Memorial Prayers for our Faithful Departed and Bereaved

Prayer is a gift from God, mans greatest virtue. Our Prayers penetrate the Heavens and present themselves before the throne of God and do not leave without God looking on them and hearing them. In our memorial prayers we ask Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary to grant eternal rest to all our departed brothers and sisters and to strengthen and console those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Prayers for the dead
“Prayer ascends and Mercy descends. High as are the Heavens and Low as is
the earth, God hears the voice of man.” – St. Augustine (354-430)
Prayers from the Saints for the Dead

Receive, Lord, in tranquility and peace, the souls of Your servants who have departed out of this present life to be with You.Give them the life that knows no age, the good things that do not pass away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)
Memorial Prayers for Headstones
 

Let nothing disturb thee, let nothing affright thee, all that passeth away; God alone abideth. Patience obtaineth all things. He who hath God can want for nothing. God alone sufficeth.

Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

May Jesus comfort you in all your afflictions, may He sustain you in dangers, watch over you always with His grace and indicate the safe path that leads to eternal salvation. And may He render you always dearer to His divine heart and always more worthy of Paradise, Amen.

Saint Padre Pio (1887-1968)
 

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of eternal life, Your Heart is a glowing furnace of love. You are my refuge and my sanctuary. O my adorable & loving saviour, consume my heart with the burning fire with which Yours is aflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your love. Let my heart be united with Yours. Let my will be confirmed with Yours in all things. May Your will be the rule of all my desires and actions, Amen.

Saint Gertrude (1256-1302)

Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary, that it is a thing unheard of that anyone ever had recourse to Your protection, implored Your help, or sought Your intercession was left forsaken. Filled therefore with confidence in Your goodness I fly to You, O Mother, Virgin of Virgins. To You I come, before You I stand, a sorrowful sinner. Despise not my poor words, O mother of the word of God, but graciously hear and grant my prayer, Amen.

The Memorare by Saint Bernard (1090-1153)
Prayers on Headstones
“The Gates of Heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary” Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)
 
O sweet name, which gives the sinner strength and the blessed hope. We pray you, Our Lady, Star of the Sea, shine upon us in our distress on the sea of life, and lead us to safe harbour and the ineffable joys of eternity. Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
 

O Mary, My Mother and my Lady, I offer You my soul, my body, my life and my death, and all that will follow it. I place everything in Your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with Your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart, soul and body, Amen.

Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) Dairy 79
 
O Lady, since Thou art the dispenser of all graces, and since the grace of salvation can only come through Thy hands, our salvation depends on Thee. Saint Bernadine of Sienna (1381-1444)
Memorial Prayers from Treanor Stone-tec
 
 

Short Prayers for Our Faithful Departed

O Sweet Jesus, for the sake of Thy bitter passion and the sorrows of Thy Immaculate Mother, have Mercy on his/her soul and let the light of Thy countenance shine upon him/her, Amen.
 
O Virgin Most Kind, Mary, Mother of God, most loving consoler of those in distress, commend to Your Son the soul of our beloved (name) and because of Your Motherly intervention, may he/she joyfully arrive in your company together with all the angels and saints in Heaven, Amen.
 
Eternal rest grant unto them/him/her, O Lord And let perpetual light shine upon them/him/her. May they/he/she rest in peace, Amen.
 
O God the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that they may obtain pardon, who live and reign for ever and ever, Amen.
 
May the divine assistance remain always with us and may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.
 
Prayer for Headstones

Prayer of thanksgiving for the life of our deceased

Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us all with the gift of this earthly life and has given to our brother/sister (name) his/her span of years and gifts of character. God Our Father, we thank you now for his/her life, for every memory of love and joy every good deed done by him/her and every sorrow shared with us, Amen.
 
Prayers for Gravestones

Prayer for the Bereaved

Almighty God, we rejoice to know that your reign extends far beyond the limits of this life. In the mystery of what lies beyond our sight, we pray that your love may complete its work in those whose days on earth are done; and grant that we who serve you now in this world may at last share with them the glories of Your Heavenly Kingdom; through the love of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Amen.

Death hides – but it cannot divide Thou art but on Christ’s other side. Thou with Christ and Christ with me And so together, still are we.

It is written….Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Corinthians 2:9

Prayers for the Holy Souls on Memorials
 
Our Lady of Knock and Praying for the Holy Souls

Our Lady of Knock & the Virtues of Praying for the Dead

“Mary pours Her mercies on all who have recourse to Her” Saint Alphonsus Liguori

 
At about eight o’clock on the Thursday evening of August 21st 1879, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of the church at Knock in Mayo. Beside them and a little to the right were an alter with a cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered.There were fifteen official witnesses to the apparition, both young and old. They watched it for two hours in pouring rain and recited the Rosary. Today, Knock ranks among the world’s major Marian shrines with full approval of the Church. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine on September 30th 1979, presenting the Golden Rose (the highest honor within the Catholic Church) to this shrine. Not everyone is aware, however, that the marvelous appearance on the gabel of Knock church came on the day when the parish priest, Father Bartholomew Cavanagh, finished offering, as he promised, one hundred Masses for the suffering souls in purgatory! A few months before the apparition the pastor began to offer one hundred Masses for the poor souls whom Our Lady wished most to release. It was on the day the one hundredth Mass was offered that Our Lady came to visit Knock. Surely, that extraordinary devotion to the holy souls had a part to play in the gift of this vision from Heaven. If such a response came from Heaven from Father Cavanagh, then certainly Our Lady wants to encourage each one of us to remove the torment of the dead in purgatory. Through our intercessory prayers, suffrages and good works we can attain for the holy souls their purification necessary to enter Heaven. Unless these holy ones are released by the good works of the faithful, God in His ineffable justice is resolved to purify them in purgatory. It is also a duty of personal interest since one day we may expect others to help us in the same way. Father Cavanagh is buried on the grounds of the Knock shrine. The altar where the one hundred Masses were offered still exists and is located in the chapel. Mass continues to be offered on that sacred altar to this day. Our Lady of Knock, pray for us.

 

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