There are a few funeral details that look small on the surface but carry surprising weight once the service is over. Funeral prayer cards are one of those details. They fit in a pocket, slip into a book, and show up weeks later in a coat lining or a kitchen drawer—quiet proof that the person who died was real, loved, and still remembered. Families call them different things depending on tradition and region—memorial prayer cards, holy cards for funerals, memorial cards—but the purpose is usually the same: give guests something tangible to take with them when words are no longer enough.
If you’re planning a service and wondering what these cards “should” include, you’re in good company. Many families don’t want anything flashy. They want something gentle, practical, and true. Funeral.com’s guide to holy cards and prayer cards emphasizes that these cards aren’t a design contest—they’re meant to comfort the living and honor the dead in a way that feels natural. That’s the spirit of this article: clear guidance, low pressure, and choices that respect different faith traditions and non-religious families alike.
What Funeral Prayer Cards Are
Funeral prayer cards are small printed keepsakes—often wallet-sized—that typically include a photo or sacred image on one side and a prayer, scripture reference, poem, or short remembrance on the other. In many Catholic communities, they overlap with “holy cards,” pairing devotional imagery with prayers for the deceased. In other Christian traditions, the tone may be less devotional and more comforting—scripture references, a cross or dove, or a favorite verse paired with a photograph.
It may help to know this is not a niche practice. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has published memorial prayer cards for major Catholic figures, including a memorial prayer card for Pope Benedict XVI, which is a helpful example of how a card can combine photo, dates, and prayer in a simple format.
In practice, these cards often serve two roles at once: they guide participation during a religious service, and they become funeral keepsake cards afterward—something guests can hold onto when they want to remember, pray, or simply feel close again. Funeral.com’s article Do Funeral Homes Provide Prayer Cards? explains how prayer cards help guests participate during services and how families often keep them alongside other memorial items at home.
How Prayer Cards Are Used at Services
Most families place prayer cards where people naturally pause: near the guestbook, by a memory table, or handed out as guests enter or exit. If there’s a religious service, cards may also function like a simple guide for shared prayers, familiar readings, or a short response. If the gathering is more informal, cards tend to work best when they’re offered quietly rather than announced like an agenda item.
One practical benefit is that prayer cards work whether the service is traditional burial or a memorial after cremation. Memorials held days or weeks after a cremation often include a memory table, photos, and keepsakes—exactly the setting where a small card feels meaningful rather than performative. If you’re also printing programs, Funeral.com’s guide to funeral programs can help you decide whether prayer cards should stand alone or be coordinated with a program design and timeline.
What Information to Include on a Funeral Prayer Card
Families tend to feel calmer when they treat the card like a “small container for meaning,” not a miniature obituary. The most common structure is simple: identity on the front, comfort on the back. In most cases, the essentials are enough to make the card feel complete.
- Name: full name, and a nickname if it’s how people knew them.
- Dates: birth and death dates, or sometimes just the year range if preferred.
- Photo or image: a portrait, a candid photo, or a sacred image depending on tradition.
- Text: a short prayer, scripture reference, poem excerpt, or remembrance line.
- Optional details: service date/location, a short “thank you” line, or a request such as “Please keep our family in your prayers.”
If you’re trying to keep the design clean, consider putting service logistics in the program (if you’re printing one) and keeping the prayer card focused on remembrance. That separation often helps the card feel less like an announcement and more like a keepsake.
What to Write on a Funeral Prayer Card
The question what to write on a funeral prayer card usually comes down to tone. Do you want the card to feel like prayer, like comfort, like gratitude, or like a simple witness to the person’s life? There isn’t one correct answer. What helps most is choosing words your family can stand behind a year from now, when grief has changed shape.
If you’re creating funeral prayer card wording for a Catholic funeral, many families choose a familiar prayer line—short, recognizable, and easy to read at a glance. If you’re in a Christian tradition where scripture is central, it’s common to print a verse reference (and sometimes a short excerpt) rather than multiple full passages. If the service is non-religious or interfaith, many families choose a “memory-first” tone: a line of gratitude, a short poem excerpt, or a message that feels like the person’s voice.
Wording examples for Catholic and Christian traditions
In Catholic communities, a short prayer like “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them” is often familiar and comforting. Funeral.com’s prayer card guide discusses how Catholic prayer cards often include traditional prayers and devotional imagery alongside name and dates, making the card both a memorial and a prompt for prayer.
For broader Christian services, many families choose a short line of comfort paired with a scripture reference such as Psalm 23 or John 14, especially when the verse will also appear in the service readings. This avoids overcrowding the card while still giving guests a spiritual anchor they can return to later.
Wording examples for non-religious or lightly religious services
If your family is not religious—or if you expect guests from many backgrounds—your prayer card can still be a memorial card. A simple approach is: name and dates on the front, and a short line on the back that sounds like love, not doctrine. Many families choose phrases such as “Forever loved,” “Always with us,” or a short gratitude line. This is one reason people also search for memorial card templates: families want structure without having to invent language from scratch during grief.
If you’re worried about saying “the wrong thing,” choose words that are true and modest. The card is not a place for complicated theology or an attempt to resolve grief. It’s a place for remembrance.
How Many Prayer Cards to Order
If you’re ordering quickly, the simplest rule is to print at least one card per expected guest, plus extra for close family, out-of-town relatives who couldn’t attend, and the small handful that end up tucked into Bibles, photo albums, or memory boxes. Most families are grateful to have extras later, especially when thank-you notes go out and you want to include a card for someone who supported the family from afar.
This is also where prayer cards quietly overlap with cremation and memorial planning. Many families keep a few cards near the urn at home, especially when guests come to visit in the weeks after the service. If your family is choosing cremation, and you want a home memorial that feels steady, browsing cremation urns for ashes can help you picture how a simple card and a photo often live together in a home space.
Where to Order Personalized Funeral Prayer Cards
Families typically have three practical paths for personalized funeral prayer cards, and the best one is the one that fits your timeline.
One option is to order through the funeral home. Many funeral homes offer prayer cards as part of their package or can coordinate printing through a partner. Funeral.com’s guide Do Funeral Homes Provide Prayer Cards? explains that availability and options vary by provider, which is why it’s worth asking early if prayer cards matter to your family.
A second option is a local print shop. This can be the fastest and most flexible route if you already have a photo and text and need cards on a tight schedule. Local printers can also help with paper weight and finishing choices—matte versus gloss, rounded corners, and laminate—without requiring you to learn printing jargon while grieving.
A third option is to order prayer cards online through an online printer using a template or a custom design. This option can be convenient if your family is spread out, if you want to approve a proof digitally, or if you want the cards shipped directly to a family member coordinating the service.
Because Funeral.com focuses on helping families plan confidently, the most important thing to understand about ordering online is not the platform—it’s the file and proofing process. The same practical steps apply no matter where you order.
Step-by-Step Tips for Designing and Ordering Prayer Cards Online
If you want a calm, low-error workflow, start by treating the card like a two-sided document with one job: be readable. Elegant design is helpful, but clarity is what makes the card feel respectful.
Choose one photo that prints well. A crisp, well-lit image matters more than a “perfect” pose. If you have multiple favorites, use the one that still looks like them to people who knew them in the last few years.
Then choose your text and keep it short. A prayer card should not require squinting. If you want to include scripture, consider printing a reference and a brief excerpt, and keep the full reading for the program or service. If you’re unsure how prayer cards and programs differ, Funeral.com’s guide to funeral programs can help you decide what belongs where.
Proofread as if you’re proofing a legal document. Names, dates, spelling, and punctuation are the details families regret most when they’re wrong. It’s also wise to have one person outside the immediate household read the proof—someone whose brain isn’t as emotionally overloaded.
Finally, decide on finishing and quantity. Matte finishes often feel calmer and fingerprint-resistant. Rounded corners help cards hold up over time in wallets and prayer books, which is part of why they function so well as funeral keepsake cards.
How Prayer Cards Connect to Cremation, Ashes, and Memorial Keepsakes
Many families don’t realize how naturally prayer cards connect to the longer arc of funeral planning until they’re living it. In the U.S., cremation is now the majority choice in many areas, which is one reason memorial services and remembrance rituals have become more flexible. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate is projected to reach 63.4% in 2025, and the Cremation Association of North America reports a U.S. cremation rate of 61.8% in 2024. When cremation is part of the plan, families often ask not only what to print for the service, but also what to do with ashes afterward.
This is where prayer cards become more than a service handout. They become a small companion piece to a home memorial. Many families keep a prayer card beside a primary urn at home, especially when they are keeping ashes at home temporarily while deciding on long-term plans. Funeral.com’s guide to keeping ashes at home walks through practical considerations and etiquette in a way that helps families feel confident rather than uncertain.
If your family expects to share ashes among siblings or adult children, it can be helpful to plan keepsakes early so you don’t feel rushed later. This is where keepsake urns and small cremation urns become practical options for sharing. For some people, the most comforting keepsake is wearable rather than display-based, which is why families often pair a home urn with cremation jewelry or cremation necklaces that hold a symbolic amount.
If your family is still deciding how to choose among these memorial options, Funeral.com’s guide to how to choose a cremation urn is designed to help families plan based on real life—home display, sharing, travel, later scattering—rather than forcing a rushed decision during grief.
And if your long-term plan includes a ceremony connected to the ocean or a meaningful shoreline, water burial is one option some families consider for cremated remains using biodegradable containers designed for that purpose. Funeral.com’s guide to water burial explains what families typically do and what to expect in a ceremony.
A Calm Bottom Line
Funeral prayer cards don’t have to be elaborate to be powerful. A small photo, a name, a date, and a few words of prayer or remembrance can become one of the most lasting pieces of the service. If you keep the design simple, choose funeral prayer card wording that matches your family’s faith and tone, and order enough for guests plus a few extras, you’re already doing it well.
And if you’re juggling many decisions at once—programs, service flow, cremation choices, costs, urns—remember that each item doesn’t have to do everything. A prayer card can simply be one steady, gentle element in the middle of funeral planning. It can sit beside cremation urns for ashes. It can travel home in a guest’s pocket. It can be tucked away and found later, at a moment when someone needs a small reminder that this life mattered.
