Why requiem masses?

 

Requiem masses are offerings of the Eucharist for the faithful departed. The name comes from the traditional introit (entrance verse) “Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine” – “Grant them eternal rest, O Lord”. This picks up on Paul’s teaching about those who have “fallen asleep” in Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 15:18, 1 Thessalonians 4.14) We continue to pray for our fellow Christians who are resting in Christ, awaiting the resurrection of the dead at Christ’s return. 

That is why at funerals and at other times we pray:

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord;

And let light perpetual shine upon them.

(BCP page 502)

But there is more to it than that. Few if any of us die completely ready for the presence of God. We know countless people who have died with real faith, having grown as Christians, yet who still have shortcomings that need healing and repair before they can share the perfection of God’s kingdom. Others have died with a bare wisp of faith in Christ, their discipleship having been neglected rather than pursued.

Speaking of all his beloved sheep, Jesus says, “No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) We know that anyone who gives Jesus the barest chance is secure in his love. Yet there is work to be done in order to become the sort of person who fits in the dwelling places that Jesus prepares for us. (See John 14:2.) We recognize that this is true for others and we know that it is true for ourselves.

St. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 4:10-15

 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

Christ is the only foundation and we build our lives on him. The quality of our building – the quality of our lives – is put to the test, is purified and refined. Our salvation is secure in Christ but all the dross has to be purged out of us so that we stand before the Father in the true image of his son. 

At requiem masses we pray in particular for this rest and this purification for those “whom we love but see no longer” (BCP page 498), for those who have blessed us by the way they have raised or taught or helped us, for those who have given us this country we live in and this parish we worship in, and for all the departed. 

At St. Mary’s we offer a requiem mass once a month, usually within the first week of the month. (The next one is on Tuesday, September 6.) On All Souls’ Day, observed on Wednesday, November 2 this year, we concentrate on this particularly. You might want to make a point of sharing in the Eucharist on All Souls’ Day and occasionally throughout the year, particularly near the anniversary of the deaths of those who are especially dear to you.

May all God’s departed people “rest in peace and rise in glory.”


(This is a slightly amended reposting of a 2013 blog post.)