1. Hymn
Come and go with me
To my Father’s house (3)
Come and go with me
To my Father’s house
Where there’s joy, joy, joy.
Jesus is the way
To my Father’s house (3)
Jesus is the way
To my Father’s house
Where there’s love, love, love.
2. Leader:
We have gathered here today to celebrate the Months mind / Death Anniversary of our dear N . Let us thank God, for all the joys that he/she brought into our lives and also pray for the grace that we may be strong and carry on living our lives as N would want us to.
3. Participant: A Reading from St. Paul's letter to the Philippians (1:3 - 7b)
I thank my God for you every time I think of you; and every time I pray for you… I pray with joy because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now. And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.
You are always in my heart! And so it is only right for me to feel as I do about you.
This is the Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Leader: Let us now pause for a few moments bring to mind one happy event in the life of N .
4. Prayer of Intercession
Leader: We will now give praise and thanks to Christ, our Lord and Saviour for by dying, he destroyed our death; and by rising, he restored our life. With our dear N let us praise God saying:
Response: Your steadfast love O Lord never ceases.
Leader: Father, we give you thanks because of your love for N . You have called him/her to live with you in your heavenly home in the fullness of your love, peace and joy. Though we grieve his/her going, we accept your will no matter how hard to bear. R/-
Leader: We thank you for the love he/she lavished on all of us during his/her life and for all the good that he/she accomplished in this world. R/-
Leader: N was baptized in Christ and now in his/her death having completed that immersion into Christ is experiencing the fullness of life. May we too live our lives in close union with Jesus. R/-
5. Family Member: (Any one of the following prayers):
Father, help us to see death for what it really is:
The end of pain and the beginning of joy
The end of frustration and the beginning of fulfillment
The end of weakness and the beginning of strength
The end of fear and the beginning of tranquility
The end of poverty and the beginning of riches.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen
(Or)
Father, we offer you, our loneliness and our grief. Strengthen us as we struggle to say farewell to N now. May there arise within our hearts a great sense of gratitude to you for your innumerable blessings upon him/her during his/her life on this earth.
May our common sorrow at the death of N unite us more closely as a family and community and may we look forward to the day when along with him/her we will all be united with You forever. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
6. Leader: Eternal rest grant unto N, O Lord.
All: And let perpetual light shine upon him/her.
Leader: May he/she rest in peace.
All: Amen.
Leader:
May his/her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in Peace.
All: Amen.
7. As a reminder of the immersion of N into Christ at his/her baptism, we shall now sprinkle his/her grave with holy water.
Leader: (While the sprinkling is going on) In thanksgiving for all the blessings showered upon N , let us end singing the hymn, ' O give thanks to the Lord. '
O, Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, (3) Yes eternal is His love.
I will sing to my God never ceasing, All my life I will tell of His wonders
He's the maker of all earth & heaven, Of the ocean, the seas and all they hold.