November — Monthly prayer for the Souls in Purgatory

The month of November is the month of the Souls in Purgatory. On 1 November the Solemnity of All Saints is celebrated, and on the following day, 2 November, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed — propagated by Abbot St Odilo of Cluny from 998 and extended to the universal Church under Sylvester II. In 1915, Benedict XV, torn by the First World War, granted by motu proprio Incruentum altaris sacrificium (10 August 1915) the unprecedented privilege for every priest to celebrate three Masses on 2 November — one for his own intentions, one for the departed in general, one for the intentions of the Pope. The Church invites throughout the month of November to suffrage offered for the souls in Purgatory, this being the highest act of spiritual mercy we can render to our dead. The proper prayer is the De profundis (Psalm 129) with the antiphon Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice (cf. Ps 129:1-2, Douay-Rheims).

Lord, God of all mercy, remember the souls of all the faithful departed who suffer in Purgatory the punishment due for the faults forgiven in life: by the Most Precious Blood of your Son poured out on the Cross, by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, of the Angels and of all the Saints, and by all the Masses offered today in the whole world, grant them eternal rest; and to us, now, the grace of amending our sins in view of the final hour.

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

Our Father. Hail Mary.