The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-11-16
PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD.

PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD.
We are so often told that the Cath
olic custom of praying for the dead
is an invention of late date, that il
may be we'll to find out what Catholics
OF the first centuries really did be.
Heye on the point. Fortunately, says
writer in the New Zealand Tablet,
there is abundant evidence bearing on
the matter to be found in the monu.
mental inscriptions still preserved in
the Catacombs of Rome and other
places.
The bs-underground gal.
leries of vast extent-were used by
the first Christians as burying grounds
and as places of meeting for public
worship. Inscriptions and paintings
without number decorate the tombs
and the 'chapels.' They range in date
from the first century (forty years or
so after the death of our Lord) to
the beginning of the fifth; some of
them are actually dated, and by com
parison with these, Psychologists have
been able to determine, at least ap-
proximately, the dates of most of the
others. In their own artless way these
inscriptions and decorations tell us a
great deal about the beliefs of our
first forefathers in the Faith, and in
regard to prayers for the dead present
us with the following facts:
Cd The most ancient prayers for
the dead are those known as acclama-
tory. They contain nothing more
than simple expression on the part
Of the survivors of wish for some
benefit to- the dead. Here are some
examples: Peace to thee, peace to
thy spirit; Peace for ever; Peace to
thee with the angels, with the saints;
May thy spirit be, rest, live in the
good chat is, eternal salvation); Be
at rest: May thy spirit be in rest; May
the Lord receive thy spirit into rest;
Eternal light be to thee; May thy
spirit rest in the good, in peace, in
God; May you live in God, in Christ,
in the Holy Spirit, amongst the saints,
with the martyrs These pious wishes
are all equivalent to real supplica-
ton for the dead; and as they go
back to the first centuries, they may
be taken as the most ancient and most
simple forms of prayers for the dead.
(2) Next we meet with prayers
properly so called. Prayers are Of
fered for the departed by the sur
vivors, who address themselves direct
ly to God, the Father and Creator of
all things, to Christ, to the angels, the
saints or martyrs collectively, or to
some saint in particular. Of God, they
ask for the dead help and protection,
admission to Heaven, or to the bosom
of Abraham, or amongst the number
of the elect, the light of paradise,
eternal peace, pardon of sins Father
Almighty, have mercy, l pray, on so
many labors, have mercy on soul
that does not bear itself we'll (3rd
cent?. Almighty God, I beg of you
that it (the souD may see the light of
paradise: it feared the Father and the
Son, Who order it to be received.
The saints in Heaven were asked to
remember the souls of the departed,
to pray for them, to help them, to re-
ceive them into their own ranks, to
secure for them the 'refreshment' of
paradise. Lady Basilla, we commend
to thee Crescentius and our
daughter Crescentina' (3rd-4th cent?
Holy Martyrs, remember Mary ITO
our worthy son Paul; may the spirits
of all the saints receive thee into
peace
offering up their own prayers, ask Wis.
itors to the tombs at any date in the
future to pray for the dead. Thou
who readest, pray for him. 4 beg OF
you, who readest, to pray for his
spirit
az The dead themselves silently
ask their brethren to think of them
and pray for them. Thus Abercius
af IN in
the epitaph he wrote for his own tomb
makes this request: He that dis.
cerneth these things, every fellow-be
lever namely, let him pray for
Abercius' (2nd cent?. And in an
inscription of the same century we
come across a similar petition made
by certain Agape: 'Eucharis is my
mother, and Plus my father l beg
of you, o brothers, to pray when you
come here, and with many supplica
tions to ask the Father and the Child
May it enter into your mind to re
member dear Agape, so that God AL
mighty may keep Agape for ever
(5) We gather from these various
inscriptions, and from writings of an
early date, that the dead were buried
with prayers.
W. SdIAO11CS VI CuSSS carly I11ACS
we're accustomed to visit the tombs
regularly and there pray for the dead
An. instance of this practice is to be
found in an inscription already quoted:
I beg of you, o brothers, to pray wher
you come here, etc. Similarly, wher
they visit the tombs of the saints
they prayed for the dead; thus, pious
pilgrim of the third or fourth century
who visited the tombs of the martyrs
in the Catacomb of st. Callixtus, in
scribed there these four beautiful
prayers: 'Sophronia, mayest thou live
with thine; Sophronia Che, rest( in the
Lord; Sweet Sophronia, mayest thor
always live in God; Sophronia, mayest
thou live
Cd AS we learn from writer's Of
the second century, the anniversary
of the death was celebrated, and the
Holy Sacrifice was offered for the de