Catholic Prayers for the Dead

Prayer for the Dead

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.
Amen.

A Prayer for a Deceased Father or Mother

O God, Who has commanded us to honour our father and mother, have compassion in Thy mercy, on the souls of my father and mother; forgive them their sins, and grant that I may see them in the joy of eternal brightness. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A Prayer for a Deceased Man

Incline, O Lord, Thine ear to our prayers, in which we humbly beseech Thy mercy, that Thou wouldst place the soul of Thy servant, which Thou hast caused to depart from this world, into the region of peace and light; and unite in the fellowship of Thy Saints. Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.

A Prayer for a Deceased Woman

We beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy mercy, to have pity on the soul of Thy handmaid; do Thou, Who hast freed her from the perils of this mortal life, restore to her the portion of everlasting salvation. Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.

A Prayer for a Lately Deceased Person

Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord,
the soul of Thy servant N…,
from every bond of sin,
that being raised in the glory of the resurrection,
he may be refreshed among the Saints and Elect.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A Prayer for the Departed

My God! I recommend to Thee the souls of my relations,
my benefactors, my friends and my enemies,
and of those who are in Purgatory on my account.

I recommend to Thee the souls of evangelical labourers,
of Religious and priests,
and especially of those who had charge of my soul.

I recommend to Thee the souls of those
who were most devout to the passion of Our Lord,
to the Blessed Sacrament,
to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the souls who are most abandoned,
those who suffer most,
and those who are nearest to the entrance into paradise.
Amen.

A Prayer for the Dying and a Special Soul

O most merciful Jesus,
Lover of souls,
I beseech Thee,
by the agony of Thy most Sacred Heart,
and by the sorrows of Thine Immaculate Mother,
wash clean in the Thy Blood
the sinners of the whole world
who are to die this day.

Remember most especially the soul I spiritually adopt
with the intention of entrusting him or her to Thy
Shepherd’s care:
I beseech Thee for the grace to move this sinner,
who is in danger of going to Hell, to repent.
I ask this because of my trust in Thy great mercy.

If it should please Thy Majesty to send me a suffering
this day
in exchange for the grace I ask for this soul,
then, it, too, shall please me very much,
and I thank Thee, Most Sweet Jesus,
Shepherd and Lover of Souls;
I thank Thee for this opportunity to give mercy
in thanksgiving for all the mercies
Thou hast shown me.

Amen.

Heart of Jesus, once in agony,
have mercy on the dying.
Amen.

A Prayer for the Forgotten Dead

O merciful God,
take pity on those souls
who have no particular friends and intercessors
to recommend them to Thee, who,
either through the negligence of those who are alive,
or through length of time are forgotten
by their friends and by all.
Spare them, O Lord,
and remember Thine own mercy,
when others forget to appeal to it.
Let not the souls which Thou hast created
be parted from thee, their Creator.

May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

A Prayer In A Country Cemetery

Dear Lord, here lie in their last rest,
the boys and girls,
the men and women that worked on the land.
They knew the meaning of hard work.
They knew the joy and peace that is the product of labour.
Now we trust they know the peace and happiness
of everlasting life with You.

They watched the sun rise often,
winter and summer,
over these hills and fields.
They worked hard by its light,
and turned willingly to their rest at its setting.
Now they walk in the light of a Sun
that knows no setting.
Lord, if they are still in the waiting room of heaven,
in purgatory,
bring them speedily to the light of Your peace
and the happiness of Your presence.

These men and women all their lives long
laboured to supply the food and drink necessary
to sustain human life.
Now, or soon,
they enjoy in all its fullness the life that You, Lord,
came down to earth to give men,
and to give more abundantly.

Dear Lord, bless us who labour now in the fields and hills
where these dear dead have worked.
Grant that we may remember them with charity and kindness,
walking reverently in the ways that they have left behind them.
Grant, too, that we may finally meet these men and women,
these boys and girls,
in the eternal mansions that You are even now preparing for us.
Amen.

A Prayer to Say On the Day of a Person’s Death or Burial

O God, Whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, we humbly beseech Thee for the soul of Thy servant N…, which Thou hast this day commanded to depart out of this world, that Thou wouldst not deliver it into the hands of the enemy, nor forget it unto the end, but wouldst command it to be received by the Holy Angels, and conducted to Paradise, its true country; that as in Thee it hath hoped and believed, it may not suffer the pains of hell, but may take possession of eternal joys.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Pope (from the Roman Missal)

God, Who, in Thine ineffable providence, didst will that Thy servant N… should be numbered among the high priests, grant, we beseech Thee, that he, who on earth held the place of Thine only-begotten Son, may be joined forevermore to the fellowship of Thy holy pontiffs. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
Amen.

Prayer for the Sick near Death

Almighty and Everlasting God,
preserver of souls,
who dost correct those whom Thou dost love,
and for their betterment dost tenderly chastise those whom Thou dost receive,
we call upon Thee, O Lord,
to grant Thy healing,
that the soul of Thy servant,
at the hour of its departure from the body,
may by the hands of Thy holy Angels be presented without spot unto Thee.
Amen.