Prayer for All Souls' Day and Día de Los Muertos

In honor of All Souls’ Day, Father Randy Roche, director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality, offers a meaningful meditation as a way to remember loved ones: a moment of gratitude for family and friends who have died. This exercise can be done at any time. As the days transition into a time of less sunlight during the late fall, it is especially meaningful in early November.

This practice is best done slowly, even if only for a few minutes, by considering such thoughts as:

• Who comes to mind as I remember loved ones who have passed, as I quietly begin to recall them, with no specific plan other than to find causes for gratitude?
• As specific memories or a general awareness of different persons arise in consciousness, what accompanying feelings are there?
• What have I experienced with each or any of these persons that I now welcome as good, that remains with me, and is now a part of my life?
• What reflections or memories elicit a gentle sense of peace or consolation as I think about my relationships with one or more of these persons?
• Is there anything you might want to say to those you remember, or to yourself as you think of them, or to God?