Mass cards: what they are for and what to write

A mass card says that a mass will be offered for someone who has died. People who grew up with them know exactly what to do; people who did not often hesitate, usually over the wording, and end up sending nothing.

What it actually is

The card carries two things: that a mass is being offered, and who it is being offered for. Where it is a personalised mass card, it usually carries a photograph and a few lines chosen by the family as well.

It is not the same as a sympathy card, and it is normal to send both. Nobody will think less of you for sending one and not the other.

The wording

Keep it short. Most cards say some version of: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered for the repose of the soul of, then the name, then with the sympathy of, then yours.

Add one line of your own if you knew them. Something you remember is worth more than a verse, and families keep the ones that sound like a person wrote them.

What not to do is explain the death, offer a silver lining, or write at length. A short card is not a cold card.

Printing them for a family

Families order these in quantity after a funeral, alongside acknowledgement cards and bookmarks. Order more than you think you need. They get handed on at the removal, at the month’s mind and at the anniversary, and a second short run always costs more per card than the first.

Use the same photograph across all of them. It is a small thing that makes the set look considered rather than assembled.

If you are not sure

Ring or call in. We set these every week and there is nothing you can ask that we have not been asked. Nothing is printed until you have seen a proof, so there is no risk of a mistake going out in sixty copies.