O Lord of unutterable Love, remember Thy servants who
have fallen asleep.
Enlightened by the illumination of the Most High, Saint
Macarius heard a voice from a pagan skull: "When you pray
for those suffering in Hell, there is relief for the heathen." O
wonderful power of Christian prayer, by which even the
infernal regions are illumined! Both believers and
unbelievers receive comfort when we cry for the whole
world: ALLELUIA.
Saint Isaac the Syrian once said: "A merciful heart is one
that burns with love for men and animals and for the whole
of creation, and at all times offers prayers with tears that
they may be purified and kept." Likewise we all boldly ask
the Lord for help for all the dead from the beginning of time
and cry:
Send down to us, O Lord,
the gift of fervent prayer for the dead.
Remember, O Lord, all who have charged us, unworthy as
we are,
to pray for them,
and pardon the sins
they have forgotten.