The Funeral Rites of the Catholic Church, part 7 (Rite of Committal)

The final movement of the Catholic funeral is the Rite of Committal. This takes place at the site of the final resting place of the deceased. The Committal has the following parts:

• Invitation. The presider invites all to pray for the deceased and the mourners.
  
• Scripture Verse. The presider reads a short sentence from the New Testament (there are four options in the Rite).
• Prayer over the Place of Committal. There are three options for this: (a) if the place of committal is to be blessed (such as a public cemetery plot); (b) if the place has been blessed already (such as a Catholic cemetery plot); or (3) if the body will be physically committed at a later time.
  
• Committal. The presider then says the Prayer of Committal (there are a number of options). Immediately following this, the remains are physically committed — the coffin is placed in the ground, the urn is placed in the columbarium, the capsule is placed in the ocean, etc. This is an important and very powerful step! The entire committal hinges on this moment. It firmly roots the entire Rite of Committal in the present: the deceased is now gone.*
• Intercessions. The prayers of intercession have two parts — a set for the deceased and a set for those who mourn. Both should be there for the Committal to have the power to heal.
• The Lord's Prayer. 
• Concluding Prayer. Again, there are a number of options that the presider may choose from to best fit the circumstances.
• Prayer over the People. The presider asks God to hear the cries of the mourners, then leads those gathered in the customary prayers for the dead ("Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord..."), and blesses and dismisses those who have gathered. After dismissal, the people gathered may show some sign or gesture of leave-taking, such as throwing flowers or a handful of dirt on top of the coffin.
  

      So concludes the Catholic Funeral.
      To summarize: the Vigil is about the past (the deceased's life); the Funeral Mass is about the hope for the future (the resurrection of the dead); and the Committal is about the present (the deceased is gone and we are faced with loss). Taken together, they address the human and spiritual needs that we all have when faced with the loss of a loved one.

______________

*I can't overstate the importance of having the mourners watch as the coffin is lowered into the ground, or the remains committed to their spot and the spot sealed over. To be sure, it is gut-wrenching to witness it: I have assisted at two Committals involving young children, and the grief of the parents was almost unbearable. But it was a very holy moment when the winches and the wailing stopped, and all of those gathered joined in the Intercessions that followed. On the flip-side, it has been my experience, families who are unwilling to have the physical committal happen as a sacramental moment have something that is keeping them from addressing some unfinished business, either among themselves or between them and the deceased.True peace can only come about when we come face-to-face with reality, we allow ourselves to forgive and be forgiven, and we embrace the surety of the future resurrection.