SPCK - A Funeral

Other choices:-

On the Occasion of a Funeral

Lord of life,
in the hope and trust of your son Jesus Christ's resurrection,
we lay before you N:
for all that was good and inspiring in his/her life
we give you thanks;
for the love shared and the memories treasured
we praise you;
for the injuries and hurts he/she endured
and any inflicted -
intended or not -
we ask your forgiveness and healing mercy.
We entrust him/her now to your eternal keeping,
for you hold all souls in life
and in your redeeming love
is our hope and salvation,
through him who died and rose again for us. Amen.

Ian Black, Prayers for all Occasions.

We return you to this ancient earth from which you came,
to the broad generous plains which nurtured you
    and upon which you played and worked;
this place wherin you found your life's work
    and made your soul's journey;
this place whose rhythms and colours
    comforted and restored you in your sorrows;
this place which gave you your vision
    of the one spirit which illumines all things.

May your spirit, released into greater freedom and light,
bestow a blessing upon us who remain, and upon this land
you loved.

Elizabeth Howie, Australia. Prayers Encircling the World.

Parents' loss of a child

Blessed Lord,
whose mother's soul was pierced
by the heart-wrenching pain
of watching her son die on the cross,
be with all parents whose hearts are broken
by the loss of their child.
In the darkness may your light dawn,
revealing that no life is wasted in your love
and all are held in your embrace.
May the tears that flow become a well
and the emptiness be filled again
with praise and thanksgiving,
for you bring life out of death
and hope out of despair
in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ian Black, Prayers for all Occasions.