Creating a Family Book of Remembrance is a heartfelt way to honor and pray for departed loved ones, especially during the month of November dedicated to the Holy Souls.
It is a good and holy tradition to pray for the souls of the departed at any time of the year. The month of November is dedicated to the Holy Souls, and as such it is good to pray especially for the souls in purgatory at this time. A few years ago I made a Family Book of Remembrance to help direct our family prayers during the month of November.
Making a remembrance book
I wanted to create something special for this purpose, so I made a small, saddle-stitched book using this very easy tutorial. Of course you can use any notebook or journal, or make something more sturdy. The making and decorating of the book itself is a great project for children to contribute to with art, writing, and sewing (if making your own) and there are many ways in which we can personalise this book.
Inside the Book of Remembrance we have included the Prayer for the Faithful Departed at the beginning and have divided the pages into family groups (my husband’s paternal and maternal family, mine, and so on), our family friends, and those whom we don’t know but have some connection to. In the future, I hope to add the anniversary dates of each person listed.
Honouring and remembering
We keep the book on our prayer table through the month of November and each night we offer up our prayers for one or two (or more) of the people listed in the book, with the intention of praying for each person in the book by the end of the month.
We also keep the book available through the year so it can be added to as needed. I come from a small family, so I have felt drawn to include people beyond my own relatives – such as those I hear about in the news who have died, Catholics who pioneered our local area, and those who have no one to pray for them. This book could also be a good place to keep remembrance cards which are often distributed at funerals.
Having this record of deceased relatives, friends, and others also causes our children to ask about those for whom we are praying – at this point in their lives these are mostly people they don’t know; while we pray for their eternal souls, we also keep their memory alive. Often this will lead to stories of faith, friendship, love and suffering, and opportunities to talk about the boundless mercy of God.
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
2 Maccabees 12:46
Miriam lives in Ipswich, QLD, with her husband and five young children. She has been interested in education since she was a child, and now home educates, teaches Latin online and finds much joy in creating a family culture of faith, festivity, and learning. Miriam’s other great love is spending time outdoors with the family, especially in the Australian bush.
2 Responses
I have all my mum’s funeral books of relatives and friends that she kept after going ot their funerals. Every now and then I pull several out and pray for those people. Most were her generation and now I have several of my own ot add to the pile
Keeping the funeral books is a wonderful way to remember and pray for the deceased. That’s lovely.