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Prayers for the Dying
O Lord, our times are in your hands. Look with mercy and compassion upon our beloved brother/sister as they prepare for their final journey home to you. Send your holy angels to guide him/her gently into the glory of your presence. Pardon and forgive all his/her sins so that they need not fear to stand before your judgment seat but rather rest in calm assurance knowing that you are the One who has always loved them and called them into communion with you. And grant comfort and consolation to all of us who now prepare to mourn our loss. Grant us joy and confidence in your never failing mercies. In the Name of the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. Amen.
Lord Christ, as you hung dying on the cross, you prayed to your Father, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit." And now as our beloved brother/sister prepares to behold your resurrected glory, we now commit his/her soul into your loving hands. May he/she find rest and joy as he/she goes from strength to strength in your eternal presence. Amen.
Death is not the end but simply the beginning, O Lord Christ, for through your glorious resurrection you have overcome sin and the grave. Therefore, we need no longer fear the sting of death. Gently guide now our beloved brother/sister as he/she marks the beginning of resurrected, eternal life with you. Into your hands, O Lord, we commend his/her soul. As he/she beholds the full glory of your resurrected splendor, may he/she grow from glory to glory to ever more fully beholding your face. In the Name of the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. Amen.
The Deathbed Prayer of St. Macrina the Younger, Sister of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 327-379)
O Lord, you have freed us from the fear of death. You have made the end of our life here into the beginning of new life for us. You give rest to our bodies for a time in sleep, and then you awaken them again with the sound of the last trumpet. Our earthly body, formed by your hands, you consign in trust to the earth, and then once more you reclaim it, transfiguring with immortality and grace whatever in us is mortal or deformed. You have opened for us the way to resurrection, and given to those that fear you the sign of the holy cross as their emblem, to destroy the enemy and to save our life. Eternal God, on you have I depended from my mother’s womb, you have I loved with all the strength of my soul, to you have I dedicated my flesh and my soul from my youth until now. Set by my side an angel of light, to guide me to the place of repose, where are the waters of rest, among the holy Fathers. You have broken the fiery sword and restored to Paradise the thief who was crucified with you and implored your mercy: remember me also in your kingdom with you, for I too have been crucified with you … Forgive me and accept my soul into your hands, spotless and undefiled, as incense in your sight.
The Last Words of St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
My Lord, it is time to move on.
Well then, may your will be done.
O my Lord and my Spouse,
the hour that I have longed for has come.
It is time to meet one another.
A Prayer for a Person near Death
Almighty God, look on this your servant, lying in great
weakness, and comfort him with the promise of life
everlasting, given in the resurrection of your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Litany at the Time of Death
God the Father,
Have mercy on your servant.
God the Son,
Have mercy on your servant.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on your servant.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on your servant.
From all evil, from all sin, from all tribulation,
Good Lord, deliver him/her.
By your holy Incarnation, by your Cross and Passion, by
your precious Death and Burial,
Good Lord, deliver him/her.
By your glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the
Coming of the Holy Spirit,
Good Lord, deliver him/her.
We sinners beseech you to hear us, Lord Christ: That it may please you to deliver the soul of your servant from the power of evil, and from eternal death,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please you mercifully to pardon all his/her sins,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please you to grant him a place of refreshment
and everlasting blessedness,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please you to give him joy and gladness in your kingdom, with your saints in light,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
Jesus, Lamb of God:
Have mercy on him/her.
Jesus, bearer of our sins:
Have mercy on him/her.
Jesus, redeemer of the world:
Give him/her your peace.
Deliver your servant, N., O Sovereign Lord Christ, from all evil, and set him/her free from every bond; that he/she may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Commendation at the Time of Death
Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world;
In the Name of God the Father Almighty who created
you;
In the Name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you;
In the Name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you.
May your rest be this day in peace, and your dwelling
place in the Paradise of God.
Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant N. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him/her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.
May his/her soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Prayers for Those Who Mourn
O merciful Father, who hast taught us in thy holy Word that thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men: Look with pity upon the sorrows of thy servant for whom our prayers are offered. Remember him/her, O Lord, in mercy, nourish his soul with patience, comfort him with a sense of thy goodness, lift up thy countenance upon him, and give him/her peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God, Father of all mercies and giver of all comfort, deal graciously, we pray, with all those who mourn, that, casting every care on you, they may know the consolation of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Grant, O Lord, to all who are bereaved the spirit of faith and courage, that they may have strength to meet the days to come with steadfastness and patience; not sorrowing as those without hope, but in thankful remembrance of your great goodness, and in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those they love. And this we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Merciful Christ, the weight of grief hangs heavy on our shoulders. Our souls are breaking under the weight of such sorrow. Such grief is not unknown to you for you, too, wept at the tomb of your beloved friend, Lazarus. You know our fragilities and recognize our inability to carry this pain and sorrow alone. Carry us through this valley of darkness and loss. Speak to us words of healing and solace. Enlighten our deadened spirits with the sure knowledge that our loved ones are now beholding your face. And fill the emptiness of our loss with the height and depth and breadth of your love that is truly eternal and from which nothing can separate us, not even death itself. And, in your due time, raise us up to new and abundant life with you. For in your holy Name we pray. Amen.
For the Departed
Eternal Lord God, you hold all souls in life: Give to your
whole Church in paradise and on earth your light and your
peace; and grant that we, following the good examples of
those who have served you here and are now at rest, may at the last enter with them into your unending joy; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Almighty God, we remember before you today your faithful servant N.; and we pray that, having opened to him/her the gates of larger life, you will receive him/her more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, he/she may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Remember thy servant, O Lord, according to the favor which thou bearest unto thy people; and grant that, increasing in knowledge and love of thee, he/she may go from strength to strength in the life of perfect service in thy heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Into thy hands, O Lord, we commend thy servant N., our
dear brother/sister, as into the hands of a faithful Creator and most merciful Savior, beseeching thee that he/she may be precious in thy sight. Wash him/her, we pray thee, in the blood of that immaculate Lamb that was slain to take away the sins of the world; that, whatsoever defilements he may have contracted in the midst of this earthly life being purged and done away, he/she may be presented pure and without spot before thee; through the merits of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord. Amen.
O God, the King of saints, we praise and glorify your holy
Name for all your servants who have finished their course in your faith and fear: for the blessed Virgin Mary; for the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs; and for all your other righteous servants, known to us and unknown; and we pray that, encouraged by their examples, aided by their prayers, and strengthened by their fellowship, we also may be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer at the Loss of a Child
Lord Christ, you called the children to come to you and received them into your loving embrace. Our hearts now break with the loss of our dearly beloved child. Receive him/her into your gentle bosom and may he/she find eternal rest and life with you. Surround us who mourn our loss with an abundance of your grace and consolation. Grant us strength and courage to face the days ahead with hope, knowing that you are carrying us through these difficult times. May the remembrance of our brief time with our child become for us a source of thanksgiving. And in your due time, may this mantle of sorrow and mourning be turned to joy and new life in you. In your name, the One who is the resurrection and the life, we pray. Amen.
On the Anniversary of a Death
A thousand years are but one day in your sight, O Lord. Yet this time since the death of our loved one has felt like an eternity. But as children of the Resurrection, you call us not to mourn as the world does. Rather through your own triumph over death, you have given us sure confidence of the resurrection and eternal life with you. Grant to us your continued consolation and mercy. And may we rest secure knowing that our loved one grows from strength to strength in your presence. Rest eternal grant to him/her, O Lord, and let your light perpetually shine upon him/her; you live and reign in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.