Prayer for the Faithful Departed

O gentlest Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the soul of Thy servant, N. Be not severe in Thy judgment, but let some drops of Thy Precious Blood fall upon our beloved departed, and do Thou, O merciful Savior, send Thy angels to conduct the soul of Thy servant to a place of refreshment and peace. Amen.

Where Does This Prayer Come From?

Nobody knows for sure who wrote this prayer.

It has been prayed for generations, from Catholic prayer books and holy cards.

But almost every line of it comes from something much older.

“O Gentlest Heart of Jesus”

The prayer speaks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

That devotion spread through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun in Paray-le-Monial, France, who reported visions of Christ between 1673 and 1675.

Her visions are private revelation.

The Church approved the devotion, but no Catholic is required to believe in them.

What the devotion points to is not private at all: the love of Christ, who “loved me, and delivered himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“Ever Present in the Blessed Sacrament”

Catholics believe Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity (CCC 1374).

So this prayer is spoken to a Heart that is really there, in every tabernacle.

Praying for the Dead Is Older Than This Prayer

Long before Christ, the Jewish people prayed for their dead.

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
— 2 Machabees 12:46

From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers for them, above all the Mass (CCC 1032).

(Why Catholics do this, and what it does and does not mean, is in Why Catholics Pray for the Dead.)

“A Place of Refreshment and Peace”

Those words echo the oldest prayer of the Mass, the Roman Canon.

At every Mass that uses it, the priest asks God to grant the dead “a place of refreshment, light and peace.”

When you pray this prayer, you are praying with the whole Church at the altar.

“Send Thy Angels”

At the end of a Catholic funeral, the Church sings over the coffin:

“May the angels lead you into paradise.”

This prayer asks for the same thing, for one soul, by name.

How to Pray It

Where the prayer says “N.”, say the name of the person you are praying for.

Pray it on an anniversary.
At a grave.
Every day in November, the month the Church especially remembers the Holy Souls.

And end with the old words:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

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