We encourage family members and friends to participate in the Liturgy of the Word.

Introductory Rites

• Greeting

• Placing of the Pall (When Casket is present)

• Opening Prayer

 Liturgy of the Word

• First Reading (some selections provided under “Readings” tab)

• Responsorial Psalm

• Second Reading (some selections provided under “Readings” tab)

• Gospel

• Homily

• Prayer of the Faithful

 Liturgy of the Eucharist

• Offertory / Presentation of Gifts

• Eucharistic Prayer

• The Lord’s Prayer

• The Sign of Peace

• Communion

Final Commendation

• Invitation to Prayer

• Prayer of Commendation

What readings can I choose from?

The 1st Liturgical Reading is typically chosen from the Old Testament selections. The 2nd Liturgical Reading is typically chosen from the New Testament. Some Suggested selections are provided below.

What is the difference between a Funeral Mass and a Memorial Mass?

A Funeral Mass is when the body of the deceased or cremated remains are present at the Mass.

A Memorial Mass is when no casket or cremated remains are present at the Mass.

When are Eulogies given?

Eulogies are given by family or friends during a vigil service at the Funeral Home Chapel the evening before the a Funeral Mass or at the funeral reception. Eulogies are not permitted during the Church Service.

Do you allow photographs, a guest book, prayer cards, and flower arrangements?

An easel is provided, upon request, to provide photo presentations of the deceased at the entrance of the Church (i.e., a single 8 x 10, or similar, framed photograph can be displayed on a small table near the Altar).

A Guest Book and Prayer Cards may be provided from the Funeral Home. A podium at the entrance of the Church is used for the guest book and prayer cards.

Flower arrangements, wreaths, and plants are not provided by the Church. Individuals may contact local florist. Deliveries are accepted in the Church Office or at the Sacristy door during regular office hours. Our Sacristan will place the arrangements in the Sanctuary for the service.

Can I choose the priest?

Yes. We make every attempt to accommodate requests. Please be mindful that your priest of choice may already have prior commitments.

If you are interested in having a visiting priest preside at the Mass (who is not from the Diocese of Venice), St. Martha Parish must be provided with information concerning your choice of priest to receive permission from our Diocese.

What about music for the service?

When an organist, soloist, or instrumentalist are requested. The family contact information is provided to our Music Director. The Director will contact the family and discuss their options.

A reading from the book of Wisdom.

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

and no torment shall touch them.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their judgment they shall shine

and dart about as sparks through stubble;

They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

and the LORD shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with the elect.

The Word of the Lord.

A reading from the book of Wisdom.

The righteous one, though he die early, shall be at rest.

For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time,

nor can it be measured in terms of years.

Rather, understanding passes for gray hair,

and an unsullied life is the attainment of old age.

The one who pleased God was loved,

living among sinners, was transported—

Snatched away, lest wickedness pervert his mind

or deceit beguile his soul;

For the witchery of paltry things obscures what is right

and the whirl of desire transforms the innocent mind.

Having become perfect in a short while,

he reached the fullness of a long career;

for his soul was pleasing to the LORD,

therefore he sped him out of the midst of wickedness.

But the people saw and did not understand,

nor did they take that consideration into account.

The Word of the Lord.

A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah

On this mountain the LORD of hosts

will provide for all peoples

A feast of rich food and choice wines,

juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.

On this mountain he will destroy

the veil that veils all peoples,

The web that is woven over all nations.

He will destroy death forever.

The Lord GOD will wipe away

the tears from all faces;

The reproach of his people he will remove

from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.

On that day it will be said:

“Indeed, this is our God; we looked to him, and he saved us!

This is the LORD to whom we looked;

let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”

The Word of the Lord

A reading from the book of Lamentations

My life is deprived of peace,

I have forgotten what happiness is;

My enduring hope, I said,

has perished before the LORD.

The thought of my wretched homelessness

is wormwood and poison;

Remembering it over and over,

my soul is downcast.

But this I will call to mind;

therefore I will hope:

The LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,

his compassion is not spent;

They are renewed each morning—

great is your faithfulness!

The LORD is my portion, I tell myself,

therefore I will hope in him.

The LORD is good to those who trust in him,

to the one that seeks him;

It is good to hope in silence

for the LORD’s deliverance.

The Word of the Lord

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel.

In those days, I, Daniel, mourned

And heard this word of the Lord:

“At that time there shall arise Michael,

the great prince,

guardian of your people;

It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress

since the nation began until that time.

At that time your people shall escape,

everyone who is found written in the book.

Many of those who sleep

in the dust of the earth shall awake;

Some to everlasting life,

others to reproach and everlasting disgrace.

But those with insight shall shine brightly

like the splendor of the firmament,

And those who lead the many to justice

shall be like the stars forever.

The Word of the Lord.

A reading from the Second book of Maccabees

Judas [The ruler of Israel] then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice.

In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.

Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.

The Word of the Lord

A reading from the book of Job.

Then Job answered and said: Oh, would that my words were written down!

Would that they were inscribed in a record:

That with an iron chisel and with lead

They were cut in the rock forever!

As for me, I know that my vindicator lives,

and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.

This will happen when my skin has been stripped off,

and from my flesh I will see God:

I will see for myself,

my own eyes, not another’s, will behold him:

my inmost being is consumed with longing.

The Word of the Lord.

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans.

Hope does not disappoint,

because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts

through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For Christ, while we were still helpless,

yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,

though perhaps for a good person

one might even find courage to die.

But God proves his love for us

in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,

will we be saved through him from the wrath.

Indeed, if, while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,

how much more, once reconciled,

will we be saved by his life.

Not only that,

but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

The word of the Lord.

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans

If, by the transgression of one person,

death came to reign through that one,

how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace

and of the gift of justification

come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, just as through one transgression

condemnation came upon all,

so through one righteous act

acquittal and life came to all.

For just as through the disobedience of one person

the many were made sinners,

so through the obedience of one

the many will be made righteous.

The law entered in so that transgression might increase

but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that,

as sin reigned in death,

grace also might reign through justification for eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The word of the Lord

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans

Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus

were baptized into his death?

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,

so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead

by the glory of the Father,

we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,

we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.

We know that our old self was crucified with him,

so that our sinful body might be done away with,

that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.

For a dead person has been absolved from sin.

If, then, we have died with Christ,

we believe that we shall also live with him.

We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;

death no longer has power over him.

The word of the Lord

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans

No one of us lives for oneself,

and no one dies for oneself.

For if we live, we live for the Lord,

and if we die, we die for the Lord;

so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

For this is why Christ died and came to life,

that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why then do you judge your brother?

Or you, why do you look down on your brother?

For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;

for it is written:

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,

and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

The word of the Lord.

A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians

Christ has been raised from the dead,

the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a human being,

the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being.

For just as in Adam all die,

so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,

but each one in proper order:

Christ the firstfruits;

then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;

then comes the end,

when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father,

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death,

for “he subjected everything under his feet.”

But when it says that everything has been subjected,

it is clear that it excludes the one who subjected everything to him. When everything is subjected to him,

then the Son himself will also be subjected

to the one who subjected everything to him,

so that God may be all in all.

The word of the Lord.

A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians

Behold, I tell you a mystery.

We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound,

the dead will be raised incorruptible,

and we shall be changed.

For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility,

and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.

And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility

and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality,

then the word that is written shall come about:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin,

and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word of the Lord.

A reading from the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians

We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus

will raise us also with Jesus

and place us with you in his presence.

Everything indeed is for you,

so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

Therefore, we are not discouraged;

rather, although our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this momentary light affliction

is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen;

for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.

For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent,

should be destroyed,

we have a building from God,

a dwelling not made with hands,

eternal in heaven.

The word of the Lord

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians

Our citizenship is in heaven,

and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will change our lowly body

to conform with his glorified body

by the power that enables him also

to bring all things into subjection to himself.

The word of the Lord .

A reading from the first letter of St. John.

Beloved:

See what love the Father has bestowed on us

that we may be called the children of God.

Yet so we are.

The reason the world does not know us

is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now;

what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.

The word of the Lord.