Rest in peace (RIP), a phrase from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(), is sometimes used in traditional Christian

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

and

prayers Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

, such as in the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, Anglican, and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

denominations, to wish the soul of a

decedent Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

eternal rest and peace. It became ubiquitous on headstones in the 18th century, and is widely used today when mentioning someone's death.

Description

The phrase ''dormit in pace'' (English: " esleeps in peace") was found in the catacombs of the early Christians and indicated that "they died in the peace of the Church, that is, united in Christ." The abbreviation R.I.P., meaning ''Requiescat in pace'', "Rest in peace", continues to be engraved on the gravestones of Christians, especially in the

, and Anglican denominations. In the Tridentine

Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

the phrase appears several times. Other variations include "Requiescat in pace et in amore" for " ay he/sherest in peace and love", and "In pace requiescat et in amore". The word order is variable because Latin syntactical relationships are indicated by the inflexional endings, not by word order. If "Rest in peace" is used in an imperative mood, it would be "Requiesce in pace" (acronym R.I.P.) in the second person singular, or "Requiescite in pace" in the second person plural. In the common phrase "Requiescat in pace" the "-at" ending is appropriate because the verb is a third-person singular present active subjunctive used in a

hortative In linguistics, hortative modalities (; abbreviated ) are verbal expressions used by the speaker to encourage or discourage an action. Different hortatives can be used to express greater or lesser intensity, or the speaker's attitude, for or a ...

sense: " ay he/sherest in peace."

History

The phrase was first found on tombstones some time before the fifth century. It became ubiquitous on the tombs of Christians in the 18th century, and for

High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

Anglicans, Methodists, as well as Roman Catholics in particular, it was a prayerful request that their

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

should find peace in the afterlife. When the phrase became conventional, the absence of a reference to the soul led people to suppose that it was the physical body that was enjoined to lie peacefully in the

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...

. This is associated with the Christian doctrine of the

particular judgment Particular judgment, according to Christian eschatology, is the divine judgment that a departed person undergoes immediately after death, in contradistinction to the general judgment (or Last Judgment) of all people at the end of the world. ...

; that is, that the soul is parted from the body upon death, but that the soul and body will be reunited on Judgment Day.

Use in various religions

Irish Protestantism

In 2017, members of the Orange Order in Northern Ireland called on

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

s to stop using the phrase "RIP" or "Rest in Peace". Wallace Thompson, the secretary of the Evangelical Protestant Society, said on a

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

programme that he would encourage Protestants to refrain from using the term "RIP". Thompson said that he regards "RIP" as a

prayer for the dead Religions with the belief in a future judgment, a resurrection of the dead or a purgatory often offer prayers on behalf of the dead to God. Buddhism For most funerals that follow the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, common practices include chantin ...

, which he believes contradicts biblical doctrine. In the same radio programme,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Ken Newell Kenneth Norman Ernest Newell, Order of the British Empire, OBE, is a retired Irish people, Irish Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Presbyterian minister. He served as List of Moderators of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Moderator of the Genera ...

disagreed that people are praying for the dead when they use the phrase.

Judaism

The expression "rest in peace" is "not commonly used in Jewish contexts", though some commentators say that it is "consistent with Jewish practice". The traditional Hebrew expression , literally 'may peace be upon him', is sometimes rendered in English as 'may he rest in peace'. On the other hand, some Jews object to using the phrase for Jews, considering it to reflect a Christian perspective.Shlomo Zuckier, "What Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Online Mourners Got Right and Wrong about Jews, Death, and the Afterlife", ''Mosaic: Advancing Jewish Thought''
September 25, 2020
/ref>

Image gallery

File:Requiescat ponaszymu.JPG, This Lutheran Christian grave reads "Rest in Peace" in the local Cieszyn Silesian Polish dialect. File:San Sebastián - Cementerio de Polloe 175.jpg, The epitaph R.I.P. on a headstone in a churchyard of Donostia-San Sebastián File:R.I.P..jpg, Excerpt from gravestone in Święciechowa, showing R.I.P File:Ainhoa Croix1.JPG, This cross from 1720 bears the complete Latin phrase in its plural form ("Requiescant in pace") File:Early Christian Funerary inscription.jpg, This funerary tablet from 525 AD begins with the phrase File:Briton Rivière - Requiescat - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Requiescat'', oil on canvas painting by Briton Rivière, 1888, Art Gallery of New South Wales.

References

{{Gregorian chants of the Roman mass Death customs English-language idioms Modern Latin inscriptions Christian terminology