A Modern Form of Nine Days of Prayer for one who has Reposed in the Lord

With the annual commemoration of All Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2), we will once more gather in prayer for those we love but see no more. This practice is but one expression of the healing power of prayer for all the members of Christ’s Body the Church—in this world and the next.

The Catechism makes this statement about prayer for the dead: “We pray for them, because we still hold them in our love, and because we trust that in God’s presence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love, until they see him as he is.” (BCP. p. 862) Properly understood, prayer for the dead is a normal part of our faith and is found at every Eucharist and many intercession forms in both public and private prayer.

Our grieving often passes through many stages, including sometimes difficult ones; true prayer helps us deal with this in faith. Sometimes, we can have very complex relationships with someone who has passed, and prayer provides a place to work through these struggles, especially that of forgiveness. At other times, we simply want to thank God for a soul we have loved.

One of the classic ways to for believers to both affirm the Communion of Saints and to apply this teaching to our own personal experience is through the Nine Days Service of Prayer for the Dead. Like all such nine-day periods of prayer, the biblical warrant comes from nine days of prayer the Apostles’ offered between Christ’s Ascension and the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1-2). In a sense, this practice is an acknowledgement that a major change has occurred and then taking that change to God in prayer, becoming open to further direction and clarity.

The following prayers come from the St. Augustine’s Prayer Book (revised). They may be used in the period immediately after a death, or at other times when feeling led by God to offer your mourning in prayer. As with all grieving, you are invited to speak with your parish priest if you desire.

Each day:

V. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.

R. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

V. Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

R. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

V. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord;

R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

Then say the prayer appropriate for the day (see below).

First Day

O God, you are full of mercy and ready to forgive; receive our prayers for the soul of your servant N., whom you have now called to depart out of this world: deliver him out of the hand of the enemy, hold him in everlasting remembrance, and command your holy angels to receive him and bring him into paradise: that as his hope and faith were in you, he may without fear or suffering enter the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Second Day

To you, O Lord, I commend the soul of your servant N., that being dead to the world, he may live to you; and whatever sins he has committed, through the frailty of our mortal nature, graciously wash away by the pardon of your most merciful living kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Third Day

O God, your mercies are more than we can know; hear my prayer for N. and welcome him into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of all your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fourth Day

Hear the prayer I bring before you, O Lord, that the soul of your servant, which you have called to depart this life, may find a place in the eternal dwelling places of peace and light and be welcomed into the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fifth Day

Grant us, who mourn, grace that we may entrust N. to your never-failing love; receive him into the arms of your mercy, and remember him according to the steadfast loving-kindness you show toward your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sixth Day

Of the abundance of your loving-kindness, O Lord, have mercy upon the soul of your servant N. and, now that he is released from the weakness of mortality, restore him and give him a place in your everlasting salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Seventh Day

Grant, O Lord, that N,. for whom I pray, may know the companionship of your blessed ones in heaven, and that we who mourn may be comforted and supported in the same blessed fellowship of love and prayer until we too come to our journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eighth Day

O Lord, our Savior and our Judge, by your passion and through your never-failing mercies, grant forgiveness to N. for all his sins, and rest from all the burdens he has carried; and by your Spirit, bring us all to acknowledge our sins that we may seek your forgiveness, and make us patient and joyful to forgive one another for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ninth Day

I give you thanks, O Lord, that you have created us to know and love you, and to live with each other in joyful companionship. In grief, strengthen my hope, and in sorrow, keep me from despair. Grant that N. may go from strength to strength in the life of perfect service, and that I may so serve you here, that at the last, by your call, I will stand before you and with those whom I have loved but see no longer; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

After the day’s prayer, say the Lord’s Prayer and this concluding sentence

+ May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercies of God, rest in peace. Amen.

A Traditional Form of Nine Days Prayer for One Deceased

These are the traditional prayers—lasting nine days, and thus called a novena— which emphasize praying God’s mercy on the soul of the person who has died. These prayers may not be suitable for all those who mourn. They may, however, be particularly suited to situations to which the more general prayers for the dead do not speak.

These prayers may be said as part of one’s daily prayers, a rosary, at the Eucharist, or as a separate devotion during the novena. 

Each Day:

V. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.
R. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

V. Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
R. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

V. Rest eternal, grant to them, O Lord;
R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

Then, say the prayer appointed for each day...

First Day

O God, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive, receive our humble petitions for the soul of thy servant N., which thou hast commanded to depart out of this world: deliver him/her not into the hand of the enemy, neither forsake him/her at the last; but command him/her to be received by the holy Angels and brought to the country of paradise; that forasmuch as he/she hoped and believed in thee, he/she may undergo no pains, but be made partaker of everlasting felicity. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Second Day

To thee, O Lord, I commend the soul of thy servant N., that being dead to the world, he/she may live to thee; and whatsoever sins he/she hath committed, through the frailty of his/her mortal nature, do thou wash away by the pardon of thy most merciful loving-kindness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Third Day

O God, who mercies cannot be numbered; accept my prayers on behalf of the soul of thy servant N., departed, and grant him/her an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fourth Day

Incline thine ear, O Lord, unto the prayers wherewith I humbly entreat thy mercy: that the soul of thy servant, which thou has bidden to depart this life, may by thee be set in the abode of peace and light, and made partaker of the fellowship of thine elect. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fifth Day

Absolve, O Lord, I pray thee, the soul of thy servant N., from every bond of sin: that at the general Resurrection at the last day he/she may find refreshment in the glory of thy Saints. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sixth Day

I beseech thee, O Lord, of thy loving kindness have mercy upon the soul of thy servant N., and now that he/she is released from bonds of mortality, do thou restore his/her portion in everlasting salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Seventh Day

I implore thee, O Lord, mercifully to grant companionship with the blessed in heaven to the soul of thy servant N., whose death I commemorate. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eighth Day

Accept, O Lord, I pray thee, the prayers which I humbly offer unto thee for the soul of thy servant N., beseeching thee to grant that, whatever sins committed in his/her conduct in this life being pardoned by thy goodness, he/she may be partaker of those unspeakable joys that thou hast prepared for thine elect. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ninth Day

Grant, O Lord, this mercy to thy servant departed, who desired to do thy will, that he/she may not receive the punishment of his/her misdeeds: and that, as true faith joined him/her to the company of the faithful here below, so thy mercy may bring him/her to the Angelic company of heaven. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Concluding sentence:

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

The Triumph and Joy of the Holy Cross

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It occurs almost at the opposite end of the year from Good Friday, and allows us think about the Cross in a slightly different way.

The origins of this feast are ancient, dating to the Constantinian period of Christianity--a time when the almost unbelievable had happened: the Emperor had ended the persecution of Christians and had honored Christ and his Church. It was a time of profound joy, hope, and energy in the Church. For those Christians who continue to live in close relationship with this Patristic Christianity, that joy, hope, and energy continues to be available and to inspire.

This day represents the Church’s early understanding of the Cross as a trophy, an ensign of victory. The unrepeatable sufferings of Christ on the Cross were the means by which God gained the victory over the forces of sin and death. The concept of “exaltation,” which seems difficult for some modern Christians to understand when applied to the Cross, is completely natural for those who have come to see the Cross as it is spoken of in the Gospel according to St. John: the throne of Christ’s glorification.

The following portion of an 8^th century sermon by St. Andrew of Crete on this feast day may help those who are new to this understanding of the Cross to appreciate its depth and power. St. Andrew alludes to a number of other dimensions of the Cross’s significance (there is no “one” definition of the Atonement, after all—it is a holy mystery beyond full understanding), but he makes clear that today celebrates the Divine Victory of Christ on the Cross.

We are celebrating the feast of the Cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.


Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.


Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation - very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.


The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: “Father, glorify your name”. Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it and will glorify it again”. Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.

Collect for the Feast of the Holy Cross

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

John Henry Hobart: A Leader for Then and Now

Today is our annual observance of the life and witness of John Henry Hobart, Third Bishop of the Diocese of New York, and one of the seminal figures in the Episcopal Church’s early history.

Part of Hobart’s significance is that he was willing to invest the time, energy, and creativity to take a struggling, demoralized, and lukewarm faith tradition from complacency to mission. Many of the clergy he inherited were not particularly well-trained; the priorities of the Episcopal Church had been for a long time mere survival and compromise. The nascent Episcopal Church simply didn’t have a transformative vision. Hobart had that vision

Into the miasma of early nineteenth-century Episcopalianism came the thoughtful, energetic, and zealously Christian Hobart. In the face of sometimes determined opposition, he recalled the Episcopal Church to its authentic identity, as found in the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Early Church. He labored to bring forth an Anglicanism for America that was both firmly rooted in a deep reading of the Scriptures as well as responding to the mission challenges of his time. Under his leadership, God blessed the Episcopal Church and it grew. With a renewed and sound sense of its identity, it presented an alternative to—and not a participation in—the spiritual distortions of the day. We would do well to study this in our own era.

Hobart did all this because of an inner experience of Christ as Risen Lord and Savior. His writings (particularly his sermons) make this clear. His was a rich and inspiring witness for the power of the Gospel to renew the world, derived not from superficial techniques or ideological fixation, but a regular prayer life, participation in the sacraments, and exposure to the true mission of the Church to proclaim the Kingdom of God, not the spirit of the times. “Evangelical Truth and Apostolic Order” was his watchword, and by adhering firmly to it, he had the solid foundations, clear plan, and energy to take up his mission to help renew a weakened and listless church. May that same renewal shake us in our day.

Collect for the Commemoration of John Henry Hobart

Revive your Church, Lord God of hosts, whenever it falls into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders like your servant John Henry Hobart whom we remember today; and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken your people to your message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.