Whether it is a family member or friend, the death of a loved one is a difficult experience to bear. Even Our Lord Jesus Christ, upon the death of his friend Lazarus, wept. But as Catholics, our sadness turns to hope because we know that Christ has conquered death, and in His friendship, the faithfully departed find eternal peace, comfort, and joy that none still alive can experience.
All Soul’s Day commemorates the faithful departed- those who die in God’s faith and friendship. On this day, Catholics remember, pray for, and offer requiem masses up for the faithful departed. Typically Christians will take this day to offer prayers up on behalf of their departed relatives and friends. Others also may remember individuals that they never knew personally, such the long forgotten dead that have no one left on Earth to offer prayers for them.
Christians have been praying for their departed brothers and sisters since the earliest days of Christianity. Early liturgies and inscriptions on catacomb walls attest to the ancientness of prayers for the dead. It is one of the most merciful and fruitful things we Catholics still on our Earthly journey can do.
This All Soul’s day, we encourage you to offer prayers on behalf of your deceased loved ones, and to make an effort to pray for the forgotten holy souls in purgatory. May God comfort you in your loss, and may your departed loved ones see His face in Heaven.
A Prayer For The Faithful Departed
In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil and bid them eternal rest.
The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
Amen.