Funerals

We are here to assist you in any way with funerals at Holy Spirit or St. Joseph's. Please know that your family and loved ones are in our prayers, especially at this time.

• COVID-19 Protocol for attending a Funeral in time of Pandemic
• Download a copy of our Funeral Liturgy Preparation Worksheet-(Mass)
• Funeral Liturgy Worksheet (Mass)- MSWord version
• Suggested funeral readings-scripture

• Pastoral Staff contacts, frequently asked questions 
• Words of Remembrance
• Special memories to be shared with the pastoral team
• Martha Ministry receptions following Funeral Masses-not available at this time
• Bereavement Ministries & Grief Support
• Suggested Music for Funerals
• Consider St. Joseph's Cemetery as a final resting place

Returning the Funeral Preparation Sheet: 
Please return the completed preparation sheet, the preparation booklet and hymnal as soon as possible to the St. Joseph's Pastoral Office, 43 Gebhardt Road, weekdays, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. You can fax (585-586-0674) it or scan and email the form to your staff liasion.

Words of Remembrance (formerly Eulogy): If you wish to have someone share some memories about your loved one, you may wish to think about doing this at the end of the Calling Hours at the Funeral Home. Sometimes families have gathered together and had everyone share memories of the past, sharing stories and pictures. If you decide to have a eulogy at Church, we ask that this be limited to one person who would speak briefly [about 3 minutes] after the Gathering Song. 

Worship Aid/Program - We are glad to prepare the worship aid/program for the funeral mass.  Please be sure to email a picture of your loved one to use on the front.  We make the copies right in our office, so please note that all information will need finalized as early as possible.  

Scripture Readings - Please select Readings for the liturgy from “Through Death To Life” (a booklet that can be provided to you from the Parish Office) or download a copy of the funeral readings. You may choose reading directly from the Bible, if there is a specific reading you had in mind. We are here to assist you in those choices. Please also select any family members and/or friends who may wish to proclaim them at the funeral.  

Prayer of the Faithful - Your staff liason will prepare these for you.  If you wish to add names of other deceased members of the family/friends, please let them know.

Your Readers: The Old and New Testament Readings and the Prayer of the Faithful will be placed in a book on the lectern for their convenience. If you would like a copy of the contents of the binder ahead of time for practice, please let us know. Please check to make sure that they have turned to the correct page before reading. 

Music: Please feel free to use our Parish Hymnal, "Gather Comprehensive", to choose appropriate music/song selections for the funeral liturgy. Occasionally, there may be a song that is not known to our music ministers and we may need to substitute a song, but we will notify you if this happens. 

Musicians: Holy Spirit and St. Joseph’s provides you with an organist/pianist and a cantor/song leader. Their stipends are paid to the church through the funeral home (if applicable) and we will take care of payment of these stipends to the musicians. Our Pastoral Musicians will lead us in song through the funeral liturgy. If you wish to have someone sing a special song or solo, please let us know well ahead of time so that they may join our ministers of music. A rehearsal is usually held a short time before the funeral. If you need other arrangements, let us know.