What Is Necrology?
A necrology refers to a list or record of individuals who have died, especially within a specific community, organization, or during a particular time period. In the context of the Church, religious orders will keep necrologies to record the anniversary of the death of the members of the Order. This gives the community the opportunity to remember to pray for the repose of the soul of its members – even members who died long before the current members were alive. In so doing, we are performing a spiritual work of mercy for souls.
Why Make a Necrology?
While we often think of praying for the dead in the month of November, all year we have ample opportunities to pray for the souls of the departed. Through almsgiving, penance, and fasting done with the intention of freeing souls in Purgatory, we can directly help the souls in the Church Suffering. And these souls, when freed from their purgation, shall certainly pray without ceasing for our salvation.
As we know by Faith, the souls of the suffering in Purgatory can benefit from the prayers and sacrifices of the souls on earth who pray and make reparation while in the state of grace.
Editor’s Note: A Heavenly Memory
I will never forget my first encounter with a Catholic necrology and the impact it made upon me. I was seven years old, and my family was living in Augsburg, Germany. We went to visit the basilica of St. Ulrich, perhaps the most beautiful church in the city.
A small chapel, St. Afra, is attached to the basilica. In the aftermath of the Protestant revolt, St. Ulrich was kept by the Catholics while St. Afra was taken over by the Lutherans. My father explained that this was a common practice in Germany, where two neighboring churches would be split between Catholics and Lutherans. However, since we were in Bavaria, where the Catholic Faith was dominant, the Catholics kept the much larger and more beautiful church.
This already made a huge impact on me. But I was far more impressed when I saw the interior of the two buildings. St. Afra was very simple, and to my child’s perspective, even sad. But St. Ulrich’s was absolutely beautiful. In my young imagination I was glimpsing Heaven as I entered under its larger-than-life doors. It is impossible for me to ever forget the experience of discovering that basilica; it will always remain one of my favorite churches in the world.
Towards the back of the basilica, near the front doors and by a large column, flanked by burning candles and set behind two prie-dieus, was a very large and important looking book. The script was beautiful, and it had a large ribbon to mark the page, similar to a missal. My father conjectured that it was an old bible or historical manuscript.
But when we looked at it closely, we realized it was a parish necrology. At the top page was the calendar date (for example, February 24). Beneath it were names filling three columns. Before each name was a cross and a year, such as “+1732, Dietrich Müller” The more current years from the 1970s and 1980s were the last entries, but the record stretched back for centuries. I often wish I had taken better note of the earliest entry, for I can no longer remember it.
Each morning, before unlocking the basilica’s doors, the sacristan unlocks the case and turns the page so it reflects the current calendar day. The faithful who visit the basilica throughout the day can pause by the book and pray for all the faithful departed of the parish who have died on that particular day. Those who have family members who died on that day make a special effort to visit the church on this anniversary.
What a beautiful tradition and devotion. I wish all our parishes had this custom. Finding this necrology in a place of honor within a heavenly church made a very powerful impression upon me as a young boy. How good it is to be Catholic!
A Lenten Connection
Lent is a privileged liturgical season in which God calls us to increase and intensify our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are the three “pillars” of Lent and the spiritual life. In her wisdom, the Church calls us to these ascetical practices because they are ideal for combatting the seven deadly sins and healing the wounds created in our human nature by original sin.[1]
During Lent, what will you do (or have you done) for the souls of our brothers and sisters in Purgatory who suffer because of their sins? They cannot pray for themselves, but you can free them from their sorrows by making reparation for their sins! As such, Lent is an ideal time to create a family necrology.
How to Make a Family Necrology
Many people enjoy making family trees and researching their genealogy. And while it can be interesting to learn where your forefathers lived, we should not stop at merely researching their names and dates. These were real people. Their souls are still alive. They are still family members even if centuries separate us from them. We have a familial obligation to pray for their souls. When all who knew them on earth have long since died, we can still pray for their souls each and every year on the anniversary of their death and their birthdays.
Step 1: Start with the family members who have died that you personally knew on earth. List the names, birthdays, and anniversary of death for everyone in your family tree that you know of.
Step 2: Next, you can use resources like Ancestry.com or other websites to find the names and dates of other, more distant family members. When you find them, add them to your list.
Step 3: After you have a list, add a recurring reminder to your digital calendars so you can pray for the repose of the soul of each person on the anniversary of their death. If you do not use a digital calendar, make a list ideally in date order (i.e., January through December) and print it out. Keep it near your home altar or prayer corner. Refer to it often so you are not only living liturgically by commemorating the saints of each day but also by recalling the death of your family members and recommending their souls to God.
Step 4: As part of our daily prayers, we should also pray for all our forefathers and ancestors whose names we do not know. To this end, the following prayer for the forgotten dead can be one we print out and say each day:
“O merciful God, take pity on those souls who have no particular friends and intercessors to recommend them to Thee, who, either through the negligence of those who are alive, or through length of time are forgotten by their friends and by all. Spare them, O Lord, and remember Thine own mercy, when others forget to appeal to it. Let not the souls which Thou hast created be parted from Thee, their Creator. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
May the Lord, in His loving compassion, have mercy on all of our ancestors. May any in Purgatory be soon released and enjoy eternal Beatitude in Heaven.
ENDNOTE:
[1] Fasting calls us to mortify the desires of our flesh, thus combatting gluttony, sloth, and lust. Almsgiving forms us according to a spirit of gratitude and selflessness; it calls us to think of our neighbor first and love him as we love ourselves. Hence, it is opposed to greed, envy, and anger. Finally, prayer teaches us to love the will of God, to obey Him, and to love Him above all created things. Authentic prayer roots out pride, the sin of placing ourselves first, above others, and even above God.