O God, who hast commanded us to honour our father and our mother, in Thy mercy have pity on the souls of my father and mother, and forgive them their trespasses, and make me to see them again in the joy of everlasting light. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
This Prayer for Deceased Parents is the Church’s traditional prayer for one’s father and mother, prayed for centuries in the Mass for the Dead and printed in the old hand missals. The Eternal Rest prayer and the Latin original follow.
The Day of the Dead, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1859). Public domain.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Deus, qui nos patrem et matrem honorare praecepisti, miserere clementer parentibus nostris eorumque peccata dimitte, nosque eos in aeternae claritatis gaudio fac videre.
Pray it on the anniversary of a parent’s death, on All Souls’ Day, at the cemetery, or whenever you miss them. If only one parent has died, say “the soul of my father” or “the soul of my mother.” You may also have a Mass offered for the repose of their souls. The Latin text follows the Dominican Province of St. Joseph; it asks for the joy of “eternal brightness,” which the hand missals render “everlasting light.”
The Fourth Commandment does not end at the grave. The Church has always prayed for the dead, that any debt of sin may be forgiven and they may enter the joy of heaven (CCC 1032). Praying for our parents is the last and lasting way we honor them.
Yes. There is no time limit on charity toward the dead. The anniversary of death can become a quiet yearly day of prayer, a Mass, and an act of charity in their memory.
Yes. Eternal Rest is a short prayer for all the faithful departed. This prayer is a child’s petition for a father and mother, and the two are fittingly prayed together.
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