THE ORDER FOR

THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

¶ Here is to be noted, that the Office ensuing is not to be used for any who die excommunicate, or who have laid violent hands upon themselves.

¶ The Minister meeting the Corps at the entrance of the Churchyard, and going before it, either into the Church, or towards the Grave, shall say, or sing,

I AM the resurrection 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.  St. John xi. 25,26.

I Know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And although after my skin, worms shall destroy this body; yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes behold, and not another.  Job xix. 25,26,27.

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 shall be read as followeth, from the 39th and the 90th Psalms.

LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is : that I may know how frail I am.
    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 man living is altogether vanity.
    For man walketh 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.
   Lord, thou hast been our refuge : from one generation to another. 
   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.
    But who regardeth the power of thy rath : for even thereafter as a man feareth, so is thy displeasure.
   So teach us to number our days : that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
    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.
 

¶ Then shall follow the Lesson, taken out of the fifteenth Chapter of the former Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, from the fifteenth Verse to the end.

¶ When they come to the Grave while the Corps is made ready to be laid into the Earth, the Minister shall say, or the Minister 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 Minister shall say,

FOrasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God in his wise Providence to take unto himself the soul of our deceased brother lying now before us, 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 or sung,

I Heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labours.   Rev. 14. 13.

¶ Then the Minister shall say,

    Lord, have mercy upon us.
    Christ, have mercy upon us.
    Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUr Father, who art in heaven, 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 for give 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; who also hath taught us, by his holy Apostle Saint Paul, not to be sorry, as men with out hope, for those who 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; 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 who 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.

THe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.