Praying for a deceased monarch is Catholic tradition

Father Pablo Santa Maria delivered the following homily at a requiem Mass for Queen Elizabeth II at Holy Rosary Cathedral on Monday, Sept. 19, the day of the Queen’s funeral. It has been edited for readability. Listen to the original here. 

I’m sure there are some of you who are questioning why we should have a funeral Mass or requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. She was not a Catholic. Why would we give her the privilege of a Catholic funeral?

This goes back to St. Paul, who always reminded us to pray for our leaders, to pray for those in government.

It’s also part of Catholic tradition. In Poland while it was occupied by the Russian Empire, at the death of the Czar they organized requiem Masses for him.

When King George VI passed away, the (Catholic) Archbishop of Westminster celebrated a requiem Mass for him.

It’s a tradition to pray and offer prayers and suffrages for the repose of the soul of a Christian monarch, and we can think of Queen Elizabeth as a great example of Christian virtue, of a woman who strived to be a good Christian.

She pledged this before her reign began. In a famous broadcast from South Africa she promised to dedicate her whole life to the service of all of us who would be her subjects, of all the Imperial family that was the British Empire.

She continued to pledge and remind us, especially in an age when many world leaders, supposedly Christians, never recognize that they are Christians.

She never stopped mentioning in her Christmas broadcasts the importance of Christian faith for her and for her reign.

For us to remember to pray for her, for the repose of her soul, and to look at the example of a woman who was very stoic, hard working, Christian, devoted to her family and to her job – virtues that you and I can imitate. Virtues that remind us maybe of a bygone era, but virtues that we need to rescue.

Pray for the repose of her soul, and pray also for the new King His Majesty King Charles, that he may follow the example of duty and service laid out for him by his late mother.

So, as we go today, pray for her and for those in government, that they may be faithful to the principles of Christian government and Christian kingship, that they may be good leaders, just like Queen Elizabeth was.

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