The St. Gertrude prayer for the souls in purgatory
Catholics pray for the dead because those who die in God’s friendship but still need purifying are helped by our prayers. In November, the month of the holy souls, many pray this short offering every day.
The St. Gertrude prayer
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen.
Source: The common wording, as printed by The Catholic Company (anonymous, 20th century)
An older prayer for the holy souls
Eternal Father! I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus, thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour and my God, for all my wants, spiritual and temporal; in suffrage for the holy souls in purgatory, and chiefly for those who were most devout lovers of this Blood, the price of our redemption, and of the sorrows and pains of our dear Mother, most holy Mary.
Source: The seventh of the Seven Offerings of the Precious Blood, indulgenced by Pius VII in 1817; The Raccolta (London, 1910), no. 141
Eternal Rest
Eternal rest grant unto him (her), O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him (her). May he (she) rest in peace. Amen.
Where the prayer comes from
The prayer is attributed to St. Gertrude the Great (1256-1302), a Benedictine nun of Helfta in Germany and a great mystic, whose feast is November 16. It isn’t found in her own writings: the wording that circulates today is anonymous and from the 20th century.
It often comes with a promise that it frees a thousand souls each time it’s prayed. That promise has no source in her writings and the Church has never approved it. The prayer is good without it: it offers Christ’s own sacrifice, the Mass, for the dead.
Why we pray for the dead
The Church teaches that our prayers, and above all the Mass, help those who are being purified after death (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030-1032). November 2, All Souls’ Day, is the day the whole Church prays for them.
In November the Church remembers her dead. Rosal explains it for families: All Saints, All Souls and the Day of the Dead: what the Church celebrates.
More prayers
For your children
Catholic Saints for Boys: 25 true saint stories in full color, from Saint Joseph to Saint Carlo Acutis, for children 6 to 12. From the makers of Little Prayer Stories.