Praying the office for the dead

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Essentially whenever the Mass for the dead can be celebrated. From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:
  1. The Church offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Christ’s Passover for the dead so that, since all the members of Christ’s body are in communion with each other, the petition for spiritual help on behalf of some may bring comforting hope to others.
  2. Among the Masses for the Dead, the Funeral Mass holds first place. It may be celebrated on any day except for solemnities that are holy days of obligation, Holy Thursday, the Easter Triduum, and the Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Easter, with due regard also for all the other requirements of the norm of the law.
  3. A Mass for the Dead may be celebrated on receiving the news of a death, for the final burial, or the first anniversary, even on days within the Octave of Christmas, on obligatory memorials, and on weekdays, except for Ash Wednesday or weekdays during Holy Week.
Other Masses for the Dead, that is, “daily” Masses, may be celebrated on weekdays in Ordinary Time on which optional memorials occur or when the Office is of the weekday, provided such Masses are actually applied for the dead.
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Kinda silly question but what does the word office mean? Why is it called office?
 
“Office” refers to the Liturgy of the Hours as a whole, or any one of the canonical hours within the Liturgy of the Hours:

Office of Readings
Lauds
Terce
Sext (don’t forget the “T”)
None
Vespers
Compline

The whole works is otherwise known as the “Divine Office” or “Work of God”.
 
Always wondered why the word office was incorporated in the title. Did search for why the word was used but could not find the answer. It is a odd word to use.
 
It’s from the Latin: “Divinum Officium”, or “Divine Office”.
Officium (plural officia) is a Latin word with various meanings in ancient Rome, including “service”, “(sense of) duty”, “courtesy”, “ceremony” and the like. It also translates the Greek kathekon and was used in later Latin to render more modern offices.
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The Divine Office is a service or duty that clergy and religious are bound to.
 
Thank you, did not look at the English to Latin translation ! Silly me, I should have. 😃
 
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