Burial of One Who Does Not Profess the Christian Faith

This anthem; and any of the following Psalms, Lessons, and Prayers; and the form of Committal given below may be used with the Order for Burial on page 506 of the Prayer Book.

An Order for Burial

Opening Anthem

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. The Lord will not cast off forever. Though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; The Lord does not willingly afflict or grieve his children.

Lessons and Psalms

The First Lesson

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ²a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; ³a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ⁵a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ⁶a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; ⁷a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; ⁸a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. ⁹What gain have the workers from their toil? ¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. ¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

The First Lesson

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

¹Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ²before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; ³in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; ⁴when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; ⁵when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; ⁶before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

23

Dominus regit meBCP p. 612

¹The Lord is my shepherd; *I shall not be in want.

²He makes me lie down in green pastures *and leads me beside still waters.

³He revives my soul *and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

⁴Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; *for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.

⁶Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

90

Domine, refugiumBCP p. 717

¹Lord, you have been our refuge *from one generation to another.

²Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, *from age to age you are God.

³You turn us back to the dust and say, *“Go back, O child of earth.”

⁴For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *and like a watch in the night.

⁵You sweep us away like a dream; *we fade away suddenly like the grass.

⁶In the morning it is green and flourishes; *in the evening it is dried up and withered.

⁷For we consume away in your displeasure; *we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.

⁸Our iniquities you have set before you, *and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

⁹When you are angry, all our days are gone; *we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

¹⁰The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; *yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone.

¹¹Who regards the power of your wrath? *who rightly fears your indignation?

¹²So teach us to number our days *that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

¹³Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry? *be gracious to your servants.

¹⁴Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

¹⁵Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *and the years in which we suffered adversity.

¹⁶Show your servants your works *and your splendor to their children.

¹⁷May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; *prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork.

121

Levavi oculumBCP p. 779

¹I lift up my eyes to the hills; *from where is my help to come?

²My help comes from the Lord, *the maker of heaven and earth.

³He will not let your foot be moved *and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.

⁴Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *shall neither slumber nor sleep;

⁵The Lord himself watches over you; *the Lord is your shade at your right hand,

⁶So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *it is he who shall keep you safe.

⁸The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *from this time forth for evermore.

130

De profundisBCP p. 784

¹Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice; *let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

²If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *O Lord, who could stand?

³For there is forgiveness with you; *therefore you shall be feared.

⁴I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *in his word is my hope.

⁵My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, *more than watchmen for the morning.

⁶O Israel, wait for the Lord, *for with the Lord there is mercy;

⁷With him there is plenteous redemption, *and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

The Second Lesson

Romans 8:35-39

A Reading from the Letter to the Romans.

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Gospel

John 10:11-16

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

PeopleGlory to you, Lord Christ.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Prayers

For the Deceased

Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that you are doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Into your hands, O God, we commend our brother, N., as into the hands of a faithful Creator and most loving Savior. In your infinite goodness, wisdom, and power, work in him the merciful purpose of your perfect will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For those who mourn

O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day our brother (sister), N. We thank you for giving him to us, his family and friends, to know and to love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us quiet confidence that we may continue our course in faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O merciful Father, you have taught us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve your children: Look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of comfort: Deal graciously, we pray, with all who mourn; that, casting all their care on you, they may know the consolation of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding, deal graciously with N.N. in their grief. Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Christian community

Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

The Committal

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.

You only are immortal, the creator and maker of mankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and to earth shall we return. For so did you ordain when you created me, saying, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.