Why & How to Make a Family Necrology

What Is Necrology

A necrology refers to a list or record of individuals who have died, especially within a specific community, organization, or during a particular time period. In the context of the Church, religious orders will keep necrologies to record the anniversary of the death of the members of the Order. This gives the community the opportunity to remember to pray for the repose of the soul of its members – even members who died long before the current members were alive. In so doing, we are performing a spiritual work of mercy for souls.

Why Make A Necrology

While we often think of praying for the dead in the month of November, all year we have ample opportunities to pray for the souls of the departed. Through almsgiving, penance, and fasting done with the intention of freeing souls in Purgatory, we can directly help the souls in the Church Suffering. And these souls, when freed from their purgation, shall certainly pray without ceasing for our salvation. 

As we know by Faith, the souls of the suffering in Purgatory can benefit from the prayers and sacrifices of the souls on earth who pray and make reparation while in the state of grace. What have you done for the souls of our brothers and sisters in purgatory who suffer because of their sins?  They cannot pray for themselves but you can free them from their sorrows by making reparation for their sins!

How to Make A Family Necrology

Many people enjoy making family trees and researching their genealogy. And while it may be interesting to learn where your forefathers lived, we should not stop at merely researching their names and dates. These were real people. Their souls are still alive. They are still family members even if centuries separate us from them. We have a familial obligation to pray for their souls. When all who knew them on earth have long since died, we can still pray for their souls each and every year on the anniversary of their death and their birthdays. 

Step 1: Start with the family members who have died that you personally knew on earth. List the names, birthdays, and anniversary of death for everyone in your family tree that you know of. 

Step 2: Next, you can use resources like Ancestry.com or other websites to find the names and dates of other, more distant family members. When you find them, add them to your list.

Step 3: After you have a list, add a recurring reminder to your digital calendars so you can pray for the repose of the soul of each person on the anniversary of their death. If you do not use a digital calendar, make a list ideally in date order (i.e. January through December) and print it out. Keep it near your home altar or prayer corner. Refer to it often so you are not only living liturgically by commemorating the saints of each day but also by recalling the death of your family members and recommending their souls to God.

Step 4: As part of our daily prayers, we should also pray for all our forefathers and ancestors whose names we do not know. To this end, the following prayer for the forgotten dead can be one we print out and say each day:

O merciful God, take pity on those souls who have no particular friends and intercessors to recommend them to Thee, who, either through the negligence of those who are alive, or through length of time are forgotten by their friends and by all. Spare them, O Lord, and remember Thine own mercy, when others forget to appeal to it. Let not the souls which Thou hast created be parted from thee, their Creator. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

May the Lord, in His loving compassion, have mercy on all of our ancestors. May any in Purgatory be soon released and enjoy eternal beatitude in Heaven.