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For Guidance

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices; that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path we may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer
Prayers

The Burial of the Dead — The Committal

Forasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother [or this beloved child], here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground [or the deep or its resting place]; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our perishable body, that it may be like his own glorious body, according to the mighty working of his Spirit, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. Amen.

Commendo animam tuam Deo Patri omnipotenti, terram terrae, cinerem cineri, pulverem pulveri, in nomine Patris

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Original-language source · public domain

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Burial Of The DeadThe Burial of the Dead

Provenance

Cranmer 1549, after Sarum

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

The graveside words spoken at Anglican burials since 1549, Thomas Cranmer shaped this committal from a medieval Latin formula in the Sarum handbook for priests, weaving phrases from Genesis, Ecclesiasticus, and Philippians 3 into a single sentence of faith: earth returned to earth, but in sure and certain hope of resurrection.