A Prayer that may be used on a Funeral Occasion. Him who is the resurrection and the life, the faithful shall rise to life immortal. We bless thee, O God, that thou didst so love the world as to give thine only-begotten Son, that all who believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life: that he took not the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham; and lived and died and rose from the dead, that we may live through him. We praise thee that life and immortality are brought to light, and that our hopes are raised from this our fallen state of sorrow and death, to glorious mansions of rest and peace. Raise, we beseech thee, our affections and our desires from the world to thee, and our hearts from the death of sin to a life of righteousness. Dispose our thoughts and direct our ways towards the attainment of everlasting salvation, that, amidst all the cares and sorrows of this mortal state, we may ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready help. Sanctify to our religious improvement this mournful dispensation of thy just providence, that when we are called to leave this world, we may die the death of the righteous, and our last end be like his. In thy word hast thou taught us, O heavenly Father, that thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men; look with pity, we beseech thee, upon the sorrows of thy servants, who on this occasion are called to mourn. [We commend to thy compassionate goodness the sorrows of the parents for their child deceased.] In thy wisdom hast thou seen fit to visit them with sorrow, and to bring this great distress upon them. Remember them, Õ Lord, in mercy, and sanctify thy fatherly correction to them. Endue their soul with patience under their affliction, and with resignation to thy blessed will. Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness, and give peace to their troubled mind. Grant, O Lord, that they [the brothers and sisters A Prayer that may be used on a Funeral Occasion. of the deceased] may be blest with the comforting support of thy grace. While following the remains of so dear a connection from the house of mourning to the house of death, may thy Spirit and the comfort of thy peace be with them. May they not mourn without hope: viewing the grave as the place where the Lord Jesus lay, may their desires be raised to the high and holy place where he in glory forever reigns. [Extend, we beseech thee, thy compassionate goodness to the surviving companion of the deceased. In this distressing sorrow may thy heavenly grace be with him, and so sanctify, O righteous God, this severe affliction, that what seems so great a loss may conduce to his eternal gain. With pious submission to thy unerring wisdom, may he resign this dear friend to thy superior claim; may he know and feel that the Lord gave what he taketh away; that thou art just and good in all thy ways, and that thy mercy endureth for ever.] And for all whom this event of thy providence has called to mourn, whether present or absent, be pleased, O God, to hear our supplications. Prepare them to make, and assist them in making all suitable improvement from this affliction. Give them grace to bear this bereavement with such humility and resignation as becometh the gospel of Jesus Christ. May they neither despise thy chastening, nor faint under thy rebukes; but say, with thy servant of old, "It is the Lord, let him dowhat seemeth to him good." May their hopes and desires be so raised to thee and to heavenly things, that, when they depart this life, they may rest in God, through Jesus Christ. Assist us, O Lord, in what remains of the mournful duties to which we are now called. May the comforts of thy truth, and power of thy grace, be with thy people, while, with decent solemnity, they A Prayer that may be used at a Funeral. commit these earthly remains to the ground; looking, with the eye of faith, to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. And grant, O merciful God, that the mournful solemnities of this day may awaken us to righteousness. Let us not be forgetful that our days are swiftly passing away, and that every hour shortens our scanty span. Give us grace to live as those who are born to die, and whose spirits must soon depart to the eternal world. Grant that the shortness of life may continually remind us of its importance, and the uncertainty of its continuance make us ever ready and prepared for its end. And we bless thy holy name for all thy servants who have departed this life in thy faith and fear, beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, for the sake of thy Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and evermore. Amen. A Prayer that may be used at a Funeral, when there is not to be a Service at the Grave. O God and merciful Father, who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the humble desires of those who are visited with sorrow, graciously assist our prayers which we make before thee in our present afflictions. In mercy behold our sorrows and hear our supplications. In the midst of life we are in death: to whom can we flee for succor but to thee, O God, who for our sins art justly displeased! To whom can sinners fly for refuge but to thee, to whom belong mercies and forgiveness to thee, who art always more ready to hear A Prayer that may be used at a Funeral. than we to pray, and art wont to give more than we desire or deserve. Favorably and in mercy hear our supplications; with pity behold the infirmity of our nature and the sorrow of our hearts, and pardon our manifold offences. Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery he cometh up and is cut down like a flower; he fleeth, as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. Our days at the longest are short, and at the strongest are frail; and when we feel the most secure, we know not what a day or an hour may bring forth. We consume away in thy displeasure, and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation. When thou art angry, all our days are gone; we bring our years to an end as it were a tale that is told. Yet, O Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O merciful Savior, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts: shut not thy merciful ears to our prayers, but spare us, Lord most holy thou worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, to fall from thee. Support us, O Lord, through life by thy free Spirit, and direct our ways towards the attainment of everlasting salvation, that, among all the changes and trials of this mortal state, we may ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready help, and finally be received into thy heavenly mansions of glory and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. It hath pleased thee, O righteous God, to take out of this world the soul of our deceased friend; help us, we beseech thee, with due submission to thy unerring providence, decently to commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust and help us to look forward in faith and hope to the general resurrection in the last day, and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose second coming in A Prayer that may be used at a Funeral. glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead, and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed and made like unto his own glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Thou hast taught us, by a voice from heaven, that blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Grant us grace so to live, that when it shall please thee to call us hence, we may die the death of the righteous, and our last end be like his. Thou has taught us, O heavenly Father, in thy holy word, that thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men; look with pity, we beseech thee, upon the sorrows of thy servants, who, by this event of thy providence, are called to mourn. In thy wisdom thou hast seen fit to visit them with sorrow, [to take from them, &c. Here the particular case of the mourners may be mentioned.] Remember them, O Lord, in mercy. Sanctify thy fatherly correction to them. Endue their souls with patience under their affliction, and with resignation to thy blessed will. Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; lift up thy countenance upon them and give them peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Raise us, O merciful God, from the death of sin to a life of righteousness, that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in him who is the resurrection and the life; and in the last and great day of the Lord, may we be found acceptable in thy sight, and receive that blessing which he shall then pronounce to all who love and fear thee; saying, Come, ye blessed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, for the sake of the same, thy Son, our Savior; and hear the prayer which he hath taught us to use: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy |