11/04/2019
Today, we celebrate the Commemoration of All of the Faithful Departed, or All Souls Day. On this day, we pray that all those who have died— our loved ones, and also those people around the world who we will never meet— through the mercy of God, will rest in peace. It is a tradition to light a candle, today, in remembrance and in prayer for those who have come before us.
Let us pray...
Merciful Father,
On this day, we are called to remember those who have died,
Particularly those who have died in the past year,
And pray for their joyful reunion with you, their loving creator.
As your son taught us to call the stranger
neighbour, our fallen are many—
Names we will never know,
Voices we have never heard,
In lands we may never visit,
Yet brothers and sisters all.
And so we pray.
For victims of , caught in the crossfires of
conflicts we could not quell,
for soldiers and civilians,
adults and children, we pray …
-Grant eternal rest, O Lord.
For those who have died seeking a
haven where they hoped to find safety
and opportunity for themselves and for their families, we pray …
-Grant eternal rest, O Lord.
For victims of , denied their share in the
bounty you have placed before us, we pray …
-Grant eternal rest, O Lord.
For victims of , , , and other infectious diseases,
who died before adequate care could reach them, we pray …
-Grant eternal rest, O Lord.
For those seeking asylum from war,
who died in a land that was not their home, we pray …
-Grant eternal rest, O Lord.
For victims of and calamities everywhere,
who died amid chaos and confusion, we pray …
-Grant eternal rest, O Lord.
Lord, as you command, we reach out to the fallen.
We call on you on behalf of those we could not reach this year.
You raised your son from the dead
that all may share in his joyful resurrection.
In Jesus' name, we pray …
Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord; and let the perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen
Prayer published by Catholic Relief Services. Download a PDF of this prayer here:https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/usops-resources/prayer-for-our-departed.pdf
