Q: We will soon celebrate a Memorial Mass in my parish in Winter Ordinary Time.
Given the Easter nature of the Funeral Liturgy, I would like to replace the prescribed Penitential Act for the Memorial Mass with the Sprinkling Rite, “I saw water” setting of Leo Nestor. Thoughts?
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A: Thanks for taking care of this grieving family. The sprinkling rite is reserved for Sundays, and it is not part of a normal funeral liturgy, so I’d probably not use it for a Memorial Mass. There are plenty of allusions to the paschal mystery in the prayers and readings for a Mass for the Dead, even without the inclusion of blessed water.
That said, Leo Nestor’s fine setting could be used at some other point of the Memorial Mass—the preparation of the gifts, for example.