V. Lord hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

GOD whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive; receive our humble petitions for the soul of thy servant N. [or thy servant N., thy Priest], whom thou hast bidden to depart out of this world; deliver him not into the hands of the enemy, neither forget him forever; but command thy holy angels to receive him and to lead him into the country where is the Paradise of God; and forasmuch as he hoped and believed in thee, let him not endure the pains of hell, but make him to possess the joys of everlasting life; through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

While the body is being borne out of the Church there shall be sung, or the Priest shall say:

I

In Paradisum.

NTO Paradise may the angels conduct thee; at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and lead thee into the holy city Jerusalem; may the choir of the angels receive thee; and with Lazarus once a beggar, mayest thou possess the everlasting rest.

When the body is not present the above prayer and the anthem In Paradisum shall be omitted, and in place of the prayer shall be said this collect and the versicles following:

A

BSOLVE we beseech thee, O Lord, the soul of

thy servant N., that being dead unto the world, he may live unto thee; and whatsoever defilements he may have contracted in this life through the frailty of the flesh, do thou of thy merciful pardon and goodness wash away; through Christ our Lord. R. Amen. V. Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord.

R. And let light perpetual shine upon him.
V. May he rest in peace.

R. Amen.

8. The Procession to the Grave.

When the Priest accompanies the body to the grave, the procession advances to the door of the Church and thence to the grave, in the following order: The censer-bearer (carrying the incense boat and the censer containing burning coals,3) walks with another acolyte who carries the vessel of holy water and the sprinkler; then follows the Sub-Deacon, or an acolyte, carrying the processional cross and walking between the two candle-bearers with torches or processional lanterns; then the clergy; and last of all the Priest, with the Deacon at his left hand. The corpse is borne immediately behind the Priest, and is followed, as on entering the Church, by the relatives and friends.

If choristers accompany the body to the grave, they walk in advance of the clergy and behind the acolytes. On the way to the grave may be sung any suitable anthem or hymn.

Arrived at the grave, the clergy and acolytes stand

Where the cemetery is far distant from the church the use of the censer will have to be dispensed with.

around it in the order in which they stood about the bier, in the Church, at the Absolution.

The bier with the body upon it, or (if the bier is not used in the cemetery) the coffin, is set down near the grave.

9. The Blessing of the Grave.

If the grave has not been blessed, the Priest at once proceeds to bless it, in the following manner: Standing with uncovered head he reads, or sings, in the ferial tone,

Let us pray.

GOD, by whose mercy the souls of the faithful

rest in peace, vouchsafe to bless this grave, and give thy holy angel charge concerning it; and absolve also from every chain of sin the souls of those whose bodies are here buried, that with thy saints they may forever rejoice in thee. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

Then the Priest blesses the incense (if it is to be used), after which he sprinkles, in the midst, to the left, and then to the right hand, first the coffin and then the grave. Then, taking the censer, the Priest censes both the coffin and the grave in the manner in which he sprinkled them.

If the grave has been blessed on some prior occasion, neither the coffin nor the grave are sprinkled or censed. When he has blessed the grave, or at once if it be already blessed, the Priest begins the verse, "Man that is born," etc., and the choristers and others take up and conclude the anthem.

During the singing the coffin is reverently lowered

into the grave, which should be dug so that the foot thereof looks to the east, if it can conveniently be done.

10. The Committal.

The anthem being ended, the Priest recites the committal, "Forasmuch," etc., and as he says the words, "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," "the earth shall be cast upon the body" in the form of a cross "by some standing by."4

Then shall be said or sung, "I heard a voice," etc., after which the Priest shall say:

V. Lord have mercy upon us.
R. Christ have mercy upon us.
V. Lord have mercy upon us.

Then the Priest shall say, in a loud voice, “Our Father," and continuing to say the prayer in a low voice (all joining with him in like manner), he sprinkles the body thrice, as before directed. Then the Priest sings or says in a loud voice, "And lead us not," etc., and the acolytes and others make the response. "But deliver us," etc., in the same tone.

Then the Priest sings or says the concluding prayer or prayers, after which he says, "The grace of our Lord," etc.

Then making the sign of the cross over the grave, he

says:

V. Rest eternal, grant unto him, O Lord.

R. And let light perpetual shine upon him.

V. May he rest in peace.

R. Amen.

Anciently this was done by the Priest, and it was so ordered in the Prayer-book of 1549.

V. May his soul, and 'the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. R. Amen.

II. The Committal when the Priest does not go to the grave.

When the Priest is unable to go to the grave, immediately after the anthem In Paradisum, there shall be said or sung, "Man that is born of woman," etc. Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the body by some standing by, the Priest shall say, "Forasmuch as it hath pleased," etc., and the rest as directed above. After which the body shall be carried out of the Church, the Priest and acolytes preceding it to the door.

12. The Burial of an Infant.

If the body be that of a baptized child who died before it attained the use of reason, the hangings of the altar, and the vestments of the Priest should be white; the altar may be adorned with flowers, and flowers may be placed on the body; all the candles should be of white wax; the processional cross should be borne without its staff; the Church bell should be silent, or else may be rung festively, but must not be tolled; and the Office for the Burial of Children should be used.

The cross is borne without the staff to denote the shortness of the child's pilgrimage on earth. (Baruffaldus, Com. ad Rit. Rom., tit. xl.,

12, 13.

Rituale Romanum., De Exequis Parvulorum. The bell does not call people to pray for the child's soul, but to come together in the church, in order that the child, whose salvation is assured, may pray for them. (Baruffaldus).