD..." 341
9 Sirach 2:1-11 "...in fire gold is tested....Compassionate is the Lord..." 342
10 Sirach 44:1, 10-15 "...Now will I praise those godly men,... 606
11 Isaiah 25:6a, 7-9 "...he will destroy death forever..." 789,4
12 Isaiah 26:7-19 "...your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise..." 392
13 Isaiah 35:1-10 "...Here is your God, he comes with vindication..." 182
14 Isaiah 40:1-11 "Comfort...to my people..." 183
15 Isaiah 40:25-31 "...Though youths stagger and fall...they will soar..." 184
16 Jeremiah 17:5-10 "...I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart..." 234
17 Lamentations 3:17-26 "...My portion is the Lord, says my soul..." 789,5
18 Ezekiel 37:12-14 "O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise..." 34
19 Daniel 12:1-3 "...the wise shall shine brightly..." 789,6
20 Micah 7:7-9 "...though I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light..." 244
21 Zephaniah 3:14-18 "...Shout for joy...the Lord has removed the judgment..." 9
22 Malachi 3:13-20 "...And a record book was written before him..." 464
23 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 "...he made atonement for the dead..." 789,7
       
 

 

New Testament Readings

 

 

Ref.#

1 Romans 5:1-5 "...We know that affliction makes for endurance..." 167
2 Romans 8:1-11 "...he...will bring your mortal bodies to life..." 478
3 Romans 8:26-30 "...God makes all things work together for the good..." 481
4 Romans 10:8-13 " No one who believes in him will be put to shame..." 24
5 Romans 11:33-36 "...How deep are the riches and the wisdom...of God..." 122
6 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 "God's folly is wiser than men,...weakness, more powerful" 29
7 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 "...Let him who would boast, boast in the Lord... 430
8 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 ...Eye has not seen, ear..heard...what God has prepared.." 77
9 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 "...if Christ was not raised, your faith is worthless..." 79
10 2 Corinthians 4:6-10 "...this treasure we possess in earthen vessels..." 87
11 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ...The old order has passed away; now all is new!" 603
12 Ephesians 1:3-10 "...he likewise predestined us...to be his sons..." 105
13 Ephesians 1:11-14 "...In Christ we were chosen..." 471
14 Ephesians 2:4-10 "...By this favor you were saved... not your own doing" 32
15 Philippians 3:8-14 "...I run toward the prize to which God calls me..." 36
16 Colossians 3:1-4 "...After all, you have died! Your life is hidden now..." 43
17 Colossians 3:12-24 "...you will receive an inheritance from him..." 785,11
18 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 "...We belong neither to darkness nor to night..." 432
19 2 Timothy 1:8-10 "Bear your share of the hardship...He has robbed death..." 25
20 2 Timothy 4:6-18 "... I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.." 591
21 Titus 2:11-14 "...he who sacrificed himself for us, to redeem us..." 15
22 Titus 3:4-7 "...he saved us, not because of any righteous deeds..." 15
23 Hebrews 4:12-16 "...Nothing is concealed from him;...let us hold fast..." 310
24 Hebrews 5:7-9 "...he learned obedience from what he suffered..." 35
25 Hebrews 12:18-24 "...you have drawn near to...the heavenly Jerusalem..." 121
26 James 5:7-10 "Be patient,...until the coming of the Lord..." 7
27 1 Peter 1:3-9 "...you may for a time have to suffer...faith...fire-tried gold" 44
28 2 Peter 3:12-17 "...Look for the coming of the day of God..." 354
29 1 John 5:1-5 "...Who, then, is conqueror of the world?..." 560
30 Revelation 22:12ff "...I am the Alpha and the Omega....Come, Lord Jesus..." 62
       
 

 

Gospel Readings

 

 

Ref.#

1 Matthew 5:1-12a "The Eight Beatitudes" 128
2 Matthew 11:25-30 "come to me . . . and I will give you rest." 129
3 Matthew 18:19-20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name"  
4 Matthew 25:1-13 "Look. The bridegroom comes. Go out to meet him" 130
5 Matthew 25:31-46 "Come, you whom my Father has blessed" 131
6 Mark 10:13-16 "Let the children come to me"  
7 Mark 13:33-37 "...you do not know when the appointed time will come." 3
9 Mark 15:33-46 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  
10 Mark 15:33--16:6 "Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last" 132
11 Luke 7:11-17 "Young man, I say to you, arise." 133
12 Luke 12:35-40 "Be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,..." 134
13 Luke 20:34-38 "They can no longer die, for they are like angels"  
14 Luke 23:33-43 "Today you will be with me in paradise." 135
15 Luke 23:44--24:6a "Father, I put my life in your hands." 136
16 Luke 24:13-35 "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer..." 137
17 Luke 24:13-35 "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer..." 137
18 John 5:24-29 "Whoever hears my word and believes has passed from..."
19 John 6:37-40 "All who believe in the Son will have eternal life..." 138
20 John 6:51-58 "All who eat this bread will live for ever...." 139
21 John 11:17-27 "I am the resurrection and the life." 140
22 John 11:32-45 "Lazarus, come out." 141
23 John 12:23-28 "If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies..." 142
24 John 14:1-6 "There are many rooms in my Father's house." 143
25 John 17:24-26 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me..." 144
26 John 19:17-30 "Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirits."