Eternal Rest
Eternal Rest or Requiem aeternam is a Western Christian prayer asking God:
to hasten the progression of the souls of the faithful departed in Purgatory to their place in Heaven
to rest in the love of God the souls of the faithful departed in Paradise until the resurrection of the dead and Last Judgement
The prayer is cited from 2 Esdras :
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
This Catholic doctrine is found in the :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." 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.
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 is a profound act of love addressed to a God of love".
Text
Latin
The Latin text in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church is:℣. Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine
℟. Et lux perpetua luceat ei :
℣. Requiescat in pace.
℟. Amen.
English
The translation used by English-speaking Catholics is:The translation used by English-speaking Lutherans is:
The translation used by English-speaking Anglicans is:
A variation of the prayer said by American Methodist clergy during A Service of Death and Resurrection is:
Eternal God,
we praise you for the great company of all those
who have finished their course in faith
and now rest from their labor.
We praise you for those dear to us
whom we name in our hearts before you.
Especially we praise you for Name,
whom you have graciously received into your presence.
To all of these, grant your peace.
Let perpetual light shine upon them;
and help us so to believe where we have not seen,
that your presence may lead us through our years,
and bring us at last with them
into the joy of your home
not made with hands but eternal in the heavens;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.