Prayers for the dead ask God to show mercy to someone who has died and bring them into his peace. The best known is the Eternal Rest prayer: ten seconds long, and said everywhere from gravesides to dinner tables. All Souls' Day, November 2, is when the whole Church prays for its dead, and the rest of November carries the same intention.
Below are the main Catholic prayers in full, when to use each one, and a plain explanation of why Christians pray for the dead at all.
✦ In this guide
Why Christians pray for the dead
The short answer: love doesn't stop at the funeral, and Christians believe the dead are alive in God.
The practice is very old. Inscriptions in the Roman catacombs ask light and refreshment for the person buried there, and some ask whoever reads them to pray for the dead. Early writers, Tertullian among them, mention offerings made on the anniversary of a death. When St. Monica was dying, she told her son Augustine, "This only I ask, that you will remember me at the Lord's altar, wherever you be." He recorded it in his Confessions, and Christians have been doing what she asked ever since.
Scripture points the same way. In 2 Maccabees 12, Judas Maccabeus takes up a collection so that a sacrifice can be offered for fallen soldiers. That book belongs to Catholic and Orthodox Bibles; the 1611 King James printed it among the Apocrypha. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes of Onesiphorus, whom many readers understand to have died: "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day" (2 Timothy 1:18).
The Catholic Church teaches that those who die in God's friendship but "still imperfectly purified" are assured of heaven and undergo a final purification, called purgatory. The Catechism links this teaching directly to prayer for the dead, above all the Mass, along with almsgiving, indulgences and works of penance (Catechism 1030 to 1032).
Orthodox Christians pray for the dead too, and so do many Anglicans and Lutherans in their own ways. Many evangelical Protestants don't, believing a person's destiny is settled at death. If that's your tradition, you can still commend someone to God and give thanks for their life. None of these prayers is a formula that works on its own. They're acts of love, placed in God's hands.
The Eternal Rest prayer
If you learn only one prayer for the dead, make it this one. It's also known by its Latin opening, Requiem aeternam, and its words echo 2 Esdras 2:34-35.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
For one person, say "him" or "her," or use the name: "Eternal rest grant unto Margaret, O Lord." Many people add a closing line: "May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen."
The Church attaches a partial indulgence to it. More to the point, it's short enough to say when you drive past a cemetery, pull over for a funeral procession, or read an obituary over coffee.
De Profundis: Psalm 130
De profundis is Latin for "out of the depths," the psalm's first words. It's one of the seven penitential psalms, and it has been prayed for the dead for centuries, at funerals, in the Office of the Dead and at home. Older Catholic Bibles number it Psalm 129, following the Latin Vulgate. Here it is in the King James Version:
✝ "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities."
— Psalm 130:1-8 (KJV)
The custom is to end it with the Eternal Rest prayer instead of the Glory Be. It takes about a minute. Many families pray it every night in November, after dinner or at bedtime, and read the names of their dead at the end.
The St. Gertrude prayer, explained
St. Gertrude the Great was a nun of Helfta, in Saxony, born in 1256 and remembered for her mystical writings and her devotion to the Sacred Heart. She died around 1302, and her feast falls on November 16. The prayer for the holy souls that carries her name is traditionally attributed to her:
Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious blood of thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home, and in my family. Amen.
Wording varies a little between prayer books. What doesn't hold up is the line printed on many cards claiming that each recitation releases 1,000 souls from purgatory. That promise appears nowhere in her writings, and it isn't an indulgence the Church has granted. Church authorities have long warned against prayer cards that promise a set number of souls freed.
So pray it, by all means. It's a lovely prayer that joins your intention to every Mass offered that day. Just pray it the way you'd pray anything else: trusting God's mercy, not keeping count.
More prayers for the dead, by moment
You don't need a separate prayer book for every occasion. These cover most of them.
| Moment | Prayer | Time |
|---|---|---|
| When you hear of a death | Eternal Rest | 10 seconds |
| At the graveside | Our Father, then Eternal Rest | 1 minute |
| Evenings in November | Psalm 130, ending with Eternal Rest | 1 to 2 minutes |
| After meals | Traditional grace after meals, which closes with "May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace" | 15 seconds |
| The anniversary of a death | A Mass offered for them, and a rosary at home | About 20 minutes for the rosary |
| When grief is raw | A prayer in your own words | As long as you need |
The rosary fits this intention naturally: offer all five decades for one person. If you're new to it, our step-by-step guide on how to pray the rosary walks you through it, and an Olive Wood Rosary ($34.90) is light enough to live in a coat pocket for cemetery visits.
The U.S. bishops also publish prayers for death and dying, including prayers at the graveside, which are easy to read from a phone in the cold.
A prayer in your own words
Some days the old words feel too formal. Here's a simple prayer you can adapt:
Lord, I place [name] in your hands. Thank you for the years you gave us. Forgive what needs forgiving, and bring her home to your light. Give me the grace to carry this, and let us meet again in your kingdom. Amen.
Praying for the dead in November
In 2026, All Souls' Day falls on Monday, November 2. St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, fixed the commemoration on the day after All Saints around the year 1000, and the custom spread through the Church. Since 1915, by a privilege from Pope Benedict XV, any priest may celebrate three Masses that day.
The Church also grants two plenary indulgences, applicable only to the souls in purgatory:
- visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead, even silently, on any day from November 1 to 8;
- on All Souls' Day itself, visiting a church or oratory and praying an Our Father and the Creed.
The usual conditions apply: confession, Communion and prayer for the Pope's intentions within about 20 days, with a heart detached from sin. Without them, the indulgence is partial. In plain terms, the Church invites you to go to the cemetery, pray, and go to confession, and lets you offer that grace for someone who has died.
✓ Quick checklist for All Souls' week
- ✓ Write the names of your dead on one list
- ✓ Go to Mass on November 2 if you can
- ✓ Visit a cemetery between November 1 and 8, and pray there
- ✓ Pray Psalm 130 and the Eternal Rest at dinner through the month
Some families keep that list of names in a Wooden Prayer Box ($49) on the kitchen counter, adding names as the years go by. Bring it to the table every November and let the youngest child read the names aloud.
For more ways to keep a memory alive this month, from grave visits to a light for the grave, browse our remembrance keepsakes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Catholic prayer for the dead?
The most common is the Eternal Rest prayer: "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen." Catholics also pray Psalm 130, the rosary and, above all, the Mass. Having a Mass offered for someone who has died is the highest prayer the Church can make for them.
Is it biblical to pray for the dead?
Catholics and Orthodox point to 2 Maccabees 12, where a sacrifice is offered for fallen soldiers, and to Paul's prayer that Onesiphorus "may find mercy of the Lord in that day" (2 Timothy 1:18). Many Protestants don't accept Maccabees as Scripture and read these passages differently. The practice itself is attested from the earliest Christian centuries.
Do Protestants pray for the dead?
Some do and many don't. Anglican and Lutheran traditions include prayers commending the dead to God, while many evangelical churches avoid them, believing a person's destiny is settled at death. Most Christians agree on the rest: giving thanks for a life, praying for the people left grieving, and trusting the dead to God's mercy.
How long should you pray for someone who has died?
There's no limit. Many Catholics pray for their dead for the rest of their lives, especially on anniversaries and through November. Since only God knows the state of a soul, the Church encourages continued prayer, trusting him to apply it where it's needed. Many families also have a Mass offered every year on the anniversary.
You won't find perfect words, and you don't need them. Say a name, say the Eternal Rest, and leave the rest with God. The Church has been praying this way for its dead since the catacombs.
