Bless those who mourn, eternal God,
with the comfort of your love
that they may face each new day with hope
and the certainty that nothing can destroy
the good that has been given. May their memories become joyful,
their days enriched with friendship,
and their lives encircled by your love.
Amen.
--c 1991 Vienna Cobb Anderson, Adapted from "Prayers of Our Hearts"
Make Me Brave for Life
God, make me brave for life: oh, braver than this.
Let me straighten after pain, as a tree straightens after the rain,
Shining and lovely again.
God, make me brave for life; much braver than this.
As the blown grass lifts, let me rise
From sorrow with quiet eyes,
Knowing Thy way is wise.
God, make me brave, life brings
Such blinding things.
Help me to keep my sight;
Help me to see aright
That out of dark comes light.
Author Unknown
El Maley Rachamim
God full of mercy who dwells on high
Grant perfect rest on the wings of Your Divine Presence
In the lofty heights of the holy and pure
who shine as the brightness of the heavens
to the soul of _______.
who has gone to his eternal rest
as all his family and friends
pray for the elevation of his soul.
His resting place shall be in the Garden of Eden.
Therefore, the Master of mercy will care for him
under the protection of His wings for all time
And bind his soul in the bond of everlasting life.
God is his inheritance and he will rest in peace
and let us say Amen.
--From Jewish Funeral Care
Prayer for Bereaved Parents
God, you sacrificed your son so that we and our children would transcend physical death. We know that you grieved when he was crucified and that you grieve over all the atrocities done by men -- especially in your name. You know and understand grief as you know and understand all. You know best how to comfort these parents. Lift their hearts up to you and fill them with your peace. Your understanding is beyond our human comprehension, but give them the knowledge and faith to endure even that which they can't understand. Let them be aware of you always God, and help them to remember that your Love is Life that can never really be taken away.
--Beliefnet member anacleo7
Love Is Stronger Than Death
Love is stronger than death.
So, I must be content to know that
love is not affected by death-
it doesn't end, it doesn't diminish,
it doesn't change.
Instead, love is immortalized
and eternalized through death.
And the possibility of that love ever
being damaged or broken
is eliminated forever.
I'll put my trust in love.
--c 2002 Mary Hollingsworth, "Little Taps on the Shoulder From God"
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening,
into the house and gate of heaven,
to enter into that gate, and dwell in that house where there shall be
no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity;
in the habitation of thy glory and dominion,
world without end. Amen.
--John Donne
A Prayer for the Deceased
Go your way to the land of the Ancestors,
where they wait for you with open arms,
there on the edge between this world and the next.
See; there they stand.
Ancestral spirits, welcome this one
to the place where we all must go.
--c 2002 Ceisiwr Serith, "A Book of Pagan Prayer"
Do Not Lose Heart
Therefore we do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.
--2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Funeral Prayer
O Allah, forgive and have mercy on him (or her). Grant him ease and respite. Make his resting place a noble one, and facilitate his entry. Cleanse him with water, snow and coolness, and purify him of wrongdoings a white cloth is purified of grime. Grant him an abode finer than his worldly one, and grant him entrance to Paradise and protect him from the chastisement of the grave, and protect him from the chastisement of the Fire.
--Muhammad, reprinted from "Remembrance and Prayer: The Way of the Prophet Muhammad", by Muhammad Al Ghazali (trans. Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo)
A 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.
--Book of Common Prayer 1979
