E.

A SERVICE OF PRAYERS AND READINGS

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

This service may be used as an alternative to the Eucharist for the Com-
memoration of the Faithful Departed, or on the anniversary of a death; or
it may be used as the outline for a Memorial Service or a Service of
Thanksgiving.

THE INTRODUCTION

1) In the name of Christ, who died and was raised by the glory of the Fa-
ther, we welcome you: grace, mercy and peace be with you all.

2)The Minister may introduce the service with these or other words:

We meet this day to remember N, to renew our trust and confidence in

Christ, and to pray that together we may be one in him, through whom
we offer our praises to the Father.

Then the Minister says:

I have set the Lord always before me:

He is at my right hand, and I shall not fall.

Show us your mercy, O Lord:

And grant us your salvation.

For with you is the well of life:

And in your light shall we see light.

3) A Hymn may be sung now or after this Acclamation.

4) THE ACCLAMATION

Blessed are you, Lord our God, lover of souls

you uphold us in life and sustain us in death:
to you be glory and praise for ever!
For the darkness of this age is passing away
as Christ the bright and morning star
brings to his saints the light of life.
As you give light to those in darkness
who walk in the shadow of death
so remember in your kingdom your faithful servants
that death may be for them the gate to life
and to unending fellowship with you;
where with your saints you live and reign
one in the perfect union of love
now and for ever. Amen.

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

5) THE FIRST READING

One of the following passages may be read:

Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 51 : 1-3, 9-16

The Lord's mercies are new every morning:

great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3 : 22-26, 31-33

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God.

Wisdom 3 : 1-9

What shall separate us from the love of God?

Romans 8 : 31b-end
Christ has been raised from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15 : 20-28

O death, where is your victory?

Corinthians 15 : 51-57

We look not to the things that are seen,

but to the things that are unseen.
11 Corinthians 4 : 7-18

God will wipe away every tear.

Revelation 21 : 1-7

6) THE PSALM

One of the following Psalms is said or sung:

23; 27; 42; 43; 90; 116; 118, 19-end; 121; 130; 139,1-18.

If these are said in a responsorial form the following responses are ap-
propriate:

Psalm 23 Lord, remember me in your kingdom.

or: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I shall fear no evil.

Psalm 27 One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord.

Psalm 42 My soul is athirst for God,

thirsting for the living God.

Psalm 43 Send out your light and your truth,

that they may lead me.
Psalm 90 Teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Psalm 116 I will walk in the presence of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Psalm 118 Open for me the gates of righteousness:

I will enter and offer thanks to the Lord.

Psalm 121 My help comes from the Lord:

who has made heaven and earth.

Psalm 130 In the Lord's word is my hope.

Psalm 139 The darkness is no darkness with you;

the night is as clear as the day.

7) THE GOSPEL

Stand. Before the Gospel the Reader says:

Hear the words of the Holy Gospel according to.....

Glory to Christ our Saviour.

One of the following Gospels is read:

Today you will be with me in paradise.

Luke 23 : 39-43

I am the bread of life.

John 6 : 35-40

I am the resurrection and the life.

John 11 : 17-27
I am the way, the truth and the life.
John 14 : 1-6

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am.

John 17 : 24-26

The Resurrection
John 20 : 1-9 .PO 0

At the end the Reader says:

This is the Gospel of Christ

Praise to Christ our Lord.

8) An ADDRESS may follow, and/or a hymn or anthem may be sung.

THE PRAYERS

9) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

He has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour:

Born of the house of his servant David.

In the tender compassion of our God:

The dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.

10) Let us pray.

Either:
Almighty God, you have knit your chosen people together in one com-
munion, in the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Give to
your whole Church in heaven and on earth your light and your peace.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.

Grant that all who have been baptised into Christ's death and resurrec-
tion may die to sin and rise to newness of life, and that through the grave
and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.

Grant to us who are still in our pilgrimage, and who walk as yet by faith,
that your Holy Spirit may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our
days.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.

Grant to your faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed
from all our sins and serve you with a quiet mind.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.

Grant to all who mourn a sure confidence in your loving care that, cast-
ing all their sorrow on you, they may know the consolation of your love.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.

May we have strength to meet the days ahead in the joyful expectation
of eternal life with those we love.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.
Help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, to believe
and trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins and the res-
urrection to life everlasting.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us.

Grant us grace to entrust N (those whom we remember) to your never-

failing love which sustained (them) in this life. Enfold (them) in the
arms of your mercy, and remember (them) according to the favour you
bear for your people.
Lord hear us;
Lord graciously hear us. BAS emended

or:

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived, God
has prepared for those who love him.

God of all consolation,

in your unending love and mercy
you turn the darkness of death
into the dawn of new life.

Show compassion to your people in their sorrow.

Be our refuge and our strength
to lift us from the darkness of grief
to the peace and light of your presence.

Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

by dying for us, conquered death
and by rising again, restored life.

May we then go forward eagerly to meet him,

and after our life on earth
be reunited with our brothers and sisters
where every tear will be wiped away.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

11) Our Father Our Father, who art in heaven

(ASB Texts in full)

12) Lord Christ, our Redeemer, in the day of your coming raise us up,
and set us at your right hand in the day when your greatness shall ap-
pear. Keep the living by your grace and give resurrection to the dead.
We ask this in your name, O Lord our resurrection and our life. Amen.

13) A Hymn may be sung.

THE COMMEMORATION

14) You, Christ, are the King of Glory.

The eternal Son of the Father.

You overcame the sting of death

And opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God's right hand in glory

We believe that you will come to be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

bought with the price of your own blood;
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

15) Hear us, O merciful Father,

as we remember in love N
whom we have placed in your hands.
Acknowledge, we pray, a sheep of your own fold,
a lamb of your own flock,
a sinner of your own redeeming.
Enfold him/her in the arms of your mercy,
in the blessed rest of everlasting peace,
and in the glorious company of the saints in light.
Amen.

16) The eternal God is your dwelling place,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Blessed is the Lord,
our strength and our salvation.

THE BLESSING

17) The Lord bless you and keep you,

the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you,
the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you
and give you peace.
And the blessing of the God almighty,
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you always,
Amen.
or:

18) According to the riches of God's glory,

may we be strengthened with might
through the Spirit in our inner being,
and may Christ dwell in our hearts through faith,
that being rooted and grounded in love,
we may have power to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ
which surpasses knowledge,
that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.

Letter to the Ephesians

Note: In place of the responses in Section 2, the Minister may use

the following:

As a father cares for his children:

So does the Lord care for those who fear him.

For he himself knows whereof we are made:

He remembers that we are but dust.

Our days are like the grass:

We flourish like a flower of the field.

When the wind goes over it, it is gone,

And its place shall know it no more.

But the merciful goodness of the Lord endures for ever on those who
fear him:
And his righteousness on children's children.

Psalm 103 : 13-17

ADDITIONAL PRAYER
Help us, Lord, to receive and understand your gospel,

so that we may find light in this darkness,

faith in our doubts,
and comfort for one another in your saving words.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Let us pray also for those who mourn

our brother's/sister's death;
comfort them in their sorrow.
Lord, hear our prayer.

Fill the emptiness in their hearts

with the presence of your love.
Lord, hear our prayer.

Increase their faith and strengthen their hope.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Let us pray also for ourselves

in our pilgrimage through life;
strengthen us and keep us faithful in your service.
Lord, hear our prayer.

Fill our hearts with the hope for heaven.

Lord, hear our prayer.