Prayer for All Souls Day
Updated: Oct 16
On November 2 the Church commemorates all the faithful departed, praying for every soul still being purified in purgatory. The commemoration spread from the Benedictine abbey of Cluny, where St. Odilo established it around the year 998, and it soon became a day observed throughout the Western Church. The prayer given here is the traditional collect for the faithful departed, asking God to grant the souls of His servants the pardon they always desired.
Pray it on All Souls Day, at Mass or at a cemetery, and throughout November. The Church grants a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, to those who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray for the dead from November 1 to 8, or who visit a church or oratory and pray the Our Father and the Creed on All Souls Day, under the usual conditions. Eternal Rest may be added at the end.
The Prayer
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Traditional All Souls collect; classic English, public domain.
See also: Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, Prayers for the Dead: All Souls' Day and November, Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory, De Profundis, and Eternal Rest.
For November, pray with the Prayers for the Holy Souls booklet, a printable PDF of prayers for the dead, $4.99.
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