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.