Laudatur Iesus Christus.
All of the prayers that have been mentioned seem worthy and of benefit to the dead. I do not mean to discourage anyone from their customary practices in praying for the dead. It might be useful to note that an indulgenced grant applies to all prayers or invocations offered by “the Christian faithful who, while performing their duties and enduring the difficulties of life, raise their minds in humble trust to God and make, at least mentally, some pious invocation.” Handbook of Indulgences: Norms and Grants (1988), Grant I. I think this applies to all of the prayers discussed so far, if made while driving or otherwise engaged in worldly activities.
I have some concern, however, that the rule of prayer is the rule of belief (“
Lex orandi lex credendi”), or so some say, and therefore one should take care that prayers are within the love and will of Christ. When one is praying for the dead, there is a significant implication, if one seems to assume that damnation (mortal sin) is not possible. St. John writes: “There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that.” (1John (RSV) 5:16.) This calls to mind the Savior’s words: “While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.” (John (RSV) 17:12.) These considerations suggest that a prayer for the dead that includes “all souls” (in contrast to customary phrases such as “all faithful souls” or “all of the faithfully departed”) may cross a line. One might slip into thinking that all of the dead can be saved.
*The Handbook of Indulgences: Norms and Grants *is one of the means by which the Church teaches us how to pray. Norm 25 provides: “An indulgence annexed to any prayer may be gained no matter what the language of recitation, provided the accuracy of the translation is supported by a declaration either of the Apostolic Penitentiary or of one of the Ordinaries or Hierarchs in the region where the language of the translation is in general use.” Handbook of Indulgences: Norms and Grants (1988), Norm 25. This is a slight revision of Norm 32 as shown in the online version linked in another post above. This suggests some strictness in matters of additions to the sense of approved prayers, possibly to avoid issues like the one mentioned above.
Prayerful visits to cemeteries are still indulgenced in the current edition of the Handbook. I had not thought of that in this connection, since it seems to require more than merely driving by the cemetery.
See, Ibid. Grant 13. (Note, in the current edition, those saintly souls who can obtain plenary indulgences may obtain one by devoutly visiting any cemetery and praying for the dead, at any time from November 1 through November 8. This grant is under the usual conditions and applicable only to souls in purgatory.) Ibid., Grant 13.
It occurs to me that the general Grant mentioned in the first paragraph above is also an encouragement for the practice of bowing one’s head at the name of Jesus. This gesture itself, when done with some conscious intent (rather than “automatically”), seems to be within the Grant I. So long as one is in the state of grace and has at least a general intention to obtain the indulgence, it will obtain merit to be applied to one’s intensions.
Divinum Auxilium maneat semper nobiscum.
John Hiner
