Requiem aeternam

Sirona said:

Dear forum,

to my knowledge, Catholics pray for the dead using the words "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine" – "Eternal rest grant them, O Lord". I wondered how this can be reconciled with Biblical statements that all souls will be resurrected and judged on Judgement Day?

Thanks for your replies.

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1. Conscious existence continues after death.
2. Souls are either sentenced to Hell or Purgatory, or accepted into Heaven. (The particular judgement).
3. The souls in Purgatory benefit though the prayers of the living. (Prayers hasten their entrance into Heaven).

Musing Bassist said:

According to Catholic belief:

1. Conscious existence continues after death.
2. Souls are either sentenced to Hell or Purgatory, or accepted into Heaven. (The particular judgement).
3. The souls in Purgatory benefit though the prayers of the living. (Prayers hasten their entrance into Heaven).

The physical resurrection will occur at the Second Coming. Unlike the individual (particular) judgement that occurs after death, the Last Judgement will be corporate and public. This serves to conclude history and to vindicate God's justice and mercy by the full witness of creation.

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exchemist said:

OK, but what then would you say eternal rest signifies, in the context of all this?

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Musing Bassist said:

Some notion of soul sleep seems to me to be implicit in the original question. Under that assumption prayers for the dead make no sense. Eternal rest is the Beatific Vision in Heaven. The Requiem Aeternam is a petitonary prayer requesting the entrance of the departed into Heaven.

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