Visiting A Cemetery
Last week we celebrated the Feast of All Souls Day. It is a day during which we pray for all the faithful departed. Oftentimes this is accompanied by a visit to the cemetery. In the past, we’ve gathered at set times in our cemeteries to pray for the faithful departed. However, attendance hasn’t been great, so we decided to encourage people to visit the cemetery on their own. Here is a short prayer service that you can pray when you visit the cemetery. You can use this service any time during the month of November, or anytime at all. Maybe it would be a good idea to gather the family at the grave of a deceased family member. Feel free to use it by yourself also.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
A Reading from the first 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 first. 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
Litany of the Saints
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for them
St. Michael, Pray for them
St. John the Baptist, Pray for them
St. Joseph, Pray for them
St. Peter and St. Paul, Pray for them
St. Andrew, Pray for them
Other saints may be added
All holy men and women, Pray for them
Christ, pardon all their faults, Lord, hear our prayer
Christ, remember the good they have done, Lord, hear our prayer
Christ, receive them into eternal life, Lord, hear our prayer
Christ, comfort all those who mourn, Lord, hear our prayer
Our Father…
Almighty God and Father,
by the mystery of the cross, you have made us strong;
by the sacrament of the resurrection
you have sealed us as your own.
Look kindly upon your servants,
now freed from the bonds of mortality,
and count them among your saints in heaven.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord
And let perpetual light shine upon them
May they rest in peace. Amen.
May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson
