It may seem strange to pray for someone who is already dead and who, according to our earthly reckoning of time, has already undergone judgment. But God is not subject to the constrictions of time as we understand them. Our prayers for the dead are, like our prayers for the living, an expression of charity and the unity that exists between all members of the Body of Christ.

Prayer for the dead is a practice which not only predates Catholicism but predates Jesus Christ, as we see in the Second Book of Maccabees (2 Maccabees 12:42-45).

“By virtue of the ‘communion of saints,’ the Church commends the dead to God’s mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1055).

The most common Catholic prayer for the dead is as follows: “Eternal rest grant unto them, o Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.”

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“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”

Additional prayers provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops