Oh, Joseph, dear, beloved Saint-

    Give us the strength today,

Hear our prayers and intercede

    For one who's gone away.

Help us to be patient,

    To trust the mighty God-

Help us now to walk alone-

    Our path of tears to trod.

Forgive our fears, we loved him so

    We'll miss him terribly-

Give us strength and faith we need

    To trust in God and thee.

 

Virginia Williams

Our Lady Fatima please hear

    As we kneel down in prayer-

Intercede for him in heaven

    His soul awaits God there.

We know that he is happy now,

    His soul has been reborn-

Help us to bear our grief today

    And not to be forlorn.

Give us your blessing that we may

    Forget our tears and pain;

Our hearts should be so thankful that

    God takes man home again.

 

Virginia Williams

Oh blessed Queen of the Angels,

    Precious Mother of God-

Give us strength and courage on

    The path of tears we trod.

Help us to gain the wisdom and

    The peace that all will know;

Help us through grief and pain to see

    That all to God shall go.

Oh intercede for one we love

    And banish all our fear-

Oh help us, please, to understand

    That God is always near.

 

Virginia Williams

Oh, Mother Mary, pray for us

    Our tears so freely flow,

For the one we loved so dearly

    Was asked by God to go.

It will be hard to carry on

    Without the one we love.

Help us and guide us, Mary, 'til

    We too join God above.

Help us, Mother dear, to know

    That though life here is done,

It's in lands where God is

    That the great reward is won.

 

Margriet Gilkison

    O God, give repose to the souls of those whom we commemorate, and write their names in the Book of Life. Make them worthy of the joys of Paradise. Place them in the dwelling of the righteous; unite them to the company of the just; grant to them to arrive in the harbor of peace, where sorrow, weakness, sighs and wretchedness flee away forever; where the saints enjoy felicity and the weary win their rest.

 

(From an Ancient Liturgy)

    Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

    In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

    And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

    And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

    Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

    Jesus said unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

 

John 14:1-6

Lord Jesus, give us comfort now

    Our grief in life has grown-

Intercede for one who's gone

    This loved one we have known.

Oh Jesus, help us understand.

    To you in prayer we kneel.

Lighten our cares and help us to

    Relieve the pain we feel.

Help us, dear Lord, to realize

    Our loved one reached the goal.

The land of perfect rest awaits

    Where God guards every soul.

 

Virginia Williams

Liturgy

 

    "The souls of the just are in the hand of God and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die; and their departure was taken for misery; and their going away from us for utter destruction; but they are in peace. And although in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality."

 

* * *

 

Death cannot separate

those who are united

in the true bonds of love.

 

St. Ambrose