Prayers for the Dying

The following prayers may be recited immediately after the person's death and may be repeated in the hours that follow.

Saints of God, come to his (her) aid!

Come to meet him (her), angels of the Lord!

R. Receive his (her) soul and present him (her) to God, the Most High.

May Christ, who called you, take you to himself;
may angels lead you to Abraham's side. R.

Give him (her) eternal rest, O Lord,
and may your light shine on him (her) for ever. R.

Let us pray.

All-powerful and merciful God,
we commend to you N., your servant.

In your mercy and love,
blot out the sins he (she) has committed
through human weakness.
In this world he (she) has died:
let him (her) live with you for ever.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

Matthew 18:19-20
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Or

Luke 20:35-38
Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

Or

John 11:21-27
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

Lord’s Prayer
Our Father...

These verses may also be used:

V. Eternal rest grant unto him (her), O Lord.

R. And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).

V. May he (she) rest in peace.

R. Amen.

V. May his (her) soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

R. Amen.