Experiencing the Communion of Saints: The De Profundis

Below are prayers for the dead from the new St. Augustine’s Prayer Book (published by Forward Movement and available here or here). These prayers may be offered at the close of day (traditionally at around 9 PM), or said at other times such as on All Souls’ Day (11/2), after the Eucharist, and especially in times of mourning and before the Burial Liturgy. 

Prayer for those who died is part of the Church's affirmation of the communion of saints. It is also part of the Church's healing ministry, in that through commending the souls of the faithful to God, we are being given grace to understanding more deeply the power of Christ's passion, death, resurrection, and ascension to unite all creation to God the Father in love and peace. 

Our prayers do not "make" anything happen; they connect us directly to what God is already doing, has done, and will do in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who calls forth our prayer and gives us true communion with God, we participate in the promise of salvation and in its first fruits already made known in Christ.

These prayers take their name from the first two words in Latin of Psalm 130, a psalm long associated with the sick, those in peril and extreme need, or the dead.

130   De profundis

1       Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice; *

     let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2       If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *

     O Lord, who could stand?

3       For there is forgiveness with you; *

     therefore you shall be feared.

4       I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *

     in his word is my hope.

5       My soul waits for the Lord,

more than watchmen for the morning, *

     more than watchmen for the morning.

6       O Israel, wait for the Lord, *

     for with the Lord there is mercy;

7       With him there is plenteous redemption, *

     and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

V. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord.

R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

Our Father &c.

V. And lead us not into temptation.

R. But deliver us from evil.

V. From the gates of hell:

R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V. May they + rest in peace.

R. Amen.

V. O Lord, hear our prayer.

R. And let our cry come unto thee.

Set free from every bond, O Lord, the soul(s) of thy servant(s) N.[N.], that in the glory of the resurrection, he may be raised up amid thy saints and elect unto newness of life. Amen.

Lord Jesus, whose loving heart was ever touched by the sorrows of others, have mercy upon the souls of the faithful departed, and grant them a place of refreshment, light, and peace whence pain and sorrow and sighing are driven away; and in thy goodness and mercy pardon every sin committed by them in thought, word, and deed; thou who art the resurrection and the life, and who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

- or -

Almighty and eternal God, to whom there is never any prayer made without hope of mercy, be merciful to the souls of thy servants being departed from this world in the confession of thy Name that they may be welcomed into the company of the saints, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord.

R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

V. From the gates of hell:

R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V. I trust to see the goodness of the Lord

R. In the land of the living.

V. O Lord, hear our prayer.

R. And let our cry come unto thee.

O Lord Jesus Christ, our shepherd and guide, grant us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil, lacking nothing, and accompanied by thee, who thyself hast passed that way and made it light and who now livest and reignest in glory everlasting. Amen.

Saturday Prayers for the Dead: A gift of healing in the lives of catholic Christians

On Saturday our Lord’s body rested in the tomb, and thus it is the traditional day in the week for us to remember those we love but see no more.

Our society often masks death from view. As a result many people struggle because they have no clear way to bring their grief to God in prayer. Mainstream American Christianity does not deal with this issue because one of its tenants is that we should not pray for the dead. This erroneous teaching was borne of the Reformation and the correction of abuses in this practice during the Medieval period, resulting in an over-reaction that impoverishes the faith.

Members of the catholic faith do pray for the dead, and have done so from the earliest days. We do so because God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27) and thus all are alive before him. This being so, we pray for the dead even as we would pray for any other person, mindful that we are not “making” anything happen for anyone—alive or dead—in our prayer. We are participating in the Son’s eternal prayer to the Father in the Holy Spirit. That participation makes for healing in us as well as those for whom we pray.

Below are prayers you may use on Saturday or other times when you desire to remember the dead in Christ, praying for their complete healing and final wholeness. These prayers are taken from the prayers at time of death in the BCP and also from the Burial Service. You may wish to preface them with the name or names you desire to remember before God, and then a brief time of silence before starting the prayers.

I often find this practice gives me hope and an active participation in the Communion of Saints, as well as Christ’s work of salvation in the sometimes-troubling or painful stories of people in my life who die. It can also be a time of deep thanksgiving for the love and learning known through a deceased person. A lot of emotions can happen through this prayer, and that, too, is part of the healing.

It is all part of the vastness of God’s love and the fullness of his will for us. As part of Christ’s Body, we take are share in the this work of compassion and redemption through prayer. For us Life, not death, always has the final word.

Prayers for the Dead

God the Father,

Have mercy on your servants.

God the Son,

Have mercy on your servants.

God the Holy Spirit,

Have mercy on your servants.

Holy Trinity, one God,

Have mercy on your servants.

From all evil, from all sin, from all tribulation,

Good Lord, deliver them.

By your holy Incarnation, by your Cross and Passion, by your precious Death and Burial,

Good Lord, deliver them.

By your glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Spirit,

Good Lord, deliver them.

We sinners beseech you to hear us, Lord Christ: That it may please you to deliver the souls of your servants from the power of evil, and from eternal death,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you mercifully to pardon all their sins,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to grant them a place of refreshment and everlasting blessedness,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to give them joy and gladness in your kingdom, with your saints in light,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

Jesus, Lamb of God:

Have mercy on them.

Jesus, bearer of our sins:

Have mercy on them.

Jesus, redeemer of the world:

Give them your peace.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Our Father...but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Let us pray.

Deliver your servants, O Sovereign Lord Christ, from all evil, and set them free from every bond; that they may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servants. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, sheep of your own fold, lambs of your own flock, sinners of your own redeeming. Receive them into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.  Amen.

O Almighty God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, who by a voice from heaven didst proclaim, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: Multiply, we beseech thee, to those who rest in Jesus the manifold blessings of thy love, that the good work which thou didst begin in them may be made perfect unto the day of Jesus Christ. And of thy mercy, O heavenly Father, grant that we, who now serve thee on earth, may at last, together with them, be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord;

And let light perpetual shine upon them.

+ May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Praying for the Dead: The De Profundis

Below are prayers for the dead from the new St. Augustine’s Prayer Book (published by Forward Movement and available here or here). These prayers may be offered at the close of day (traditionally at around 9 PM), or said at other times such as on All Souls’ Day (11/2), after the Eucharist, and especially in times of mourning and before the Burial Liturgy. 

Prayer for those who died is part of the Church's affirmation of the communion of saints. It is also part of the Church's healing ministry, in that through commending the souls of the faithful to God, we are being given grace to understanding more deeply the power of Christ's passion, death, resurrection, and ascension to unite all creation to God the Father in love and peace. 

Our prayers do not "make" anything happen; they connect us directly to what God is already doing, has done, and will do in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who calls forth our prayer and gives us true communion with God, we participate in the promise of salvation and in its first fruits already made known in Christ.

These prayers take their name from the first two words in Latin of Psalm 130, a psalm long associated with the sick, those in peril and extreme need, or the dead.

130   De profundis

1       Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice; *

     let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2       If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *

     O Lord, who could stand?

3       For there is forgiveness with you; *

     therefore you shall be feared.

4       I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *

     in his word is my hope.

5       My soul waits for the Lord,

more than watchmen for the morning, *

     more than watchmen for the morning.

6       O Israel, wait for the Lord, *

     for with the Lord there is mercy;

7       With him there is plenteous redemption, *

     and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

V. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord.

R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

Our Father &c.

V. And lead us not into temptation.

R. But deliver us from evil.

V. From the gates of hell:

R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V. May they + rest in peace.

R. Amen.

V. O Lord, hear our prayer.

R. And let our cry come unto thee.

Set free from every bond, O Lord, the soul(s) of thy servant(s) N.[N.], that in the glory of the resurrection, he may be raised up amid thy saints and elect unto newness of life. Amen.

Lord Jesus, whose loving heart was ever touched by the sorrows of others, have mercy upon the souls of the faithful departed, and grant them a place of refreshment, light, and peace whence pain and sorrow and sighing are driven away; and in thy goodness and mercy pardon every sin committed by them in thought, word, and deed; thou who art the resurrection and the life, and who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

- or -

Almighty and eternal God, to whom there is never any prayer made without hope of mercy, be merciful to the souls of thy servants being departed from this world in the confession of thy Name that they may be welcomed into the company of the saints, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord.

R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

V. From the gates of hell:

R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V. I trust to see the goodness of the Lord

R. In the land of the living.

V. O Lord, hear our prayer.

R. And let our cry come unto thee.

O Lord Jesus Christ, our shepherd and guide, grant us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil, lacking nothing, and accompanied by thee, who thyself hast passed that way and made it light and who now livest and reignest in glory everlasting. Amen.

Praying for the Dead: A Devotion for Saturdays and Beyond...

As each Friday recalls Christ’s death upon the holy cross, and each Sunday is a direct participation in his resurrection, so Saturday recalls Our Lord’s burial in the holy sepulcher and his descent to the dead. On this day, we turn to Christ's sharing in death and his rescuing souls lost in death. Thus, it has long been a custom for Christians to remember and pray for those who have died, with a particular remembrance on Saturdays.

Praying for the dead is a perfectly natural practice for Christians and goes back to the early Church’s normative worship life. It is an affirmation that we are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1), and shares in Jesus’ words about the dead being alive before God (Luke 20:38). It is also is a direct participation in the triumph of Christ over death, by which the living and the dead are shown to be members of the same Body (the Church) in heaven and earth. Like the photos we display of cherished loved ones who have died, our prayers for the dead in Christ reaffirm that death has no final power over us now. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)

Prayer for the dead, which is enjoined by the Episcopal Church in its public worship, is not only a matter of doctrine; it is also an important part of the pastoral life and ministry of the Church’s members. Prayer, by its very nature, connects us to God and each other. Just as the Church on earth prays for its members “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” so the Church in heaven is still accessible to us through the unique high priestly work of our Lord. Such prayer provides succor, strength, assurance, and communion.

It can also be an important part of how we allow God to heal our broken relationships that could not find peace before death. I have often found, personally and pastorally, that recognizing Christ’s salvific power through the Communion of Saints (and sinners, let us remember) opens us to forgiving others and seeking forgiveness ourselves. While this practice has at times been misused (like everything else in Christian life at one time or another), it remains a vital part of spiritual healing and reconciliation in the Body.

There are many resources for the right and healing practice of prayer for those who have died. The Book of Common Prayer provides several. One is an adaptation of the Litany at the Time of Death (BCP p. 462 and following). This litany, along with prayers from the Burial Service or other resources (such as The St. Augustine’s Prayer Book published by Forward Movement), offered on a Saturday with the name or names of those you desire to pray for, can be an excellent weekly practice. 

May such prayer be a means of healing, affirmation of faith, and personal experience that our God “is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

Saturday Prayers for the Dead from the Book of Common Prayer

God the Father,

Have mercy on your servant(s).

God the Son,

Have mercy on your servant(s).

God the Holy Spirit,

Have mercy on your servant(s).

Holy Trinity, one God,

Have mercy on your servant(s).

From all evil, from all sin, from all tribulation,

Good Lord, deliver him.

By your holy Incarnation, by your Cross and Passion, by your precious Death and Burial,

Good Lord, deliver him.

By your glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Spirit,

Good Lord, deliver him.

We sinners beseech you to hear us, Lord Christ: That it may please you to deliver the soul of your servant(s) from the power of evil, and from eternal death,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you mercifully to pardon all his sins,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to grant him a place of refreshment and everlasting blessedness,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to give him joy and gladness in your kingdom, with your saints in light,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

Jesus, Lamb of God:

Have mercy on him.

Jesus, bearer of our sins:

Have mercy on him.

Jesus, redeemer of the world:

Give him your peace.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Our Father, &c.

Let us pray.

Deliver your servant, N., O Sovereign Lord Christ, from all evil, and set him free from every bond; that he may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant N. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.  Amen.

Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord;

And let light perpetual shine upon him.

+ May his soul, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.