[The following Prayer may be said just before leaving the grave.] O God, by whose mercy the souls of the faithful rest in peace, be pleased to bless this grave, and depute thy holy angel to guard it. Absolve the souls of them whose bodies here are buried from the chain of all their sins, that they may evermore rejoice in Thee, with thy Saints, world without end, through Christ our Lord. Amen. [Returning home, say the Song of Zacharias.] ANT. I am the Resurrection. Benedictus. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited and redeemed his people. Grant them, O Lord: eternal rest, &c. ANT. I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord he that believeth in me, though, he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. [Being returned home, say the following Psalm.] PSAL. xlii. Quemadmodum. Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth my soul after thee, O God. Grant them, O Lord: eternal rest, &c. Collect as in first Book of Common Prayer. : O merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life in whom whosoever believeth shall live though he die ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally who also hath taught us by his holy Apostle Paul not to be sorry as men without hope for them that sleep in him: we meekly beseech thee, O Father, to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, that when we shall depart this life we may sleep in him (as our hope is this our brother doth), and at the general resurrection in the last day, both we and this our brother departed, receiving again our bodies and rising again in thy most gracious favour, may, with all thine elect Saints, obtain eternal joy. Grant this, O Lord God, by the means of our Advocate Jesus Christ: who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever. Amen. 1 THESS. iv. 13, to end. Vide supra, page 86. Let us pray. O Lord, with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord: and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity, grant unto this thy servant N. that the sins which he committed in this world be not imputed unto him, but that he escaping the gates of hell and pains of eternal darkness, may ever dwell in the region of light, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the place where is no weeping, sorrow, nor heaviness: and when that dreadful day of the general resurrection shall come, make him also to rise with the just and righteous, and to receive his body again to glory, there made and incorruptible: set him on the right hand of thy Son Jesus Christ, among thy holy and elect, that pure he may hear with them those most sweet and comfortable words, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Grant this, we beseech thee, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. At the Burial of Infants the foregoing Psalms and Prayers are not to be used, but the following, [Before the funeral.] ANT. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. PSAL. cxiii. Laudate pueri. Praise the Lord, ye servants: O praise the Name of the Lord. Blessed be the Name of the Lord from this time : forth for evermore. : The Lord's Name is praised from the rising up of the sun unto the going down of the same. The Lord is high above all heathen: and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, that hath his dwelling so high and yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth? : He taketh up the simple out of the dust and lifteth the poor out of the mire; That he may set him with the princes: even with the princes of his people. He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. Glory be to the Father, &c. ANT. Blessed be the Name of the Lord, from this time forth for evermore. [Going to Church, or on entering.] ANT. He shall receive. PSAL. XXIV. Domini est terra. The earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is: the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas and prepared it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall rise up in his holy place? Even he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart: and that hath not lift up his mind unto vanity, nor sworn to deceive his neighbour. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him : even of them that seek thy face, O Jacob. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in. : Who is the King of glory: it is the Lord strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory: even the Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Glory, &c. ANT. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord : and righteousness from the God of his salvation. O Almighty God, who out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained strength, and madest infants to glorify thee by their deaths; mortify and kill all vices in us, and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives and constancy of our faith, even unto death, we may glorify thy holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [Afterwards.] ANT. Young men and maidens. PSAL. cxlviii. Laudate Dominum. O praise the Lord of heaven: praise him in the height. &c. &c. Vide page 35. Glory be to the Father, &c. ANT. Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the Name of the Lord. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. mercy. Our Father, &c. Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. Ry. For of such is the kingdom of heaven. Let us pray. O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order, mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels always do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [Returning from the funeral of an Infant, the Song of the Three Children may be used.] Benedicite omnia opera. O all ye Works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever. O ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever. O ye Heavens, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever. ye Waters that be above the Firmament, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever. H |