Exod iii, 6. 2 Cor. v. 4. 2 Tim. iv. 8. Rev. vii. 14 17. xi. 15. UR Father, which art in heaven, PATER noster, qui es in cœlis; OUR 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. LMIGHTY 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. sanctificetur nomen tuum: adveniat regnum tuum: fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cœlo, et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in tentationem: sed libera nos a malo. Amen. DEUS, apud quem spiritus mortuo A At the burial. 1519. rum vivunt, et in quo electorum animæ, deposito carnis onere, plena felicitate lætantur, præsta supplicantibus nobis, ut anima famuli tui . . . . LMIGHTY God, we give thee Prayer Book of hearty thanks for this thy servant, whom thou hast delivered from the miseries of this wretched world . . . Grant, we beseech thee, that at the day of judgment his soul, and all the souls of thy elect, departed out of this life, may with us, and we with them, fully receive thy promises, and be made perfect altogether; through the glori ous resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The latter form has been substantially adopted by the American Church. These words sometimes appear out of place when used over persons who have lived evil lives, and have not given evidence of dying penitent deaths. But it must be remembered that the Burial Office is framed on the supposition that it should be used only over those who are Christians; those, that is, who have been made members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven. If they have ceased to be Christians, they have no right to the use of the Office. But who have ceased to be Christians? And who would dare, of their own unauthorized judgment, to go against the spirit of the injunction laid on us by the Apostle, "Judge nothing before the time?" It may be regretted that the original form of 1549 was ever altered; but it is instructive to learn that the form adopted to please the Puritans of 1552 was thoroughly distasteful to the Puritans of 1661. What the words do, in fact, express, is this:-That (1) The body of a Christian, our “dear brother" in Christ (even if an erring brother) is being committed to the ground. That (2) God has taken him to Himself in the sense that his spirit has returned to God who gave it." That (3) while we thus commit the body of one to the ground, who (whatever he was, was yet a sinner) we do it with faith in a future Resurrection of all. That (1) without any expression of judgment as to our departed brother, we will yet call that hope a "sure and certain hope," since it is founded on the Word of God. There may be cases in which persons have died in the actual committal of some grievous sin, and in which these words might be manifestly unsuitable; but in such cases the whole Office is out of place, and the clergyman should decline to use it. And in almost all others, if not in all, there is room for an expression of hope, in the spirit of charity in which the Church appoints the words to be used; and as the Bishops replied to the Puritans in 1661, "It is better to be charitable and hope the best, than rashly to condemn." Then the Priest shall say] In the Book of 1549 the Psalms and Lesson were directed to be said in the Church either b.fore or after the burial of the corpse, "with other suffrages following." Those suffrages consisted of the lesser Litany and the Lord's Prayer, with these from the ancient Office. Priest. Enter not (O Lord) into judgment with thy servant. Answer. For in thy sight no living creature shall be justified. Priest. From the gates of hell, Answer. Deliver their souls, O Lord. Priest. I believe to see the goodness of the Lord, After which followed this prayer, of which that now in use is a 1 Pet. I. 3, 4. John xi. 25, 26. John v. 21. 24. 26. viii. 51. Job xix. 25-27. 1 Pet. ii. 24. 2 Tim. i 18. The Collect. MOST merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14. 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. Collect. MERCIFUL God, the Father Prayer Book of of our Lord Jesu 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 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 sleep in him, as our hope is this our brother doth; and at the general Resurrection in the last day, both we, and this our brother departed, receiving again our bodies, and rising again in thy most gracious favour, may, with all thine elect saints, obtain eternal joy. Grant this, O Lord God, by the means of our Advocate Jesus Christ; which, with thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth one God for ever. Amen. 1549. Celebration of Holy Communion at Burials. modified form, "O Lord, with whom do live the spirits of them that be dead, and in whom the souls of them that be elected, after they be delivered from the burden of the flesh be in joy and felicity; Grant unto this Thy servant that the sins which he committed in this world be not imputed unto him; but that he escaping the gates of hell, and pains of eternal darkness, may ever dwell in the region of light, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the place where is no weeping, sorrow, nor heaviness; and when that dreadful day of the general resurrection shall come, make him to rise also with the just and righteous, and receive this body again to glory, then made pure and incorruptible. Set him on the right hand of Thy Son Jesus Christ, among the holy and elect, that then he may hear with them these most sweet and comfortable words With this prayer the Office (excepting the celebration) ended from 1549 until the last revision in 1661, when the benediction was added. The Collect] This most beautiful Collect properly belongs (as was previously shown) to the Office for the celebration of the Holy Communion at funerals, and hence its title. The first part of it is founded on the Gospel used at funerals when they took place on Sunday, and on the Epistle, which was used without variation, following in this many of the Collects for Sundays and other Holydays. When the revision of 1552 took place, the Introits were uni formly removed from the Prayer Book, including that used in the Burial Office. The special Epistle and Gospel were also removed from the English Book, although retained in the Latin one. Hence the Collect only was left, and this was (according to the usual manner in which the Missal was printed) placed with the other parts of the Service for use when required. In 1661 the Apostolic Benediction was placed after it; and thus led to its being regarded as part of the ordinary Burial Service, even when there is no celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The Communion Collect being used at Morning and Evening Prayer, analogy permits the use of the Funeral Communion Collect in the Funeral Service without Communion; but probably its omission in such cases is strictly the proper rule. When there is a Celebration, this Collect takes the place of the Collect for the day, and should not be repeated at the grave after having been said at the Altar. The latter part of the prayers is translated from that belonging to the "Missa de quinque vulneribus," in the Sarum Missal: "Domine Jesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi: qui de cœlo ad terram de sinu Patris descendisti; et in ligno crucis quinque plagas sustinuisti: et sanguinem tuum preciosum in remissionem peccatorum nostrorum effudisti; Te humiliter deprecamur ut in die judicii ad dexteram Tuam statuti a Te audire mereamur illam vocem dulcissimam, Venite, benedicti, in regnum Patris mei. Qui cum eodem Patre in unitate. Per." § APPENDIX TO THE BURIAL OFFICE. [I.] There are few persons who have not felt the want of prayers which they could use with definite reference to a departed relative or friend while the body of the deceased was yet waiting to be carried to the grave. To ignore the departed at such a season, when we are praying to our heavenly Father in the Communion of Saints, is repugnant to Christian feeling; nor can those who have a vivid sense of the intermediate state feel any hesitation in praying for a continuance of His mercy to the soul which has just entered upon it. Although there is no direct command in Holy Scripture respecting Prayers for the departed, there are several indirect pieces of evidence that the use of them was habitual to Christians of the Apostolic age, as it had been to the Jews, and as it was to the Christians of the Primitive Church after the Apostles. St. Paul offers a prayer for Onesiphorus in the words, "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day.” [2 Tim. i. 18.] That Onesiphorus was not then living seems to be proved, (1) by the omission of his name from the salutation, which shows that he was neither at Rome nor at Ephesus: (2) by the manner in which St. Paul speaks of his association with him as belonging to that which was long past and gone by: (3) by the salutation sent to the household of Onesiphorus, as if he were not now one of that household: (4) by the direction of the prayer towards the day of judgment, and not to the time of grace and probation. In another Epistle St. Paul enjoins on the Ephesians that they should offer intercessory prayer as well as prayer for themselves; "praying alway with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." [Eph. vi. 18.] This inclusive phrase is one which brings to mind the sense in which it is used on "All Saints' " Day, of the departed in Christ, and also the passage of Scripture respecting our Lord's Resurrection, in which it is said also that "many bodies of the saints which slept arose." [Matt. xxvii. 52 1.] Every primitive Liturgy that exists contains prayers for the departed, and the works of early Christian writers make innumerable references to the habit as one which was evidently as familiar to them as that of praying for the living. Some specimens of such primitive intercessions will be found in an 1 The books of Maccabees were probably written in the century before our Lord, and the habit of the Jews is shown by what is recorded of Judas Maccabæus: "When he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a ain offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection. For if he had not hoped that they which were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was a holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead that they might be delivered from sin" [2 Mac. xii. 13]. earlier part of this volume, in the notes to the Liturgy. In short, it may be said that no one ever thought of not praying for the departed until in comparatively recent times; and when the question whether such prayers were lawful or not in the Church of England was brought before a court of ecclesiastical law, Sir Herbert Jenner, the judge, proved, and decided, that they were constantly recognized by our holiest Divines since the Reformation. But few have written more wisely and feelingly on this subject than the holy Bishop Heber : "Having been led attentively to consider the question, my own opinion is on the whole favourable to the practice, which indeed is so natural and so comfortable, that this alone is a presumption that it is neither unpleasing to the Almighty nor unavailing with Him. "The Jews so far back as their opinions and practices can be traced since the time of our Saviour, have uniformly recom. mended their deceased friends to mercy; and from a passage in the second Book of Maccabees, it appears that (from whatever source they derived it) they had the custom before His time. But if this were the case the practice can hardly be unlawful, or either Christ or His Apostles would, one should think, have in some of their writings or discourses condemned it. On the same side it may be observed, that the Greek Church and all the Eastern Churches, though they do not believe in purgatory, pray for the dead; and that we know the practice to have been universal, or nearly so, among the Christians little more than 150 years after our Saviour. It is spoken of as the usual custom by Tertullian and Epiphanius. Augustine, in his Confessions, has given a beautiful prayer, which he himself used for his deceased mother, Monica; and among Protestants, Luther and Dr. Johnson are eminent instances of the same conduct. I have accordingly been myself in the habit for some years of recommending on some occasions, as after receiving the Sacrament, &c., &c., my lost friends by name to God's goodness and compassion through His Son, as what can do them no harm, and may, and I hope will, be of service to them. Only this caution I always endeavour to observe-that I beg His forgiveness at the same time for myself if unknowingly I am too presumptuous, and His grace lest I, who am thus solicitous for others, should neglect the appointed means of my own salvation "." It has been thought therefore that the following Collect from the ancient Vesper Office for the Departed will be acceptable to many, as one that may be incorporated with their private or their household prayers, together with such Psalms as the 42nd, 121st, and 130th: servant whom Thou hast [this day] called to depart out of this world: and because Thy servant hoped and believed in Thee, we beseech Thee that Thou wilt neither suffer him to fall into the hand of the enemy, nor forget him for ever; but wilt give Thine holy angels charge to receive his soul, and to transport it into the land of the living, there to be found worthy to rejoice in the fellowship of Thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who ever liveth and reigneth with Thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without cud. Amen. quam hodie de hoc sæculo migrare jussisti; ut non tradas eam in manus inimici, nec obliviscaris in finem; sed jubeas illam ab angelis sanctis suscipi, atque ad regionem vivorum perduci; et quia in te speravit et credidit, sanctorum tuorum mereatur societate lætari. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spitus Sancti Deus, Per omnia sæcula sæculorum. [II.] In the Primitive Church, and in the Church of England before the Reformation, it was the custom to celebrate a Service of Commemoration on the Anniversaries of the death of a friend, relative, or benefactor. These services were, of course, only continued for a time, according to the provision made by survivors or by the will of the deceased persons. And, as is well known, they too often degenerated into superstition, in connexion with the erroneous dogma put forth by the Roman Church respecting the Intermediate State of departed souls. The principle of such services has, however, been retained in the Church of England to the present day; and the following two Offices offer an illustration of the manner in which that principle is carried out in the language of modern devotion. The first is used in the Chapel Royal, Windsor, once in every quarter. The second (which varies in some respects) is used in the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge (though neglected in some) once during every term; and is substantially the same as that which was authorized in the Latin Prayer Book of 1560. The particular form printed here is that used at Trinity College, Cambridge. That of Queen Elizabeth is also given. (A) "THE SERVICE APPOINTED FOR OBIIT SUNDAY. XXI. Proper Psalms CXLVI. The First Lesson. Ecclesiasticus xliv. These two Collects following are read daily at Morning and sostom. ALMIGHTY God, we beseech Thee to keep Thy servant VICTORIA, our most gracious Queen and Governor, and so rule her heart in Thy Faith, Fear, and Love, that evermore she may have Affiance and Trust in Thee, and ever seek Thy Honour and Glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. GOD save our gracious Sovereign, and all the Companions of the most Honourable and Noble Order of the Garter. Amen. In the Communion Service, the portion of Scripture for the Epistle is Deuteronomy xxxiii. The Gospel is St. John v. verse 24 to 30. The following PRAYERS are used immediately after the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Priest. O Lord, save our Queen. And mercifully hear us when we call upon Thee. O LORD our heavenly Father and merciful Saviour Jesus Christ, assist our most worthy Queen continually with Thy Holy Spirit, that as she is anciently and truly descended from the noble Princes of this Realm, and the bountiful Patrons and Founders of this noble Order and Church, so she may proceed in all good works; namely, for sustentation of Learning, and help of Poverty; and that all Noblemen of this Realm (especially such as be Companions of this most honourable Order of the Garter) may likewise dispose themselves in Honour and Virtue at all times, that God thereby may be the better honoured, the Commonwealth served, and their Fame remain to their Posterity; and that we all may continue in the true Faith, and walk in good Works, that God hath appointed us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. WE praise and thank Thee, O Lord, in all the noble Kings, Patrons, and Founders of this Order, and our Benefactors Thy Servants, humbly beseeching Thy Majesty, that as they for their time honourably and charitably did bestow their gifts to our relief, so we may faithfully use them, to the end that thereby others may be moved by such examples, to provide for good and learned Ministers to teach Thy Word, and to be merciful in relieving the Poor, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen. GOD save our gracious Sovereign, and all the Companions of the most Honourable and Noble Order of the Garter. Amen. (B) "Forma Commendationis Fundatoris, et aliorum Benefactorum. Primo recitetur, Pater noster, &c. Deinde decantentur hi tres Psalmi; Exaltabo Te, Deus. Psal. 145. Lauda, anima mea, Dominum. Psal. 146. Post hæc legatur caput 44 Ecclesiastici Verse and Chorus. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. SOLO Contra-Tenor. The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance, and the just as the brightness of the firmament. Verse and Chorus. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for everlasting, and let all the people say, Amen. Ad extremum hæc oratio adhibeatur ; Minister. The memory of the righteous shall remain for evermore; Chorus. And shall not be afraid of any evil report. Minister. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God; Chorus. Neither shall any grief hurt them. Minister. The Lord be with you; Chorus. And with thy Spirit. Let us give thanks. O LORD, who art the resurrection and the life of them that believe, who always art to be praised, as well in those that live as in those that are departed; we give Thee thanks for King HENRY the Eighth our Founder, Queen MARY, EDWARD the Third, HERVY of STANTON, and others our Benefactors, by whose Beneficence we are here maintained for the farther attain. Posthæc legatur caput 44. Ecclesiastici. His finitis, sequatur concio, in qua concionator Fundatoris amplissimam munificentiam prædicet: quantus sit literarum usus ostendat: quantis laudibus afficiendi sunt, qui literarum studia beneficentia sua excitent: quantum sit ornamentum Regno doctos viros habere, qui de rebus controversis vere judicare possunt: quanta sit scripturarum laus, & quantum illæ omni humanæ auctoritati antecedant, quanta sit ejus doctrinæ in vulgus utilitas, & quam late pateat: quam egregium & regium sit (cui Deus universæ plebis suæ curam commisit) de multitudine ministrorum verbi laborare, atque hi ut honesti atque eruditi sint, curare: atque alia ejus generis, quæ pii & docti viri cum laude illustrare possint. Hac Concione perorata decantetur. Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel. Ad extremum hæc adhibeantur. Minister. In memoria æterna erit justus. Responsio. Ab auditu malo non timebit. Minister. Justorum animæ in manu Dei sunt. Responsio. Nec attinget illos cruciatus. Oremus. Domine Deus, resurrectio & vita credentium, qui semper es laudandus, tam in viventibus, quam in defunctis, agimus tibi gratias pro fundatore nostro N. ceterisque benefactoribus nostris, quorum beneficiis hic ad pietatem & studia literarum alimur: rogantes, ut nos his donis ad tuam gloriam recte utentes, una cum illis ad resurrectionis gloriam immortalem perducamur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. [III.] The following is the actual form authorized in 1500 for the celebration of the Holy Communion at Funerals :— CELEBRATIO CENE DOMINI, IN FUNEBRIBUS, SI AMICI & VICINI DEFUNCTI COMMUNICARE VELINT. Collecta. Misericors Deus, Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui es resurrectio & vita, in quo qui credidit, etiamsi mortuus fuerit, vivet; & in quo qui crediderit & vivit, non morietur in æternum: quique nos docuisti per sanctum Apostolum tuum Paulum, non debere mærere pro dormientibus in Christo, sicut ii qui spem non habent resurrectionis: humiliter petimus, ut nos a morte peccati resuscites ad vitam justitiæ, ut cum ex hac vita emigramus, dormiamus cum Christo, quemadmodum speramus hunc fratrem nostrum, & in generali resurrectione, extremo die, nos una cum hoc fratre nostro resuscitati, & receptis corporibus, regnemus una tecum in vita æterna. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. |