Bereavement Support

Catholic cemeteries in the Diocese of Springfield exist to serve not only the Church but also the greater community and all of society by making religious statements about the individual person, humankind, life, death, and life after death.

Those who minister in Catholic cemeteries will extend their efforts to all baptized members of the Catholic tradition.

Suggested Prayers At the Cemetery

For the Deceased:

Almighty God and Father, it is our certain faith that your Son, who died on the cross, was raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Grant that through this mystery your servant, ______________ who has gone to rest in Christ, may share in the joy of His Resurrection. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

For Ourselves:

Father of Mercies and God of all Consolation, you pursue us with an untiring love and dispel the shadow of death with the bright dawn of life. Comfort us in our sorrow. Be our refuge and our strength, O Lord, and lift us from the depths of grief into the peace and light of your presence. Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by dying has destroyed our death, and by rising has restored our life.

Enable us therefore to press on toward Him, so that, after our earthly course is run, he may reunite us with those we love, when every tear will be wiped away. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.