Note for preparation: Put a little table in your room or place of prayer. On it place a crucifix or an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a lit candle and maybe flowers. During the times of silent prayer, you may play background music.
The following rhythm of adoration may be helpful for the individual in private adoration or the leader in group adoration. It is intended for an hour adoration so may be adapted for shorter periods of adoration. The leader’s guidance or comments should be brief. Times of praise, worship, thanksgiving, repentance may be substituted as appropriate
Reflection
November is the month when we are especially called to remember the faithful departed. We should do so with gratitude because we are their heirs; we owe part of what we are to them: and sometimes the best of ourselves has been graciously given to us by those who have passed away. They have left us faith, a way of understanding life and death, a culture of existence. And we remember them before Christ, victorious conqueror of death, of our deaths. Because they participated in the life of Jesus, they will now enjoy his resurrection close to the Father. Their memory is a source of quiet joy for us and of confirmation that we are on the way, on the good way, where we will meet Jesus.... - My God, come to my aid.
- Lord: make haste to help me.
- Glory to the Father...
- As it was in the beginning... alleluia...
Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
He is our salvation, our glory forever.
If we die with Him, we shall live with Him.
If we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him.
Quiet time to adore.
Psalm 121.
In this Psalm of blessing from the Old Testament the prayerful person's confidence rests on the Israelites ancient tradition received in the community: from the days of the desert until the present moment, God has made his people feel his protective closeness. In times of distress, the memory of God's faithfulness was the strength that sustained them along the way.
Christ, the Good Shepherd, whom our departed brothers and sisters followed in life, is the one who guides them through the gate of death to the green pastures of life.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains:
Whence shall help come to me?
Help comes to me from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to stumble;
Your guardian does not sleep;
the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor rests.
The Lord keeps you in his shadow, he is at your right hand:
the sun shall not hurt you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord keeps you from all evil, he guards your life;
The Lord guards your coming and going, now and forever.
Silence for meditation.
Reading Lord, I want to remember before you my deceased,
all those who once belonged to me and have departed from me. They are so many, so many, that at a glance I cannot take them all in, but I must go through my life's journey of remembrance, if my sorrow wants to greet them all again. When I say: Lord, give them eternal rest and enlighten them with eternal light, may my prayer be only the echo of the word of love that they themselves speak for me in the stillness of their eternity:
Lord give to those whom we love in your love, as never before, give them, after the struggle of their lives, eternal rest and also enlighten them with your eternal light as you do us.
Silence for reflection.
How do you behave towards people who have lost a loved one? Do you respond immediately to the whys and wherefores they throw at God from their grief? Do not respond immediately. Listen and help them live with their whys. Don't ask yourself "What can I say to them when I go to their home?" You don't have to say anything, just give them a hug, be together with them, listen to them and help them in whatever way you can. Petitions For our deceased, that they may enjoy eternal rest and peace in the bosom of the Father... For those bereaved by the loss of a loved one, that they may find strength and consolation in the love of God and in our closeness... For those who died today and have no one to weep or pray for them...
Our Father
Prayer
God our Father, our faith confesses that your Son has died and risen again. Grant that your servants, who have already participated in the death of Christ, may also participate in his resurrection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Final blessing
May the Lord bless us, keep us from all evil and lead us to eternal life. Amen