INVITATION

We come together at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to inter the ashes of our brother, Gene.  The time and the day are important because Gene did not miss the cenotaph services each year on Remembrance Day.  This will be Gene’s final Remembrance Day service, and as the poem says. “We will remember him.”

As we gather to commend our brother, Gene, to God our Father and to commit his ashes to the earth, let us express in prayer and in tribute our common faith in the resurrection.

As Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, se too are called to follow him through death to the glory where God will be all in all.

SCRIPTURE VERSES

We read in sacred scripture:

                  This is the will of my Father, says the Lord, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to
                  me, and that I should raise them up on the last day.  (John 6:39)

And also:

                  Our true home is in heaven, and Jesus Christ whose return we long for will come from heaven to
                  save us.

COMMENTS

So it is that in our time of loss and sadness we remember our brother, Gene.  We cherish all that he was as a husband, father and grandfather and all that he was as a Vincentian and a veteran.  Before we commend Gene’s ashes to their final resting place, some of his family members would like to speak.

PRAYER OVER THE PLACE OF COMMITTAL

All praise to you; Lord of all creation.
Praise to you holy and living God.
We praise you and bless you for your mercy.
We praise you and bless you for your kindness.
Blessed is the Lord our God.

R:  Blessed is the Lord our God

You sanctify the homes of the living
And make holy the places of the dead.
You alone open the gates pf righteousness
And lead us to the dwelling of the saints.
Blessed is the Lord our God.

R:  Blessed is the Lord our God

We praise you, our refuge and our strength.
We bless you, our God and our Redeemer.
Your praise is always in our hearts and on our lips,
We remember the mighty deed of the covenant.
Blessed is the Lord our God.

R:  Blessed is the Lord our God

Almighty and ever-living God, remember the mercy with which you graced your servant, Gene, in this life.  Receive him, we pray, into the mansions of the saints.  Look also with favour on those who mourn and comfort them in their loss.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
AMEN

COMMITTAL

My friends, as we prepare to bury the ashes of our brother, Gene, we recall that our bodies bear the imprint of the first creation when they were fashioned from dust.

In faith we remember too, that by the new creation we also bear the image of Jesus who was raised to glory.

In confident hope that one day God will raise us and transform our mortal bodies, let us pray together as Jesus taught us:  OUR FATHER……

Faithful God. Lord of all creation, you desire that nothing redeemed by your Son will ever be lost, and that the just will be raised up on the last day. 

Comfort us with the word of your promise as we return the ashes of our brother to the earth.

Grant Gene a place of rest and peace where the world of dust and ashes has no dominion.

Confirm in our hope that he will be created anew on the day when you will raise him up in glory to live with you and all the saints for ever and ever.

AMEN

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE

Bow your heads and pray to God.

(Silence)

Merciful God, you know the anguish of the sorrowful; you are attentive to the prayers of the humble.
Hear your people who cry out to you in their need and strengthen their hope in your everlasting goodness.

We ask this through Christ our Lord,

AMEN

RESPONSORY

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace.

AMEN

BLESSING

May the love of God and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ bless and console us and gently wipe evry tear from our eyes,
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

AMEN

(Note:  Because the deceased was a veteran and his committal took place on Remembrance Day, those present removed the poppies they were wearing and place them on the grave before they left the cemetery.)