Pray for the dead (2 Macc 39, 42-43, 45-46)
The Latin:
Et sequénti die venit cum suis Judas, ut córpora prostratórum tólleret, et cum paréntibus póneret in sepúlchris patérnis.
Atque ita ad preces convérsi, rogavérunt ut id quod factum erat delíctum oblivióni traderétur. Et facta collatióne, duódecim míllia drachmas argénti misit Jerosólymam offérri pro peccátis mortuórum sacrifícium, bene et religióse de resurrectióne cógitans.
et quia considerábat quod hi qui cum pietáte dormitiónem accéperant, óptimam habérent repósitam grátiam. Sancta ergo et salúbris est cogitátio pro defúnctis exoráre, ut a peccátis solvántur.
The English:
And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.
And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.
And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
