Requiem æternam....

O God,
glory of the faithful and life of the just,
by the Death and Resurrection of whose Son
we have been redeemed,
look mercifully on your departed servants,
that just as they professed the mystery of our resurrection,
so may they merit to receive the joys of eternal happiness....

–Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls' Day)
Collect

* * *

It is lovely to think that it will be Jesus who will awaken us. Jesus himself revealed that the death of the body is like a sleep from which he awakens us. With this faith we stop - even spiritually - at the graves of our loved ones, those who have loved us and have done good deeds for us. But today we are called to remember everyone, to remember everyone, even those who no one remembers.

We remember the victims of war and violence; the many "little ones" of the world crushed by hunger and poverty. We remember the anonymous who rest in common graves. We remember our brothers and sisters killed because they are Christians; and those who sacrificed their lives to serve others. We especially entrust to the Lord those who have left over the last year.

Church tradition has always urged prayer for the dead, in particular by offering the celebration of the Eucharist for them: it is the best spiritual help that we can give to their souls, particularly to the most abandoned ones. The foundation of prayers in suffrage of souls is in the communion of the Mystical Body....

–Pope Francis
Angelus
2 November 2014

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine... lux perpetua luceat eis...

...and until we see them again, may we who remain ever know all the comfort, strength and peace we seek.


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