THE ORDER OF THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD
+The minister meeting the corpse, and going before it, shall say:+
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.—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. 25-27.
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 or home shall be read Psalm xc.+
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past,
and as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood: they are as a sleep; in the
morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut
down, and withereth.
For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light
of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a
tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of
strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and
sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is
thy wrath.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto
wisdom.
Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy
servants.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all
our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and
the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their
children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou
the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou
it.
+Then shall follow the Lesson, 1 Cor. xv. 20-58, or the following
abridgement:+
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 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 terrestrial is one and the glory of
the celestial 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 dishonor, 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.—Behold, I show 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 steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
+Here may follow a suitable hymn, a sermon or exhortation, and an
extemporary prayer.+
+At the grave, when the corpse is laid in the earth, the minister shall
say:+
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He
cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow,
and continueth not.
In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succor,
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 prayers, but spare us, 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 the minister may say:+
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, to
take out of this world the soul of our deceased =brother=, 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; at whose second
coming in 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.
+Then shall be said:+
I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors.
+A suitable hymn may here be sung; and then shall the minister say:+
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; give us this day our
daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil.
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: 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 and at the general resurrection on the last day
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 of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Grant this, we
beseech thee, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ our Mediator and
Redeemer.
Amen.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.
Amen.