Benildean Prayer for Faithful Departed

FAMILY PRAYER FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

This family prayer is intended for a solemn commemoration of the departed whose bodies lie in a cemetery. This may be used on All Saints’ Day, All Souls Day, or on death anniversary. This service may also be adapted for used by individuals when they remember and visit a departed relative or friend

INTRODUCTIO Leader

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God. (Pause) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

All

Amen.

Leader:

The grace and peace of God our Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, be with us always

All

Amen.

Leader

Praise be to God our Father, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

Blessed be God forever

All

Blessed be God forever.

Leader:

We gather today as a family to pray for _____________ whose body lies here in rest. He/she have passed from death to life in company of the Lord Jesus, who died and rose to new life, and is puri ed now of his/her faults.

We pray that God may welcome him/her among all the saints of heaven

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READING OF THE WORD OF GO A Reading from the rst letter of Paul to the Thessalonians. (4:13-18) We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise rst.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words.

The Word of the Lord All:

Thanks be to God. PSALM 2

Response: TO YOU, O LORD, I LIFT UP MY SOUL Leader:

In you I trust; let me not be put to shame let not my enemies exult over me No one who waits for you shall be put to shame Those shall be put to shame who needlessly break Faith.

All:

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul

Leader:

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me teach me your paths Guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and for you I wait all day.

All:

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Leader:

Remember that your compassion, O LORD and your kindness are from of old The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not in your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD.

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All:

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul

Leader:

Good and upright is the LORD thus he shows sinners the way He guides the humble to justice he teaches the humble his way.

All:

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul

Leader:

All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constanc towards those who keep his covenant and his decrees For your name’s sake, O LORD you will pardon my guilt, great as it is.

All:

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul

Leader:

At this point of our family gathering, in the spirit of our familial love and the loving memories we have with our beloved ____________, we now offer in silence our personal prayers.

(Pause for silent prayer.)

And so we lift our prayers to God our Father, as we ask our Blessed Mother and all the saints to pray for our beloved__________ and for all of us left behind.

LITAN Leader

All:

Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy Lord, have mercy

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Holy Mary, Mother of Go Saint Michae John the Baptist Saint Josep Saint Peter Saint Paul Saint Andrew Saint Stephen

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______

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Saint Anne Saint Teresa of Avila Saint Catherine Saint Frances Cabrini Saint Elizabeth Seto Saint Lorenzo Ruiz Saint Pedro Calungsod Saint John Baptist de La Salle Saint Peter Eymar Saint Benilde Romançon

Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______.

Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______ Pray for the soul of ______.

(The names of other saints may be added.

All holy men and women

Pray for the soul of ______

Christ, pardon all their faults Christ, remember the good they have done.

Christ, receive them into eternal life.

Christ, comfort all those who mourn.

Have mercy for the soul of Have mercy for the soul of Have mercy for the soul of Have mercy for the soul of

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy

Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy Lord, have mercy

____ ____ ____. ____

Leader:

With Christ there is mercy and fullness of redemption; as one family gathered in His name, let us pray the prayer the Lord Jesus has taught us

All:

Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily brea and forgive us our trespasse as we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptatio but deliver us from evil. Amen.

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CLOSING PRAYE All:

Almighty God and Father by the mystery of the Cross you have made us strong by the sacrament of the Resurrectio you have sealed us as your own Look kindly upon your servant/s _____ now freed from the bonds of mortality and count him/her among your saints i heaven. We ask this through Christ ou Lord. Amen.

CONCLUDING RIT Leader:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.

All

And let your perpetual light shine upon them.

Leader:

May they rest in peace.

All:

Amen.

Leader:

May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

All:

Amen.

Leader: And may the blessing of the almighty God, (make the sign of the cross) the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit come upon us and remain with us always.

All:

Amen.

The service may be concluded by a suitable psalm (Psalm 27, 130 or 143) or song

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SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR THE BELOVED DEPARTE Anniversary of the Death of Husband/Wif Lord God, Lord of Life, today, I recall the death of my beloved. My heart still bears the stain of tears from that day of great loss. Our lives had so become one that a part of me died when (name of the departed) died.

Like two rivers that had joined as one, our two lives owed together in joyful communion and affection. You, Lord and God, were the One who arranged our union, and You, Divine Mystery of Love, were the re of love between us.

I recall today, in prayer, how she/he changed my life and called forth from me all that was good and holy. Like a mirror, I saw myself re ected in him/her and so was able to face my failings and shortcomings in my struggle to be worthy of Your gift of love.

As I recall and relieve that day of sorrow, I rejoice and am grateful for the great treasure of memories that I posses. Those years together are alive and continue to nourish me with life. I rmly believe that (name of the departed) has not ceased to exist but is alive, fully alive and happy within your sacred embrace. I rmly believe and know that love is beyond the touch of death and that our love for each other remains and awaits our nal union together with You. I seek, Lord, a favor from You: when the time comes for me to open the door of death and journey to You, grant that (name of the departed) may come and take my hand, guiding me along the dark and mysterious way which leads to the wedding feast of eternity Lord of Compassion, be with me as I await that day and grant eternal joy and peace to my beloved and to all the holy dead. Amen

Prayer to Commemorate the Death of a Paren Lord, today is a day of memories for me, for on this day my father/mother died. It was a day of great sorrow and of hope. I still feel the sense of loss at the absence of my father/mother who gave me the gift of life and who guided me along its early paths.

As I remember the events that day, I am grateful to You, Lord of Gifts, for having given to me such a good parent. I take delight in the memories of the good times that happened within our home as I recall the tears of that day of death. My parent were my most important teachers and father’s/mother’s last lesson for me was about to die at peace with You and with life. May this prayerful remembrance of his/her death make me mindful of preparing today for my own death by living good and holy life.

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Today, on this anniversary of death, I celebrate the mystery of Your holy ones, among to whom now lives eternally my father/mother. As part of the web of life, I feel the presence of my father/mother now, here beside me, as I experience Your Divine presence.

Gracious Lord, may he/she and all the holy dead live forever in the splendor of your divine light and life. Amen

A Prayer on the Anniversary of the Death of a Frien Lord of Life and Death, today, I remember the death of (name of the departed) whose life touched mine and added to the richness of my existence. I pause to recall the good times that we shared together. Pause for silent re ection I am grateful that these are imperishable treasures which I will carry with me into eternity. Within the mystery of Your divine plan, our life-pathways come together and blended as parallel pathways. I am grateful today for all that we shared in our times together, for humor and works, for affection and trust, for the celebration of life.

Lord of Compassion, we are all sinners and in need of divine healing, so grant to (name of the departed) whatever is needed so that he/she can rejoice forever in Your divine friendship and eternal care.

Gracious Lord, I lift up into Your Divine Heart my friend and ask that You grant to him/her eternal peace and the perpetual company of Your saints. Amen

Prayer for Visiting a Grave in a Cemeter (Appropriate occasions might be an anniversary of burial or death, Memorial Day or All Souls Day God of Abraham and Moses, Lord of the Living, who visited Jesus within His grave and lled Him with fullness of eternal life, hear our prayer this day as we come to the burial placed of (name of the departed). With reverence, we visited this sacred shrine where his/her body was placed within the womb of the earth to await the nal day of glory. We pause in silence to be united with him/her. Pause for silent prayer Lord, we have come on this pilgrimage of prayers to keep the ame of love alive within our hearts. As we read his/her name upon the marker - stone, we rejoice because that name has been written for all ages in the palm of Your divine hand. May the breath of creation that surround this grave – in trees, grass and earth, birds and sun

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– join us in prayer. May this pilgrimage remind us of what we already know: that nothing dies; rather, life is only transformed into new life. Holy is this grave. Holy this earth that has held in gentle embrace the bodies of all who are buried in this cemetery.

Lord, with reverence, we leave a wreath of worship at this grave, woven with love, adorned with memories and with our faith in the reality of that earthen Easter morning when all the holy dead shall rise in the splendor of Your glory. Till that day, eternal rest to (name of the departed) and to all the holy dead. Amen *Adapted from Prayers for the Domestic Church by Edward Hays.8

Center for Lasallian Ministr De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

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