Funeral Palls

The difference between a funeral pall and an urn pall lies in size and what each covers. A funeral pall is the full-casket cloth, stocked here in 6'W × 10'L and 8'W × 12'L sizes for a coffin. An urn pall is the smaller cremation version, available in 25" and 26" squares to cover a cremation urn. The symbolism is the same. Only the format changes with the service.

For a standard adult casket, you need either the 6'W × 10'L or the 8'W × 12'L size, and the choice is about how far you want the pall to fall. The 6' × 10' covers the top and sides of the coffin. The 8' × 12' is the floor-length option that drapes lower, which suits a casket set on a higher bier or a parish that wants the fuller look down the aisle. Both sizes are stocked across the collections here in ivory, with the Fleur-de-Lis Cross in white.

Yes, one urn pall covers most cremation urns because it lies over the urn rather than fitting over it. The urn palls here are 25" and 26" square, a size made to drape over the range of urn shapes and heights a parish encounters.

These palls are white or ivory because white is the color the funeral liturgy now uses to recall the white garment of baptism and the hope of resurrection. Older practice used black or violet, and those colors are not contrary to the norms, but white and ivory have been the standard for funerals since the liturgical reforms. The collections here are stocked in ivory, with the Fleur-de-Lis Cross in white, and both ivory and white are liturgically valid for this use.

These funeral palls are made from lined polyester, woven as a smooth-weave or jacquard fabric that resists wrinkling and hangs evenly over the casket. The lining is what allows the cloth to drape gracefully rather than cling or bunch. Several collections carry woven brocade banding, and the Chartres design adds gold metallic detailing in the weave.

Have the casket pall dry-cleaned, not machine-washed, and store it flat or loosely rolled in a clean, dry place away from candle smoke and dust. The lined polyester resists wrinkling, so it holds up to repeated use. A parish that holds frequent funerals sometimes keeps a second pall, so one is always ready while the other is being cleaned.

Yes. The brocade pall designs are also offered as matching vestments and paraments, so a parish can pair a pall with chasubles, altar frontals, and other pieces in the same pattern for a coordinated white liturgical set. Because the pall is white or ivory, it also sits within a parish's existing funeral vestments, even without an exact pattern match.

Five designs are available:

• Chartres - Features vertical and horizontal jacquard banding accented with gold metallic Chartres design
• Coronation - Features vertical and horizontal banding with a detailed, multi-colored woven brocade tapestry design
• Avignon - Features floral damask design, trimmed with vertical and horizontal gold metallic banding
• Monreale - Features jacquard base fabric trimmed with woven, burgundy vertical and horizontal jacquard banding
• Fleur-de-Lis Cross - Features vertical jacquard banding accented with embroidered, gold