Catholic Funeral Hymns

Vermont Church Recovering From Fire

ESSEX JCT., Vt. -- Songs of faith rose from the St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Essex Junction, Vt. Wednesday morning, as Father Charlie Ranges told parishioners, "It's not about buildings."

That was timely advice, given what happened one week ago. "We heard the lightning strike," remembered church-goer Jane Hennessey.

Hennessey was there last Wednesday when a bolt of lightning ignited the parish hall at St. Lawrence's sister church, Holy Family. "It was just a sad thing," she said.

The hall housed the funeral reception for Hennessey's late husband, along with meetings, religious education classes, and more. Flames devoured it in what seemed like minutes, though the historic church just feet away escaped with only minor water damage. The crumbled hall has now been completely removed. The parish is planning where to hold future events. It'll get help from insurance money. No costs have been determined, but some estimates placed the pricetag at $500,000.

"We can't live without a parish hall," Father Ranges said.

Ranges asked parishioners for a prayer of thanks to the firefighters and rescue crews. He also praised Catholics from across Vermont for rallying around Essex's churches. Holy Family's electricity was cut so services had to move to St. Lawrence.

"Oh my God it looked horrible," church-goer Arlene Francis said. "But we're not the first parish, the first place that went up in smoke. Everything happens for a reason." Jane Hennessey is confident the parish will get stronger through this. "Something will arise," she predicted.

"It's so important we don't focus on the tragedy, so much, as the One who can get us through the tragedy," Father Ranges said.

That faith may help Holy Family get back what nature took away.

Good Funeral Songs | Catholic Funeral Songs | Songs For A Funeral ...

Good funeral songs may be hard to find, especially if your under a short timeframe when in the midst of your funeral planning. It is becoming more and more common today that families are using any type of genres to play at services for a loved one. Those can be from the era of Classical, Rock, New Age, or even Movie musicals.

As long as it was a special song to the deceased, it is quite appropriate to play. The Funeral Program Site offers a really nice selection of music selections listed in a very orderly format. They have it listed by genres and song title for easier location by the reader. You can find some Christian based song and Catholic funeral songs as well.

This is especially helpful since there can be a long list to sort through. You can have a soloist or instrumentalist sing the songs and even have the attendees participate in singing them. The family is in charge of how they want things to go. After all, who is better to know the desires of the deceased than the family? Some churches may offer suggestions or recommendations of songs as well, so you can also have those choices to consider.

Songs are an important part of the service so don’t go without including them. Even if you have to play it from a CD, its recommended that some type of music is incorporated.

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