LEOMINSTER — Vanessa Marcotte was the epitome of grace, one friend said, an abiding source of comfort to friends and family. A woman so caring some looked to her as a muse.

At her funeral Tuesday, held in the same church where she was baptized 27 years ago, Marcotte was remembered for her legacy of love, as a pastor urged mourners to focus on the love that guided her life, not the violent way it ended.

“Her death should not be the headline story,’’ the Rev. Dennis O’Brien said at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Leominster, Marcotte’s hometown. “The headline story that the entire world needs to see and read is the love that she lived every single day of her life.’’

“Vanessa was living — living the dream that God had for her. A dream that did not include hate or violence or even death itself,’’ O’Brien continued. “She was living the dream in a superlative way to be all love in the heart of the world.’’

Marcotte, 27, was buried as authorities continued the investigation into her killing last week in the woods near her mother’s home in Princeton, where she was visiting. Authorities say she was killed between 1 and 3 p.m. Aug. 7 after going for a run.

A tipline established to help solve the mysterious slaying, which has alarmed residents of the small, central Massachusetts town, has generated nearly 700 tips, but no arrests have been made.

In his homily, O’Brien said Marcotte was killed by someone who “chose evil over good, who chose hate over love.’’ He asked that investigators “have the wisdom and guidance of God to find this other human being, so that he cannot create another congregation that will gather in sorrow.’’

Marcotte spent her life comforting others, O’Brien told mourners. As a baby, her presence helped relatives who were grieving the death of her grandmother, Teresa, who died shortly after Marcotte was born and was the inspiration for her middle name.

As a student at Julie Country Day School in Leominster, Marcotte announced one day that she was drawing a picture of God, prompting her teacher to inform her that no one knows what God looks like.

“Without missing a beat, the little girl looked up and said, ‘Well, they will now,’ ’’ O’Brien said to laughter.

O’Brien likened Marcotte’s life to that of Saint Therese of Lisieux, a 19th-century nun credited with living her faith through many small acts of love.

Marcotte, a Boston University graduate, brought that philosophy to her job at Google in New York City, O’Brien said.

Recounting a story from her Google colleagues, some of whom traveled to the funeral by bus, O’Brien described how Marcotte counseled a co-worker who was struggling with a client.

“He needs love," Marcotte told her colleague.

“That was her vocation,’’ O’Brien said. “Her vocation was to do small things each day with great love.’’

In a eulogy, Leah Abrahams, a friend from BU, described Marcotte as being “so perfect that it sometimes felt otherworldly.’’

“You epitomize grace, light, humility, and absolute magic,’’ she said. “You are the stuff dreams are made of.’’

She recalled Marcotte’s devotion to others, from a student she tutored in Boston to children at Harlem Grown, a nonprofit group that sponsors youth programs and provides families with fresh, local food.

Marcotte also helped her, Abrahams said. She convinced her to learn to surf, introduced her to a meditation and stress management workshop, and spent hours drafting a list of pros and cons as Abrahams considered a move to California.

“This is one of Vanessa’s most incredible gifts,’’ Abrahams said. “She somehow knew what you needed, even when you didn’t even know it yourself.’’

Abrahams recalled a trip with Marcotte to Cape Cod, where a group of friends went to the ocean’s edge at low tide to dance, practice yoga, and drink Sauvignon blanc.

“Something about Vanessa always reminded me a little bit of the ocean,’’ she said. “So breathtakingly beautiful and quiet and mysterious and peaceful.’’

Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi.