The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is kept on November 1 and 2, the Church’s Solemnity of All Saints and Commemoration of All Souls, and its heart is a Catholic practice: praying for our loved ones who have died and remembering them with love and hope in the resurrection. Families in Mexico and Mexican-American communities build an ofrenda (home altar) with photos, candles, marigolds and the favorite foods of the departed, visit and decorate the graves, and go to Mass. Below are prayers for the Day of the Dead: for the ofrenda, at the cemetery, for a child who has died, the traditional Eternal Rest prayer, and what the Church teaches about this custom.
A short Day of the Dead prayer, written for this page:
Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life.
Today we remember (names) with love. Forgive their sins, bring them into the light of your face,
and one day unite us with them again in your kingdom. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for them. Amen.
Eternal Rest, the prayer for the dead
The prayer most often said for the dead, at the ofrenda, at the grave and after grace at meals in November. Its Spanish form begins “Dales, Señor, el descanso eterno.”
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
See the Eternal Rest prayer and its meaning.
A prayer for the ofrenda
Written for this page. Pray it when you set up or light the candles on the family altar.
Lord God, we set up this ofrenda in memory of our beloved dead, (names).
These photos remind us of their faces, these candles of the light of Christ that they received at baptism,
these flowers of the brief beauty of our lives, and this bread of the Bread of Life.
We entrust them to your mercy: give them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
A prayer at the cemetery
Written for this page.
Lord, we stand at the grave of (name), who sleeps here in the hope of the resurrection.
Thank you for the life we shared. Forgive whatever was not right between us,
heal our sorrow, and raise (him/her) up on the last day. Amen.
From November 1 to 8, Catholics who visit a cemetery and pray for the dead can gain a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, under the usual conditions (confession, Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions). On November 2 the same indulgence is granted for visiting a church and praying an Our Father and the Creed.
A prayer for a child who has died
In many places November 1 is kept especially for children who have died (los angelitos). Written for this page:
Lord Jesus, you said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.”
We remember (name), whom we loved so much and for so short a time.
Hold (him/her) in your arms, comfort our broken hearts, and help us trust that we will see (him/her) again. Amen.
A prayer from the old novena for the dead
From a 1925 Catholic prayer book:
O God, to Whom it belongs always to have mercy and to spare, we humbly beseech Thee for the soul of Thy servant, N., which Thou hast commanded to depart out of this world: that Thou deliver it not into the hands of the enemy, nor forget it unto the end; but command it to be received by Thy holy angels, and conducted into paradise, its true country; that, as in Thee it hath hoped and believed, it may not suffer the pains of hell, but may take possession of eternal joys. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
For all nine days, see the novena for the dead.
Is the Day of the Dead Catholic?
The Day of the Dead grew out of the Church’s feasts of All Saints and All Souls, which Spanish missionaries brought to Mexico, joined with older native customs of honoring ancestors. The Church in Mexico keeps the Christian meaning at its center: praying for the dead and hoping in the resurrection. Remembering the dead with an ofrenda is not worship of the dead; prayer for them is an ancient Catholic practice (2 Machabees 12:46, Douay-Rheims):
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
The Mexican bishops have repeatedly warned that devotion to “Santa Muerte,” a skeleton figure honored as if it were a saint, is not Christian and is incompatible with the Catholic faith. Sugar skulls and calaveras are folk decorations that remind us of death; Christians face death with hope.
Scripture for the Day of the Dead
John 11:25–26 (Douay-Rheims):
Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live:
And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?
Apocalypse 21:4 (Revelation 21:4):
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Day of the Dead?
November 1 and 2, the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls. Some families begin on October 31 or earlier.
Is the Day of the Dead the same as Halloween?
No. Halloween (October 31) is the eve of All Saints’ Day. The Day of the Dead is a Mexican celebration of November 1–2 centered on remembering and praying for the dead.
What do you say on the Day of the Dead?
A traditional prayer is Eternal Rest: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.”
More prayers for the dead
- All Souls’ Day
- All Saints’ Day
- Catholic prayers for the dead
- Prayer for the souls in purgatory
- Oración por los fieles difuntos
- Prayers of the faithful for All Souls’ Day
Texts and sources
- Eternal Rest and the novena prayer: Charles J. Callan and John A. McHugh, Blessed Be God (1925), public domain (Wikisource); Eternal Rest given in the plural.
- 2 Machabees 12:46, John 11:25–26 and Apocalypse 21:4 (Douay-Rheims).