By the Book

November/December 2008 Issue | Posted by Melissa Hartog in Features

Canonist Dominican Father Juan-Diego Brunetta answers questions about official Church practice. He is the director of Catholic Information Services for the Knights of Columbus. Homework — Send your question. Contact information, page 6.

QUESTION:

On prayer for the dead

When I list names of people I want prayed for on All Souls’ Day and throughout the month of Novem-ber, I include all “close” relatives, no matter how long they have been dead or their “status” with the Church when they died. How long should I pray for these souls? What about family members who were not regular church-goers or not even baptized Christians?

ANSWER:

Praying for the dead is an ancient tradition in the Church, and indeed is based in Scripture from Second Maccabees to St. Paul. In the Dog-matic Constitution of the Church from the Second Vatican Council, the council Fathers taught: “For all who are in Christ, having his Spirit, form one Church and cleave together in him. Therefore the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who have gone to sleep in the peace of Christ
is not in the least weakened or interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the perpetual faith of the Church, is strengthened by communication of spiritual goods.

“Fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead, and ‘because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ also offers suffrages for them” (Nos. 49-50).

But how much suffrage is enough? This is a question that is not answered in any absolute way in sacred Scripture or Tradition. It is revealed to us that the dead benefit from our prayers; yet God does not reveal when our acts of piety have accomplished that which we intend. Therefore we need some practical principles to direct our pious practice.

1. We immediately encounter difficulty when we speak of the “time” one might spend in purification after death, or “how long” we need to pray for a deceased person. We have only one experience of being people in time, yet we know from sacred Scripture that God does not account time as we do (2 Peter 3:8-10). We simply do not know the experience or duration of purgatory. In charity, one should pray for the dead, and it is a pious custom to remember the dead during the month of November. Apart from that, we use prudence and common sense. We must each do what we can in truth, charity, and piety, depending upon our personal circumstances and abilities.

2. We must also remember that salvation does not in any way depend upon us. Christ’s death is sufficient for the salvation of all. As the Letter to the Hebrews teaches us, “Christ died once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Thus any defect on our part in praying for the dead will not be the cause of a soul’s abandonment by God.

3. The efficacy of prayer for the dead is not limited to Catholic Chris-tians. The Church has always taught that salvation is first wrought through the saving waters of baptism. Thus,
it is perfectly in keeping with the Church’s ancient practice to pray for all deceased Christians. In charity we should also pray for the deceased who have not explicitly accepted the life of grace in Christ, and remind ourselves that only God truly reads
the human heart.

4. In the Mass, the Church is constantly praying for the deceased. It is not that any one of us prays for the deceased “alone,” but the entire Church prays, “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” It is instructive then to examine the breadth of the several petitions contained in the four main Eucharistic prayers of the Mass. For instance: “Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence.”

In a special way in November, we do what we do year round. We com-mit to the mercy of God all who died; we pray for the forgiveness of their sins, the consolation of their families, and their entrance into the beatific vision. Nothing more is possible; less will do. C

Eternal Rest

Many families say this prayer, from the Compendium of the Catechism, as part of grace before or after meals, or when
passing a cemetery. The prayer does not specify any particular deceased, or presume any status of those it prays for.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

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