Comment
Comment
The phrase in English was not found on tombstones before the eighth century.[6][7] It became common on the tombs of Catholics in the 18th century for whom it was a prayerful request that their soul 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 which was enjoined to lie peacefully in the grave.
There it is. Thanks Rene, mystery solved.
