The month of November starts with the feast day of All Saints, where the Church commemorates every human being in heaven, not just those who have been canonized. The next day, November 2, All Souls’ Day, is dedicated to the souls in Purgatory.
On November 2, Catholic priests traditionally hold a Requiem Mass (Mass for the Dead) for persons for all the dead faithful. Another type of Requiem Mass is one held on the anniversary day of somebody’s death or burial. In this article, however, I am focusing on the Requiem Mass which is said either on the day of death or on the day of the funeral.
The prayers of the New Mass will be taken from the English-language missal “Daily Roman Missal” with the subtitle “Complete with Readings in One Volume including Devotions and Prayers”, edited by the priest James Socías, and published in 2004 by the Midwest Theological Forum Inc. and the World Library Publications.
The New Mass
For various prayers in the new Mass, there are multiple options.
Here are some prayers from this missal:
“God, you have called your son (daughter) N. from this life. Father of all mercy, fulfill his (her) faith and hope in you, and lead him (her) safely home to heaven, to be happy with you for ever. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, …” (Option 2 for the opening prayer)
“Lord God, your Son Jesus Christ gave us the sacrament of his body and blood to guide us on our pilgrim way to your kingdom. May our brother (sister) N., who shared in the eucharist, come to the banquet of life Christ has prepared for us. We ask this through Christ our Lord.” (Prayer after Communion)
“Lord, hear our prayers. By raising your Son from the dead, you have given us faith. Strengthen our hope that N., our brother (sister), will share in his resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, …” (opening prayer in the Eastern season)
What hope? This practically implies that the deceased person is saved.
The Old Mass
By contrast, in the Old Mass, we pray for the deceased person, backwards in time, so that God may have spared him or her at the hour of judgment. The prayers call to mind the possibility of damnation very clearly.
Here are some examples, taken from a 1953 Carmelite missal:
“O God, whose nature is ever to show mercy and forbearance, we humbly entreat thee for the soul of thy servant N., who at thy bidding has to-day departed from this world. Do not deliver him into the enemy’s hands, or put him out of mind for ever, but bid thy holy angels welcome him and lead him home to paradise. Let him not undergo the pains of hell, for he put his hope and trust in thee, but establish him in that bliss which knows no ending: through our Lord. (carmelite 1692) (Collect)
“Lord, release the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin. By the help of thy grace enable them to escape avenging judgement [sic]. And to enjoy bliss in everlasting light.” (Tract)
“Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit. Save them from the lion’s jaws, let them not be engulfed in hell nor swallowed up in darkness. Let saint Michael the standard-bearer bring them into that holy light which thou of old didst promise to Abraham and his posterity. Lord, in praise of thee we offer sacrifice and prayer; accept them for the good of those souls whom we call to mind this day. Lord, make them pass from death to life, which thou of old didst promise to Abraham and his posterity” (Offertory)
“Grant, we pray thee, almighty God, that the soul of thy servant N., who has to-day departed from this world, may be cleansed by this sacrifice, and being thus rid of his (her) sins, may find both forgiveness and everlasting rest: through our Lord.” (Postcommunion)
So, the forgiveness of sins and the reality of hell play a prominent role in the prayers of the old Mass.
The Dies Irae is missing in the New Mass
The most important difference between the two Masses is that the Old Mass contains a long chant known as the Dies Irae. I have already written an article on this medieval chant, which has as its main theme Judgment Day and asking God for mercy.
Here are some of the stanzas:
Dies iræ, dies illa,
Solvet sæclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla.
The day of wrath,
the day when the world dissolves into ashes,
David testified with Sybil.
Recordare, Iesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
Ne me perdas illa die.
Remember, merciful Jesus,
that I am the cause of Your journey:
don’t lose me on that day.
Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favílla
Iudicandus homo reus:
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Iesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
Tearful that day,
on which from the ashes will rise
the guilty man who is to be judged:
Then spare him, O God.
Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen.
So, the longest text of the Requiem Mass in the old rite is a song about the Last Judgment.
Now, given that the rites of the Catholic Church cannot cause harm to souls, what are we to say about the lack of any reference to “sin”, “hell” or “judgment day” in the New Mass? If someone who is not Catholic, or someone who is Catholic but not a practicing Catholic, attends a Requiem Mass, will he walk away with the impression that hell is real and sin is serious, or with the impression that everyone probably goes to heaven anyway? Let’s also not forget that according to the new rules, the priest is allowed to wear white instead of black at a Requiem Mass.
In conclusion, the ideas of “hell” and “judgment day” have simply been deleted from the Funeral Mass. And one wonders why many people don’t believe in hell anymore?
Scene from a Requiem Mass. Image by Lawrence Lew OP, CC-BY-NC 2.0, here.