The Eternal Rest
The oldest and simplest is the Requiem aeternam, which most Catholics know by heart:
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
It's short enough to be said in a pocket of time: at a stoplight, passing a cemetery, at the end of the Rosary, after grace at meals. Many Catholics have the habit of saying it whenever they hear of a death, before they even know the person's name. It takes ten seconds, and it counts.
Psalm 130
Another ancient prayer for the dead is Psalm 130, the De profundis: "Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord." It has been prayed for the departed for well over a thousand years, and in some places is said at the end of the day for the dead of the parish. It's a psalm of a soul longing for God's mercy, and no words in Scripture fit the Holy Souls better.
The Rosary
The Rosary is often offered for the Holy Souls, especially in November, and it's easy to do. Pray it as you usually would, and offer it for a specific person or for the forgotten souls. It's also traditional to add the Eternal Rest prayer after each decade, or at the end.
The Divine Mercy Chaplet
Many Catholics pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the dead, drawing on the devotion that comes from the visions of St. Faustina Kowalska. It's a private devotion, which means that it's approved and fruitful but not required, and it gives words well suited to the occasion: asking mercy for us and for the whole world, in union with the sacrifice of Christ.
Other prayers and customs
- The Office of the Dead and the Church's rites for the dead, from the liturgy, are the most official form of prayer for the departed.
- A novena for the dead, nine days of prayer for a particular soul or for all the Holy Souls, is a traditional devotion, particularly after a death and during November.
- The Prayer of St. Gertrude is a popular devotion for the Holy Souls. It's a lovely prayer, but you may come across the claim that saying it releases a thousand souls each time. That promise isn't a teaching of the Church, and it's best to say the prayer without counting on a particular number.
Keeping a list
One practical habit that many families have found helpful is to keep a list of the dead: parents, grandparents, friends, anyone who has died in the family or the parish. It can be a small notebook, a page in the prayer book, a card kept in the missal. It's a way of making sure no one is forgotten, and a way of keeping a family's memory alive.
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