Respect for tradition, also in the liturgical sphere, is certainly a good thing. But there is a limit for everything. I say this in reference to that horrendous prayer…

Most Reverend Father,

Respect for tradition, also in the liturgical sphere, is certainly a good thing. But there is a limit for everything. When a group of people gathers to pray for the deceased, they recite that horrendous prayer named “Eternal Rest,” through which they ask the heavenly Father to grant their dearly departed, indeed, eternal rest. Now, it seems clear to me that we Christians should long, after earthly death, for Heaven and therefore for a state of eternal joy in the presence of God, and certainly not for the limbo of eternal rest. I know that prayer can also be freeform, and in fact, when I pray alone, I say: “Eternal joy grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rise in your glory. Amen.” However, when I pray with others, so as not to sound out of place (and perhaps even pretentious), I do so in silence.

I therefore ask you:

1) Are there any valid reasons, unknown to me, for invoking eternal rest unto the deceased?

2) If not, why isn’t the prayer reformed?

Thank you for your answer, even in case it is private.

Egidio

---

Priest’s answer

Dear Egidio,

1. Yes, there are valid reasons for invoking eternal rest unto our departed, because this is the language used by God in Sacred Scripture.

That is not just ordinary rest, because it is “eternal” rest, that is, God’s own.

2. That rest is not synonymous with inactivity, but is both work and rest at the same time.

Our Lord highlighted this when, to those who reproached him for healing a paralytic man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, he replied: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work” (John 5:17).

3. For the Jews, rest was holy, untouchable, because according to Sacred Scripture, God rested from his works on the seventh day.

If God did so, and man was created in his image and likeness, he too must do so: work for six days and rest on the seventh.

The Pharisees understood this rest in the strictest sense, forgetting that God works on the Sabbath as well, because he makes the sun shine and sends rain even on the Sabbath. He does the same with the fruits of the earth.

4. In the Old Testament already, God speaks of his rest, especially in Psalm 95:11 where we read: “Therefore I swore in my anger: ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

That rest, in strict sense, is the land of Canaan, it is Palestine.

But in wide sense, God’s rest is Jesus Christ.

He himself said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves” (Mt 11:28-29).

5. God’s rest is also heaven, where the dead who die in the Lord’s grace enter, as we read in the Revelation: “I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ said the Spirit, ‘let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them’ “ (Rev 14:13).

This is why in the Letter to the Hebrews we read: “And whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his own works as God did from his. Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience” (Heb 4:10-11).

6. On the contrary, whoever worships the beast and his statue (according to St. John, the beast is the false prophet, the antichrist) will have no rest: “The smoke of the fire that torments them will rise forever and ever, and there will be no relief day or night for those who worship the beast or its image or accept the mark of its name” (Rev 14:11).

7. Someone once asked Cardinal Martini, who was a biblical scholar, if it would be appropriate to replace the prayer’s words “Eternal Rest” with “Eternal Joy”.

The Cardinal replied: “The proposed prayer is certainly beautiful, and anyone who wishes can recite it in that way.

But the traditional prayer is also beautiful because, according to the biblical significance of the word requies (rest), it should be understood not as sleep, but as the proper rest that follows the battles of life.

The “eternal light” is the splendor of the Word that gives light to all things (cf. Revelation 21:23: “The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb”).

Similarly, the words “requiescant in pace” (may they rest in peace) are the wish for them to fully enter into shalom (peace), which, according to Scripture, is the synthesis of all God’s gifts” (Carlo Maria Martini, Il comune sentire, p. 35).

As you can see, even according to Cardinal Martini such prayer is not horrendous, but beautiful.

8. The following words can also be added to Cardinal Martini’s: whoever enters into God’s rest enters into God’s life, which is unceasing action without any weariness.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus said she would spend her paradise distributing graces on earth. That activity would not tire her. On the contrary, it would be her refreshment, her rest in God.

With the hope that we all enter into that rest, I bless you and remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo

Questo articolo è disponibile anche in: