Prayed at wakes and in November

How to pray the Rosary for someone who has died.

The Rosary is prayed beside coffins, at wakes and vigils, and through November for the holy souls. It is the same Rosary, offered for a different intention, with a few traditional adaptations.

How to Pray It

1. Announce the intention: for [name], and for all the faithful departed.
2. Pray the Glorious Mysteries — the mysteries of resurrection and eternal life — or the Sorrowful, if that suits the grief better.
3. After each decade, add the Eternal Rest prayer in place of, or after, the Fatima Prayer.
4. Conclude with the De Profundis or the prayer below.

Eternal Rest

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

The Closing Prayer

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful,
grant to the souls of Your servants departed
the remission of all their sins,
that through our prayers they may obtain the pardon
they have always desired.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

About This Devotion

At a wake, the Rosary gives a room full of people something to do together when there is nothing to say — which is most of the reason it has survived. It also does real work: prayer for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy, and the Church has never doubted that it helps them.