The Book of Common Prayer / and The Scottish Liturgy

by Episcopal Church in Scotland

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 xi. 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 xix. 25, 26, 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 Tim. vi. 7. Job i. 21.

After they are come into the Church, shall be read one or both of these Psalms following.

Dixi, Custodiam. Psalm xxxix.

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 xc.

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 asleep: 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 handy-work.

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 Cor. xv. 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.

| With the sanction of the Bishop the passage in the preceding | lesson marked with square brackets may be omitted, | | Or one of the following lessons may be substituted: | | St John v. 24. | | Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and | believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall | not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. | Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, | when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they | that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so | hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given | him authority to execute judgement also, because he is the Son | of man. | | St John vi. 37. | | All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that | cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from | heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent | me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of | all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should | raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him | that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth | on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at | the last day. | | St John xi. 21. | | Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my | brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou | wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy | brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he | shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said | unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth | in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever | liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? | She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the | Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. | | 2 Cor. iv. 16. | | For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, | yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, | which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding | and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things | which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the | things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are | not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of | this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an | house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this | we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house | which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not | be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, | being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed | upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that | hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath | given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always | confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we | are absent from the Lord: (for we walk by faith, not by sight:) | we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the | body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, | that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For | we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that | every one may receive the things done in his body, according to | that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. | | 1 Thess. iv. 13: | | I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them | which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have | no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even | so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For | this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are | alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent | them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from | heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with | the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then | we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with | them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we | ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these | words. | | Rev. vii. 9. | | After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man | could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and | tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed | with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a | loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the | throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about | the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell | before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, | Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and | honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever: | Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are | these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? | And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These | are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed | their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. | Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day | and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall | dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any | more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For | the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, | and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God | shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. | | Rev. xxi. 3. | | And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the | tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and | they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, | and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their | eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor | crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former | things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, | Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for | these words are true and faithful. | | After the lesson the officiating minister may, in the Church, | say Let us pray, and one or more of these prayers following: | The Collects for_ Advent Sunday, Palm Sunday, Easter Eve, | Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, the fifth Collect at the | end of the Communion Service of the Book of Common Prayer, | "Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, etc."; the prayer | at the end of the Litany, "We humbly beseech thee, O Father, | etc."; _the prayers entitled _Commemoration of the Faithful | Departed in the additional Occasional Prayers; and this prayer | following: | | A Prayer for those in sorrow. | | O heavenly Father, whose Blessed Son Jesus Christ did weep at | the grave of Lazarus his friend: Look, we beseech thee, with | compassion upon those who are now in sorrow and affliction; | comfort them, O Lord, with thy gracious consolations; make them | to know that all things work together for good to them that | love thee; and grant them evermore sure trust and confidence in | thy fatherly care; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. | | [This prayer may be said also in any time of calamity.] | | The minister may conclude with the Lord's Prayer and The | grace of, etc. Or one or more of the foregoing prayers may be | said at the grave, or with the expressed sanction of the Bishop | any other prayers from the Book of Common Prayer may be said_ | whether in the Church or at the grave. | | If the weather be inclement or the relations of the deceased | desire it, any or all parts of the service may be said in the | Church (or in the house) except the Committal to the | ground.

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.

| An alternative form of Committal to the ground. | | Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God in his wise providence | to take unto himself the soul of our brother here departed: we | therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes | to ashes, dust to dust; looking for the general resurrection in | the last day, and the life of the world to come, through our Lord | Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation | that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to | the mighty working whereby he is able to subject all things to | himself. | | At the burial of the dead at sea, the words to the deep shall | be substituted for the words to the ground, and the words | earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust shall be omitted.

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.

| AT THE BURIAL OF BAPTIZED CHILDREN | | OF TENDER YEARS | | It is permitted: | | To add to the opening sentences, this: | | Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and | forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. St Mark | x. 14. | | To substitute for the appointed psalms: | | Dominus regit me. Ps. xxiii. | | The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing. | | He shall feed me in a green pasture: and lead me forth beside | the waters of comfort. | | He shall convert my soul: and bring me forth in the paths of | righteousness, for his Name's sake. | | Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, | I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy | staff comfort me. | | Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble | me: thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be | full. But thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the | days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for | ever. | | 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. | | To substitute for the appointed Lesson: | | St Matth. xviii. 1. | | At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is | the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little | child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, | Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as | little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. | Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, | the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall | receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso | shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it | were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, | and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the | world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences | come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore | if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast | them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt | or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast | into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it | out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into | life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into | hell fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little | ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always | behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. | | To use the prayers that follow: | | O heavenly Father, whose face the angels of the little ones do | always behold in heaven: Grant us stedfastly to believe that | this little child hath been taken into the safe keeping of thine | eternal love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. | | O Lord Jesu Christ, who didst take little children into thine | arms and bless them: Open thou our eyes, we beseech thee, that | we may perceive that thou hast now taken this child into the | arms of thy love, and hast bestowed upon him the blessings of | thy gracious favour; who livest and reignest with the Father and | the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. | | We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath | pleased thee to regenerate this child with thy Holy Spirit, to | receive him for thine own by adoption, and to incorporate him | into thy holy Church. And humbly we beseech thee to grant that, | as he is made partaker of the death of thy Son, he may also | be partaker of his resurrection; so that finally, with the | residue of thy holy Church, he may be an inheritor of thine | everlasting kingdom; through Christ our Lord. Amen. | | BENEDICTION OF A GRAVE IN UNCONSECRATED GROUND | | When the Priest and people shall have come to the place, | the Priest shall say, | | Let us pray. | | O Lord Jesu Christ, who wast laid in the new tomb of Joseph, | and didst thereby sanctify the grave to be a bed of hope to thy | people: Vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to bless, hallow, and | consecrate this grave, that it may be a resting-place, peaceful | and secure, for the body of thy servant which we are about to | commit to thy gracious keeping, who art the Resurrection and | the Life, and who livest and reignest with the Father and the | Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.