In this book Megan McLaughlin explores the social and cultural significance of prayer for the dead in the West Frankish realm from the late eighth century through the end of the eleventh century. She argues that the primary function of funerary and commemorative rituals in the early middle ages was to sustain the dead as members of the Christian community on earth, and to link them symbolically with the community of saints in heaven.

Prayer reflected a network of relationships that bound together the intercessor, the dead, and the divine.

Drawing her evidence from liturgical books, theological treatises, sermons, saints' lives, chronicles, and charters, McLaughlin considers both ceremonies precipitated by an individual's death and those performed for the dead as a group. After discussing the commemoration of ordinary people, she focuses on the commemoration of more powerful individuals and enumerates and classifies the meanings attributed to prayer for the dead in the period before the "birth" of purgatory.

By studying prayer in its social context rather than treating it as a chapter in the history of theology, Consorting with Saints makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the social, economic, and cultural structures of early medieval society.