Editing Eternal Rest

{{Short description|Western Christian prayer}}
[[Image:Way-of-salvation-church-militant-triumphant-andrea-di-bonaiuto-1365.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''[[Church militant and church triumphant|The Church Militant and the Church Triumphant]]'', fresco by [[Andrea da Firenze]] in [[Basilica of Santa Maria Novella|Santa Maria Novella]], c. A.D. 1365]]
'''Eternal Rest''' or '''''Requiem aeternam''''' is a [[Western Christianity|Western Christian]] [[prayer]] asking God:

(1) to hasten the progression of the souls of the faithful departed in [[Purgatory]] to their place in [[Heaven in Christianity|Heaven]] (in Catholicism)<br />
(2) to rest in the love of God the souls of the faithful departed in [[Christian views on Hades|Paradise]] until the [[resurrection of the dead]] and [[Last Judgement]] (in Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism and Methodism)<ref name="Gould2016">{{cite book|last=Gould|first=James B.|title=Understanding Prayer for the Dead: Its Foundation in History and Logic|date=4 August 2016|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|language=en |isbn=9781620329887|pages=41–55}}</ref>

The prayer is cited from [[2 Esdras]] (4 Esdras Vulgate):

Therefore, I say to you, O nations that hear and understand, “Wait for your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the end of the age is close at hand. Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because perpetual light will shine on you forevermore.
-2 Esdras 2:34-35 NRSV

== Theology ==
{{Main|Prayer for the dead}}
This Catholic doctrine is found in the [http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1030-1032]:{{blockquote|All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned...From the beginning the Church has honoured the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the [[Mass (Catholic Church)|Eucharistic sacrifice]], so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.}}

The [[Lutheran]] cleric Richard Futrell wrote that "The historic practice within the Lutheran Church had prayers for the dead in their Prayer of the Church. For example, if we were to look at a typical Lutheran service during Luther's lifetime, we would find in the Prayer of the Church not only intercessions, special prayers, and the Lord's Prayer, which are still typical today in Lutheran worship, but also prayers for the dead."<ref name="Futrell2014">{{cite web |last1=Futrell |first1=Richard |title=Prayers for the Dead: A Scriptural and Lutheran Worldview |url=https://kimberlinglutheran.com/2014/09/06/prayers-for-the-dead-a-scriptural-and-lutheran-worldview/ |publisher=Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church ([[Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod|Missouri Synod]]) |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=English |date=6 September 2014}}</ref> For those who have died, [[Martin Luther]] declared that 'I regard it as no sin to pray with free devotion in this or some similar fashion: ''Dear God, if this soul is in a condition accessible to mercy, be thou gracious to it.'' (''Luther's Works'', Volume 37)<ref name="Futrell2014"/>

[[The United Methodist Church]] teaches the "truth of intercessory prayer for the dead" and that "prayer for the dead has been a widespread practice throughout Christian history [and] is a profound act of love addressed to a God of love".<ref name="WipfStock2016">{{cite book|last=Gould|first=James B.|title=Understanding Prayer for the Dead: Its Foundation in History and Logic|date=4 August 2016|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781532606014|page=51}}</ref>

==Text==
===Latin===
The Latin text in the [[Roman Rite]] of the [[Catholic Church]] is:

{{Lang|la|℣. Requiem æternam dona ei (eis), Domine<br />
℟. Et lux perpetua luceat ei (eis):<br />
℣. Requiescat (-ant) in pace.<br />
℟. Amen.}}
===English===
[[File:Baguio 2011 Atonement Plaque.jpg|thumb|The prayer in a memorial plaque to the [[Battle of Baguio (1945)|1945 carpet bombing victims]] buried in the grounds of [[Baguio Cathedral]], [[Philippines]]]]

The translation used by [[English-speaking]] Catholics is:

:℣. Eternal rest, grant unto him/her, O {{Lord}},
:℟. And let perpetual light shine upon him/her.
:℣. May he/she rest in peace.
:℟. Amen.

The translation used by English-speaking [[Lutheran]]s is:<ref name="Gould">{{cite book|last=Gould|first=James B.|title=Understanding Prayer for the Dead: Its Foundation in History and Logic|date=4 August 2016|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|language=en |isbn=9781620329887|pages=41–51}}</ref>

:℣. Rest eternal grant him/her, O {{Lord}};
:℟. and let light perpetual shine upon him/her.
:℣. May he/she rest in peace.
:℟. Amen.

The translation used by English-speaking [[Anglican]]s is:<ref name="MercerLewis1961">{{cite book|last1=Mercer|first1=Samuel Alfred Browne|last2=Lewis|first2=Leicester C.|title=Anglican Theological Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZLjAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 February 2017|year=1961|publisher=Marquette University|language=en|page=364}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/death-and-dying/order-burial-dead|title=An Order for the Burial of the Dead|publisher=[[The Church of England]]|language=en|access-date=24 February 2017}}</ref>

:℣. Rest eternal grant unto them, O {{Lord}}:
:℟. and let light perpetual shine upon them.
:℣. May they rest in peace.
:℟. Amen.

A variation of the prayer said by American [[Methodist]] clergy during A Service of Death and Resurrection is:<ref name="PublicationVarious2016">{{cite book|title=The United Methodist Book of Worship: Regular Edition Black|date=5 April 2016|publisher=Kingswood Books|language=en|isbn=9781426735004|page=164}}</ref>

Eternal God,<br />
we praise you for the great company of all those<br />
who have finished their course in faith<br />
and now rest from their labor.<br />
We praise you for those dear to us<br />
whom we name in our hearts before you.<br />
Especially we praise you for Name,<br />
whom you have graciously received into your presence.<br />
To all of these, grant your peace.<br />
Let perpetual light shine upon them;<br />
and help us so to believe where we have not seen,<br />
that your presence may lead us through our years,<br />
and bring us at last with them<br />
into the joy of your home<br />
not made with hands but eternal in the heavens;<br />
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

==Indulgence==
In the Catholic Church there was an [[indulgence]] of 300 days for each performance. The indulgence can also be made in favor of the souls in Purgatory.<ref>(S. C. Indulg., 13 February 1908; S. Paen. Ap., 17 May 1927). As cited in {{cite web|url=https://www-radiospada-org.translate.goog/2014/11/indulgenze-per-i-defunti-normativa-generale-e-per-il-mese-di-novembre/?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=it&_x_tr_pto=wapp|title =Indulgences for the deceased: General regulations and for the month of November|date=2 November 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Catholicism}}
*[[Allhallowtide]]
*[[Requiem Mass]]
*[[Memory Eternal]]
*[[Office of the Dead]]
*[[Rest in peace]]
*[[In Paradisum]]
*[[Votive Mass#Suffrage Mass|Suffrage Mass]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Catholic Prayers}}

[[Category:Christian prayer]]
[[Category:Christianity and death]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic prayers]]