Don’t Forget the Dead! Reviving Lost Spiritual Practices
BY R. JARED STAUDT @ National Catholic register
BY R. JARED STAUDT @ National Catholic register
In an enormous cultural and spiritual shift, praying for the dead has shifted from a central Catholic practice to having a marginal role in our liturgical and personal lives.
If we do not pray for our departed loved ones (and also those whom
we did not know) we do them an incomprehensible disservice and break the bonds
of charity which are meant to keep the Church united in its three states:
militant, suffering, and triumphant. Just as we receive great assistance from
the Church triumphant through the intercession of the saints, so we must
deliver assistance to the Church suffering by praying for the souls in
purgatory.
The Catechism intricately connects the doctrine of purgatory to
the practice of praying for the dead:
This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the
dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made
atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Mac 12:46). From the beginning the Church has
honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above
all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God (Cf. Council of Lyons II). The Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead
(1020).
From many conversations and comments over the years, it seems to
me that purgatory has faded from daily memory and practice (though it may be
remembered as a doctrine stored away somewhere). When someone dies we do not
say that we will pray for the repose of his or her soul. We say that he or she
is already happy in heaven. Many people have commented that funerals have gone
from mourning and praying for salvation to informal canonization ceremonies.
There could be no greater contrast to our practices today than
what we see in medieval piety. The greatest source I have found, which presents
the centrality of praying for the dead in medieval culture is Eamon
Duffy’s The Stripping of the Altars. Duffy affirms that “the
safe transition of . . . souls from this world to the next, above all with the
shortening and easing of their stay in purgatory” was “the overwhelming
preoccupation of the clergy and laity alike.” This was true for their own
souls, but also the “influence of the cult of the dead was ubiquitous” (301;
302). This took a number of forms:
·
Days of remembrance “on the seventh and the thirtieth day after
burial, and on the first anniversary of death” (327).
·
The wills of the dying endowed special chantry altars and priests
whose sole, daily occupation was to offer Masses and the Office of Dead (328).
·
·
Those who had less money could enroll in the “bede-roll” in which
the deceased would be remembered in an annual requiem Mass or even in the
regular reading of the roll each Sunday (334).
This just scratches the surface, but the effect of these prayers
was the “prolonging the presence of the dead within the community of the
living” (303). Remembering the dead ensures that we maintain real bonds of
community with them.
The medieval tradition was maintained somewhat in the regular
celebrations of Requiem Masses, which lasted until the middle of the twentieth
century and can still be seen in the celebration of the extraordinary form. The
presence of the dead on All Souls Day and at any Requiem Mass has been
symbolized by the construction of a
catafalque. (Most people these days only know the Requiem Mass from
its beautiful Mass settings composed by Mozart, Verde, Fauré, and many others).
In order to come to the aid of the souls in purgatory and to
revive important lost practices central to Catholic culture, there are a few
simple things we can do right now:
1. Pray every day for our
departed loved ones and for all the souls in purgatory. Remember them while
praying the rosary and divine mercy chaplet. We can also offer up penances and
sacrifices on their behalf. As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us in his
encyclical Spe Salvi, it is also time to
restore the practice of offering up our daily trials and sufferings.
2. You can also remember the
dead by praying for the repose of souls after the grace before or the prayer
after meals. Here is the traditional prayer after meals: “We give Thee
thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, Who livest and reignest forever.
And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in
peace. Amen.”
3. The most important time to
remember those in purgatory comes during the Eucharistic prayer at Mass. In the Eucharist
prayers there is always a commemoration of the dead and we can specifically
call them to mind and offer them to the Father in union with Christ’s
Eucharistic sacrifice.
4. Offering Masses for the dead
on the anniversary of death and at other times comprises a crucial
means of aiding the holy souls. This is the most powerful way to remember those
we love. St. Bonaventure in his Breviloquium says
that there are certain acts by which we “are best able to render satisfaction
and repay honor to God” on behalf of the dead, “but the honor due to God is
best rendered in the sacrifice of the altar” (part 7, ch. 3).
5. Following a series of Masses
that St. Gregory the Great offered for one his departed monks, who made his suffering in
purgatory known at his monastery, it has become a practice to offer 30
consecutive Masses for a departed soul. This is known as Gregorian Masses,
and due to the sustained commitment needed, it is usually more common to find
the practice undertaken by religious orders and monasteries.
6. The Church has generously
offered many indulgences in recent decades, with the most recent being offered by
Pope Francis for the coming Jubilee Year of Mercy. Indulgences can be offered
to relieve the souls in purgatory by means of suffrage, supplication on behalf
of the dead. As the Catechism states in paragraph 1471: “An indulgence is
partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal
punishment due to sin.” The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or
apply them to the dead.”
7. It is important to visit
cemeteries to preserve our memory of the dead, but also as an
opportunity for prayer. Parents should teach their children to understand our
abiding community and to learn to assist the holy souls. A special indulgence
can be granted within the first week of November: “Visit to a Cemetery. Only
applicable to the souls in Purgatory when one devoutly visits and prays for the
departed. A PLENARY INDULGENCE is bestowed for this work each day between
November 1 and November 8” (Enchridion of Indulgences).
Let’s not forget the dead, but rather revive lost practices of our
faith to strengthen the bonds of the communion of saints and to aid the souls
in need of our prayer.
