Mass for the Dead on the Day of Death or Burial

Introit

4 Esdras 2:34-35; Psalm 64:2-3

Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. Ps. To You we owe our hymn of praise, O God, in Sion; to You must vows be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer; to You all flesh must come.

Collect

O God, Whose property is ever to have mercy and to spare, we humbly entreat Thee on behalf of the soul of Thy servant (handmaid) N., whom Thou hast bidden this day to pass out of this world: that Thou wouldst not deliver him into the hands of the enemy, nor forget him for ever, but command him to be taken up by the holy angels, and to be borne to our home in Paradise, that as he had put his faith and hope in Thee, he may not undergo the pains of Hell but may possess everlasting joys. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

Collect (on the third, seventh, and thirtieth day)

We beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thou wouldest vouchsafe to grant to the soul of Thy servant, N., the third (or seventh, or thirtieth) day of whose burial we commemorate, companionship with Thy saints and elect, and pour upon it the perennial dew of Thy mercy. Through our Lord.

Epistle

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Haydock

Brethren, we will not have you ignorant concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them who have slept through Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept. For the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven, with commandments, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead who are in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.

Gradual

4 Esdras 2:34-35; Psalm 111:7

Haydock

Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance; an evil report he shall not fear.

Tract

O Lord, absolve the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin. ℣. And by the help of Your grace may they be worthy to escape the sentence of vengeance. ℣. And to enjoy all the beatitude of the light eternal.

Sequence - Dies Iræ

Day of wrath and doom impending,
David’s word with Sibyl’s blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes ending.
O what fear man’s bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On Whose sentence all dependeth.
Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth,
Through earth’s sepulchres it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth.
Death is struck, and nature quaking,
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making.
Lo, the book exactly worded,
Wherein all hath been recorded,
Thence all judgment be awarded.
When the Judge His seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth.
What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding
When the just are mercy needing?
King of majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us.
Think, kind Jesus, my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation,
Leave me not to reprobation.
Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the cross of suffering bought me,
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?
Righteous Judge, for sin's pollution
Grant Thy gift of absolution,
Ere that day of retribution.
Guilty now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owing,
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning
Through the sinful woman shriven,
Through the dying thief forgiven,
Thou to me a hope hast given.
Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying.
With Thy sheep a place provide me,
From the goats afar divide me,
To Thy right hand do Thou guide me.
When the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me with Thy Saints surrounded.
Low I kneel with heart's submission;
See, like ashes, my contrition,
Help me in my last condition.
Ah! that day of tears and mourning,
From the dust of earth returning.
Man for judgment must prepare him,
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him.
Lord all-pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.

Gospel

John 11:21-27

Haydock Catena Aurea

At that time, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died: but now also I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. Jesus saith to her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith to Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me although he be dead, shall live; and every one that liveth, and believeth in Me, shall not die forever. Believest thou this? She saith to Him, Yea, Lord, I have believed that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, Who art come into this world.

Offertory

O Lord, Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and the deep pit; deliver them from the lion’s mouth, that hell engulf them not, nor they fall into darkness, but that Michael, the holy standard-bearer, bring them into the holy light * which You once promised to Abraham and his seed. ℣. We offer You, O Lord, sacrifices and prayers of praise; accept them for those souls whom we this day commemorate; grant them, O Lord, to pass from death to the life * which You once promised to Abraham and his seed.

Secret

Be merciful, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to the soul of Thy servant, N., for whom we offer to Thee the sacrifice of praise, supplicating Thy majesty that, through these offices of pious propitiation, it may be worthy to enter unto everlasting rest. Through our Lord.