Catholic Sympathy Gifts
When someone has died, a sympathy gift should say what the funeral Mass says: that death is not the end. These paintings of the Resurrection, the empty tomb and heaven were chosen for families in grief — hopeful rather than sorrowful, and gentle enough to live with.
Prints are made to order, so allow about two and a half weeks; many people send a sympathy gift in the weeks after the funeral, when the cards have stopped.
The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection
Eugene Burnand
Peter and John running to the empty tomb at dawn, their faces caught between fear and hope — the first Easter morning.
From $45.19
Christ's Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection
Alexander Ivanov
The risen Christ meeting Mary Magdalene in the garden, the first person to see him alive again.
From $31.52
The Raising of Lazarus
Jean Jouvenet
“I am the resurrection and the life” — the Gospel most often read at Catholic funerals, painted by Jouvenet.
From $45.19
Resurrection of Christ
Raphael
Christ rising from the tomb in Raphael’s early, luminous style — the promise every funeral Mass proclaims.
From $31.52
The Resurrection
Pietro Perugino
Perugino’s calm, balanced Resurrection, painted at the height of the Umbrian Renaissance.
From $32.98
The Assumption of the Virgin
El Greco
Mary taken up into heaven in a rush of angels — El Greco’s picture of where the Church hopes we are all going.
From $53.18
The Coronation of the Virgin
Fra Angelico
The court of heaven gathered on a flight of marble steps — a gentle, radiant picture of paradise.
From $96.36
The Virgin of Consolation
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
A grieving mother collapsed against the Virgin, who looks up to heaven — for the loss that has no words, including the loss of a child.
From $32.98
Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows
Adriaen Isenbrant
Mary, who stood by her son’s death, surrounded by the seven sorrows of her life — a companion in grief.
From $33.26
Guardian Angel
Bernhard Plockhorst
The angel who keeps the young from harm — a gentle choice when a family has lost a child.
From $31.52
A gift of hope
Catholics have long sent a Mass card when someone dies — the promise that a Mass will be offered for the person who has died. A picture is a different kind of gift: something for the family to keep, which goes on saying what the Mass said long after the funeral.
The subjects here were chosen with that in mind. None of them dwells on death; all of them are about what comes after it — the empty tomb, the Resurrection, the risen Christ meeting the people who loved him. They suit a family room, and they can be sent straight to the family’s home.
Questions
What is an appropriate Catholic sympathy gift?
A Mass card is the most traditional. A sacred picture of the Resurrection or of heaven is a lasting gift the family can keep, and many people send one in the weeks after the funeral.
What Gospel is read at Catholic funerals?
Several may be chosen. The raising of Lazarus from the Gospel of John, with Christ’s words “I am the resurrection and the life”, is one of the most common.
Can I send it directly to the family?
Yes — enter their address at checkout. Prints ship in plain packaging from the printer.