Rite of Committal, the Catholic Cemetery, Cremation
- List Price: $39.95
- Binding: VHS Video
- Publisher: Liturgical Press
- Publish date: 07/01/1997
Understanding the Order of Christian Funerals, a practical video training series, provides presentations devoted to the threefold ritual pattern of traditional Christian care for the dead and bereaved. That pattern follows the three natural timeframes following a death: the time between death and the funeral, the funeral itself, and rites of committal and beyond. Thus, these funeral rites for adults and for children are divided into three groups: Vigil and Related Rites and Prayers, Funeral Liturgy, and Rite of Committal.
Through discussions summarizing the contents of the OCF and of the principal liturgical rites in the typical funeral, Father Rutherford, in Understanding the Order of Christian Funerals, explains and describes in detail and in an easy to follow manner each moment that gives liturgical expression to the aspects of death.
These videos use a "question and answer" format, outtakes from a simulated series of funeral rites -- from the Vigil to the Committal -- shots of a Catholic cemetery, funerary art, and a discussion with a Catholic cemetery director.
In the first video, Introduction to the OCF, the Vigil, Related Rites and Prayers, Father Rutherford provides an overview of the OCF and of the rites between the time of death and the funeral liturgy: Vigil Service (alternate: Liturgy of the Hours for the Dead), Prayers After Death, Gathering in the Presence of the Body, and Transfer of the Body to the Church or to the Place ofCommittal.
The second video, Funeral Liturgy, describes and explains the funeral liturgy within the Mass or without the Mass, as well as the Final Commendation.
In the third video, Rite of Committal, the Catholic Cemetery, Cremation, Father Rutherford suggests prayers for subsequent gatherings at the gravesite. He also explains the importance of keeping the remains in a place of gathering, the Catholic Church's discouragement of dissemination of ashes outside the cemetery, and the role of cremation in the Catholic funeral.
