The Book of Common Prayer Table of
contents
The Order for
The Burial of the Dead
Here is to be noted, that the Office ensuing is
not to be used for any that die unbaptized, or excommunicate, or
have laid violent hands upon themselves.
The Priest and Clerks meeting the corpse at the
entrance of the Church-yard, and going before it, either into the
Church, or towards the grave, shall say, or sing:
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.
St. John 11. 25, 26
I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes
shall behold, and not another. Job 19. 25 - 27
We brought nothing into this world, and
it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. 1 St. Timothy 6.7; Job 1.21
After they are come into the Church, shall be
read one or both of these Psalms following.
Dixi,
Custodiam. Psalm
39
I said, I will take
heed to my ways : that I offend not in my tongue.
I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle :
while the ungodly is in my sight.
I held my tongue, and spake nothing : I kept
silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to
me.
My heart was hot within me, and while I was thus
musing the fire kindled : and at the last I spake with my
tongue;
Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my
days : that I may be certified how long I have to live.
Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span
long : and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and
verily every man living is altogether vanity.
For man walketh in a vain shadow, and
disquieteth himself in vain : he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell
who shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what is my hope : truly my hope
is even in thee.
Deliver me from all mine offences : and make me
not a rebuke unto the foolish.
I became dumb, and opened not my mouth: for it
was thy doing.
Take thy plague away from me : I am even
consumed by means of thy heavy hand.
When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin,
thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth
fretting a garment : every man therefore is but vanity.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and with thine ears
consider my calling : hold not thy peace at my tears.
For I am a stranger with thee : and a sojourner,
as all my fathers were.
O spare me a little, that I may recover my
strength : before I go hence, and be no more seen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to
the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Domine,
refugium. Psalm
90
Lord, thou hast been
our refuge : from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever
the earth and the world were made : thou art God from everlasting,
and world without end.
Thou turnest man to destruction: again thou
sayest, Come again, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as
yesterday : seeing that is past as a watch in the night.
As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even
as a sleep : and fade away suddenly like the grass.
In the morning it is green, and groweth up: but
in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.
For we consume away in thy displeasure : and are
afraid at thy wrathful indignation.
Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee : and our
secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For when thou art angry, all our days are gone:
we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.
The days of our age are threescore years and
ten; and though men be so strong, that they come to fourscore years
: yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth
it away, and we are gone.
But who regardeth the power of thy wrath : for
even thereafter as a man feareth, so is thy displeasure.
O teach us to number our days : that we may
apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Turn thee again, O Lord, at the last : and be
gracious unto thy servants.
O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon : so
shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Comfort us again now after the time that thou
hast plagued us : and for the years wherein we have suffered
adversity.
Shew thy servants thy work : and their children
thy glory.
And the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be
upon us : prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, O prosper
thou our handywork.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to
the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Then shall follow the Lesson taken out of the
fifteenth chapter of the former Epistle of Saint Paul to the
Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 15.20
Now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits;
afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the
end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority,
and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under
his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he
hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did
put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put
all things under him, that God may be all in all. Else what shall
they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at
all? why are they then baptized for the dead? And why stand we in
jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in
Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I
have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the
dead rise not? Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Be not
deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to
righteousness, and sin not: for some have not the knowledge of God:
I speak this to your shame. But some man will say, How are the dead
raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which
thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou
sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it
may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth it a
body, as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All
flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men,
another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the
glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is
another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from
another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It
is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in
dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is
raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual
body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, that was
not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and
afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy,
such are they that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are
they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew
you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
have put on immortality; then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is
the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the
Lord.
When they come to the grave, while the corpse
is made ready to be laid into the earth, the Priest shall say, or
the Priest and Clerks shall sing:
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.
In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for
succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly
displeased?
Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most
merciful Saviour, 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 prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God
most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge
eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death,
to fall from thee.
Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the
body by some standing by, the Priest shall say,
Forasmuch as it
hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself
the soul of our dear brother
here departed: we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of
the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ;
who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his
glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able
to subdue all things to himself.
Then shall be said or sung,
I heard a
voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord: Even so, saith the Spirit, for
they rest from their labours.
Then the Priest shall say,
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon
us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father which
art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that
trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver
us from evil. Amen.
Priest.
Almighty God, 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: We
give thee hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased thee to deliver
this our brother out of the
miseries of this sinful world; beseeching thee that it may please
thee, of thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of
thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom; that we, with all those
that are departed in the true faith of thy holy Name, may have our
perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy
eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect
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 Saint 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 rest in him, as our hope is this our brother doth; and that, at the general
Resurrection in the last day, we may be found acceptable in thy
sight, and receive that blessing, which thy well-beloved Son shall
then pronounce to all that love and fear thee, saying, Come, ye
blessed children of my Father, receive 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.
The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
Text from The Book of Common Prayer, the
rights in which are vested in the Crown,
is reproduced by permission of the Crown's Patentee, Cambridge
University Press.