THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. The Minister, meeting the Bearers of the corpse at the entrance of the Church or Church-yard, and going before them, either into the Church, or towards the grave, shall say one or more of the following sentences: I may be certified how long I have to live. AM the résurrection, 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. John xi. 25-26. I life, saith he have to live KNOW that my Redeemner I liveth, and that He shall stand up at the last upon the earth; and after my skin hath been thus destroyed, yet from 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. 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 living man maner vanity. For 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 nakest 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 call ing: hold not Thy peace at my tears. For I am a stranger with Thee: and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. SAID, that to be med not in recover my strength: before I go iny 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, 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. and while I was thus musing the ORD, Thou hast been our refuge from one genera fire kindled and at the last I tion to another. spake with my tongue; Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days: that 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. Who knoweth the power of Thine anger, and Thy wrath: according to the fear that is due unto Thee? So 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; 1 Cor. xv. 20. For NOW is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits 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 firstfruits; 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. He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. Death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. 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 com. munications 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 foolish one, that which thou sowest is not quick ened, 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 its 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 líving 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 also 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 immor tality. 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, Who givethus the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Or, John xi. 21-45. ARTHA then said 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, Who should come into the world. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto Him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was comme where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him; Lord, if Thou hadst 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 who are alive and remain shall be caught up to been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto Hin, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Be-gether, with them in the clouds, hold how He loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And 1 knew that Thou hearest Me always but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may be lieve that Thou hast sent Me. And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and bad seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. Or, 1 Thess. iv. 13 to v. 11. would not have you Bignorant, brethren, con to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruc|tion cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the might. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. When they come to the Grave, while preparation is being made for committing the Body to the earth, shall be said, cerning them who are asleep. MAN that is born of a woman, 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 who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not 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. Unto Thee, therefore, O Lord God Most Holy, O Lord Most Mighty, O Holy and Most Merci ful Redeemer, we turn, beseeching Thee, in this our day of Grace, to have compassion upon our infirmities, and to set us free from all our sins. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not Thy merci. ful ears to our prayers; but spare us, Lord Most Holy, O God Most Mighty, O Holy and Merciful Saviour, Thou Most Righteous Judge Eternal, grant us so to realise our pardon and accept ance, and our God as our reconciled Father, that we may each in turn depart in peace, and fall asleep in Jesus. Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the body, the Minister shall say, F it Α Then the Minister shall say, LMIGHTY do live the spirits of those who 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 the good examples of all those Thy servants, who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labours. And we beseech Thee of Thy goodness shortly to accomplish the number of Thine elect, and to hasten Thy coming, when all those who depart in the true faith of Thy Holy Name, shall have their perfect consummation in bliss in Thy eternal and everlasting glory. through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. pleased Almighty God, in MERCIFUL God, the Father His wise Providence, to take out of this world 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 firm belief of the resurrection of the dead, when they who die in the Lord shall rise to Eternal Life, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, at Whose appearing in Power and Majesty the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in Him shall be changed, and made like unto His glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby He is able to subdue all things to Him self. ↑ 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 Paul, not to be sorry, as men without hope, for those who sleep in Him; we humbly beseech Thee, O Father, graciously keep Thy servants, that, when we shall depart this life, we may rest in Him; and that at the Resurrection we may be found acceptable in Thy sight, and receive that blessing which Thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all who love and serve 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. of our Lord Jesus UR Father, Who art in hea-Christ, and the love of God, ven, 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 trespassев, Ав we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil. Amen. and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore, Amen. When this Service is used at Sea, for the words, We therefore commit his body to the ground, etc., substitute, We commit his body to the deep, in firni belief. etc. |