About this prayer
All Souls’ Day is observed on November 2. A cemetery visit can be a time to remember the dead, pray for them, and support those who grieve. This devotional sequence combines the traditional Eternal Rest prayer, familiar common prayers, and the prayer for the departed from the historical Litany of the Saints. Introductory directions are site-authored. It is not a priest’s rite of blessing a grave, and no claim about indulgences is made here.
Learn more: Prayer background & source ↗
Prayer text
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Remember those who have died
Let us bring before God the people we remember today, including those whose names are no longer spoken. Each person may silently remember relatives, friends, and all the faithful departed.
Pause for silent prayer.
Let us continue our prayer together.
Traditional prayer for the departed
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Pray together
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A prayer from the historical Litany of the Saints
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that by pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired.
Pause for silent prayer.
Let us continue our prayer together.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pray along
Use the complete text above. When praying together, one person reads the Prayer leader lines and everyone joins in the responses. When praying alone, read both parts. Pause briefly between prayers.
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