Funeral Pall for Parish

With special thanks to D. Moodie & Co. Funeral Directors for their kind contribution to our parish’s liturgical life.

At other parishes in the diocese, for at least the last 25 years, you may have seen a large white cloth placed over the coffin of the deceased at the Vigil Service or when the deceased is brought into the church on the morning of the Funeral Mass. This cloth is called the Funeral Pall and its use in the Funeral Rite is an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church.

In the Latin liturgy used prior to the Second Vatican Council, it was black to signify mourning. Now it is white and possesses a number of powerful symbolic meanings. It recalls the white baptismal shawl and our baptism, which brought us into the Church when we became heirs as adopted sons and daughters of the Father to the promise of eternal life. Its large size brings to mind the all-encompassing love of God in which we are wrapped. It is also the same for everyone, there is not an elaborate and expensive one for the well-to-do and a simple one for the less well-off. This reminds us that we all stand equal before God, to whom distinctions of class, wealth, ethnic origin and the like, which may be important to some people, are of no relevance to God.

We now have one for the parish and D. Moodie & Co. Funeral Directors have very kindly offered to pay for it. We thank them for their generosity and support.