The Tribute Journal
Funeral Prayer Cards: Size, Wording & 30 Prayers
Of everything printed for a funeral, the prayer card is the piece people keep. Programs go in a drawer; prayer cards go in wallets, taped inside cupboard doors, tucked into car visors, and are still there years later. They are small, cheap, and quietly the most durable keepsake of the day.
They are also called memorial cards, holy cards, funeral cards, or remembrance cards depending on where you are and what tradition you are in — the same object under different names.
Standard funeral prayer card size
- 2.5 × 4.25 inches — the standard, and the one most printers assume. Fits a wallet and a standard business-card sleeve
- 2 × 3.5 inches — business-card size, occasionally used for very short verses
- 3 × 5 inches — larger, used when a photograph needs to be prominent or the prayer is long
- Folded 2.5 × 4.25 — opens to four small panels; room for a longer prayer plus an obituary excerpt
- Lamination — adds a few cents each and roughly doubles how long the card survives a wallet. Worth it
Rounded corners are conventional and reduce the fraying that squares off in a pocket. Card stock should be at least 14pt; thinner stock curls.
What goes on each side
Front
- A photograph of the person, or a devotional image (a dove, a cross, a landscape, praying hands)
- Full name, often with a nickname in quotation marks
- Dates — birth and death, or years only
- Sometimes a short heading: "In Loving Memory" or "Pray for the Soul of"
Back
- The prayer, verse, or poem — this is the whole point of the card
- Attribution, if the text is credited to a saint, author, or translation
- Occasionally the service date and place, in very small type
Catholic prayers for funeral cards
The most requested. All of these are traditional and freely printable.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
- The Prayer of St. Francis — "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…" (long; use a folded card)
- Hail Mary — universally recognized and fits with room to spare
- Memorare — "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary…"
- Prayer to St. Michael — common for military and first-responder funerals
- Divine Mercy — "Jesus, I trust in You." Four words, and enough
If the service itself is a Funeral Mass, our Catholic funeral program guide covers what belongs in the larger program alongside the card.
Scripture for prayer cards
- Psalm 23 — "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…" The most printed passage of all, and it fits a standard card
- John 14:1-3 — "Let not your heart be troubled…"
- Revelation 21:4 — "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Short and much loved
- Isaiah 40:31 — "They shall mount up with wings as eagles."
- 2 Timothy 4:7 — "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." Especially fitting after a long illness
- Matthew 5:4 — "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."
The King James text is public domain, which is why it appears on most cards. Modern translations are under copyright — permissible for a family keepsake in small quantity, but credit the translation. More passages grouped by theme are in our Bible verses for funeral programs.
Non-religious prayer card wording
A card does not need a prayer. These work for families who want the keepsake without the theology.
- "Do not stand at my grave and weep — I am not there, I do not sleep." (Mary Elizabeth Frye, widely reprinted)
- "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." — Thomas Campbell
- "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose." — Helen Keller
- "Say not in grief he is no more, but live in thankfulness that he was." — Hebrew proverb
- A line the person actually used. This beats every quotation on this page
Longer options, grouped by tone and length, are collected in our funeral poems and in loving memory quotes.
How many to order
- Expected guests, plus 50% — a far larger margin than for programs. People take several: one for a wallet, one for a relative who could not travel, one for the fridge
- Minimum 100 — even for a small service. The per-card cost falls sharply and running out is a real regret
- Leave a stack at the reception, not only at the door. Guests who did not take one on the way in often want one on the way out
Cards are also frequently sent later, tucked into thank-you notes — see our guide to funeral thank you cards — which is another reason to order generously.
Common questions
What size are funeral prayer cards?
The standard is 2.5 × 4.25 inches, which fits a wallet and holds roughly 60 to 90 words at readable 10-point type. Some families use 2 × 3.5 inches for very short verses, or 3 × 5 inches when a photograph should be prominent. A folded 2.5 × 4.25 card gives four panels for longer prayers.
What is a prayer card at a funeral?
A small keepsake card handed to guests, usually with the person's photograph, name and dates on the front and a prayer, scripture verse or poem on the back. Guests keep them — in wallets, in Bibles, on refrigerators — which makes them the longest-lasting printed piece from the service.
How do you make funeral prayer cards?
Choose the size, pick one photograph and one short text that fits it, lay out front and back as a single print-ready file, and print on at least 14pt stock with rounded corners and optional lamination. The most common mistake is choosing a prayer that is too long and then shrinking the type until older guests cannot read it.
Are funeral prayer cards only for Catholics?
No. The tradition is strongest in Catholic and Irish communities, where they are often called holy cards, but the format is used across Protestant, Jewish, and entirely secular services. The card can carry a poem, a quotation, or a single line the person used to say.
When are prayer cards handed out?
Usually at the entrance alongside the program, and again at the reception. Many families also enclose one with thank-you notes in the weeks afterward, and post them to people who could not attend.
