Gone Before Us: Praying for the Dead

Gone Before Us is a meditation rendering of songs psalms readings and traditional prayers from the Office of the Dead for the hours of the morning at daytime in the evening at bedtime and in the middle of the night. When in grief or when hearing news of the death of a loved one these sets of prayer can be very consoling. The psalms and canticles are slightly altered from the meditation rendering of the compilers One Week in Ordinary Time. Choices made in this meditation rendering are available at except that The Lord is used here instead of the Hebrew Adonai for the divine name. Gone Before Us is dedicated to Will D Campbell the Baptist preacher who helped me to get to know Mr. Jesus and Edward Alberts Catholic pastor vicar of liquor and friend whose June 2013 deaths finally prompted this long-considered compilation. Stephen Joseph Wolf is a parish priest in Clarksville Tennesse who spends most Mondays in silence and solitude writing for faith sharing groups and spiritual direction. For more visit .