Pope Leo XIV Offers Mass for Deceased Cardinals and Bishops: Prayers for 7 Cardinals and 136 Bishops
Vatican City — On November 5, Pope Leo XIV presided over a Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica for the repose of the cardinals and bishops who died during the past year. This year's Mass was offered for seven cardinals and 136 bishops, in the customary early-November liturgy celebrated by the popes each year.
In his homily, Leo XIV quoted the Gospel of John — "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also" (Jn 12:26) — and recalled the final words of Saint Monica to her sons Augustine and Navigius: "One thing only I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord, wherever you may be." Here, he said, the mystery of death is linked to prayer for the dead, which the Church has practised from her earliest beginnings as one of her fundamental duties.
Drawing on the first reading, in which Judas Maccabeus arranged a sin offering for his fallen companions (2 Macc 12:43-46), the pope reflected on two truths that illuminate prayer for the deceased: hope in the resurrection and the communion of saints. Remembrance of the departed at the altar, he said, rests on the promise that life in Christ is not lost, because it has been redeemed; if there were no resurrection, praying for the dead would be futile. "Let us not allow the memory of the deceased to become merely nostalgic," he said, adding that to pray for the dead is to celebrate life — first the risen life of Christ, and then, by his grace, our own.
The Mass was celebrated in Latin. Afterward, Leo XIV visited the grottoes beneath St. Peter's Basilica to pray at the tombs of his predecessors, including St. Paul VI, Venerable Pius XII and Benedict XVI.
According to the October 28 notice of the Vatican's Office of Liturgical Celebrations, the Mass began at 9 a.m. on November 5, with members of the Papal Chapel in attendance. (Source: Vatican News)
Source: Vatican News
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：梵蒂冈 St. Peter's Basilica 内的圣伯多禄宝座祭台（Altar of the Chair），11月5日追思弥撒在此举行。Dnalor 01 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, where the November 5 memorial Mass was celebrated. By Dnalor 01, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
