Mass. When the coffin enters the church, the priest sprinkles it with holy water. Then a large white cloth, the pall, may be placed upon it in silence. The rubrics permit this gesture if it is the custom.
Most parishes reuse the same pall for each funeral.
Some of them match the decor of the church or the vestment of the presider. The pall has two meanings, both deriving from the New Testament. First, the pall recalls the baptismal garment. At baptism Catholics each receive a white garment as a sign of their Christian dignity. They are instructed to bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.