commendation of the dying – A Collection of Prayers

Take My Soul into Your Hands

“Nothing Other Than Sheer Life”: Martin Luther on ...

O my heavenly Father,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
God of all comfort,
I thank you for revealing to me
your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
in whom I believe,
whom I have preached and confessed,
whom I have loved and praised.

I pray, my Lord Jesus Christ,
take my soul into your hands.

Heavenly Father,
I know that
although I will live this body
and be taken from this life,
I will live with you forever,
and that no one can pluck me
out of your hands.

God so loved the world
that he gave his only-begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish,
but have eternal life.

Our God is the God of salvation,
and the Lord delivers from death.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

Source: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther by Ernst August Brueggeman

A Litany for the Dying (1)

O God, the Father in heaven:
Have mercy on us.
O God, the Son, Redeemer of the world:
Have mercy on us.
O God, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter:
Have mercy on us.

Do not remember, Lord, our offences or the offences of our forefathers:
Spare us good Lord.

Spare your servant before you, whom you have redeemed with your precious blood:
Spare us good Lord.

From all evil and harm,
from the power of sin and the snares of the devil,
from your wrath,
and from everlasting damnation:
Good Lord, deliver him.

By the mystery of your holy incarnation,
by your agony and bloody sweat,
by your cross and passion,
by your precious death and burial,
by your glorious resurrection and ascension,
and by the coming of the Holy Spirit,
in the hour of death and in the day of judgment:
Good Lord, deliver him.

We sinners pray, hear us:
Son of God, we pray, hear us

That it may please you to uphold him with your free Spirit,
to grant him true repentance,
to forgive him all his sins,
to strengthen and confirm him in your grace,
and to beat down Satan under his feet:
We pray, hear us, O Lord.

O Son of God, Redeemer of the world:
Hear us.

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world:
Have mercy on him.

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world:
Have mercy on him.

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world:
Grant him your peace.

O Lord God, our heavenly Father, you have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that they turn from their ways and live. Regard this sick person with an eye of compassion. Do not let him be overwhelmed by any pains of body or any anguish of soul, but grant to him in this world your pardon and peace, and in the world to come life everlasting; through the abounding merits and the glorious mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Modified from A Litany for the Dying, Order of Worship for the Reformed Church in the United States, 1866, p. 296-298.

Available also in pdf and in docx formats.

Two Prayers for the Dying

Almighty, eternal God, heavenly Father,
comfort and strengthen this your servant
and save him through your goodness.
Deliver him from all anguish and distress,
release him in your grace,
and take him to yourself in your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your dear Son,
our only Lord Savior and Redeemer.
Amen.

Almighty, eternal God,
have compassion on the anxious sighs
and groanings of this dying person.
Receive him into your kingdom
that you have mercifully prepared for him
and all believers from the beginning of the world.
Graciously release him, O Lord,
and comfort him eternally with the elect;
through your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Source: Modified from The Abridged Treasury of Prayers: An Epitome from the Larger Gebets-Schatz, 1906, #63

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead

A Prayer for a Dying Person

O almighty and merciful God,
you are our rod and staff in the shadow of death.
We pray, visit this sick person,
his body and soul,
with your mercy,
and graciously to forgive all his sins.
Take the sacrifice of the innocent death
of Jesus Christ your dear Son
as payment for his transgressions
since he was baptized in Christ’s name
and cleansed by Christ’s blood.
Deliver him from bodily pains or shorten them.
Sustain him against the accusations of conscience
and all attacks of the wicked one
that he may fight a good fight and overcome.
Grant him a blessed departure for the life everlasting.
Send your holy angels
that they escort him to the gathering
of the elect in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

Source: The Abridged Treasury of Prayers: An Epitome from the Larger Gebets-Schatz, 1906, #61

“you are our rod and staff in the shadow of death” is a reference to Psalm 23:4

“Take the sacrifice of the innocent death of Jesus Christ your dear Son as payment for his transgressions” is a reference to Isaiah 53:5

“Sustain him against the accusations of conscience and all attacks of the wicked one” may be a reference to Ephesians 6:16

“that he may fight a good fight and overcome” is a reference to 1 Timothy 6:12

“Send your holy angels” is a reference to Luke 16:22

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead

For the Dying

800px-caravaggio-emmaus-750pix O God,
our heavenly Father,
have pity on your children in great bodily weakness
who are drawing near the gates of death.
Send your dear Son to meet with them on the way,
and to stay with them,
for the day is now far spent,
that he may comfort them with the Word of your goodness,
and break with them the bread of eternal life;
through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from A Book of Collects in Two Parts, John Wallace Suter and John Wallace Suter, Jr., Milwaukee: Morehouse Publishing, 1919.

This prayer references Luke 24:13-35

“that he may comfort them with the Word of your goodness” in the original is “that he may comfort them with a sense of thy goodness”

Graphic: Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus, from Wikimedia Commons

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead

A Sarum Blessing for the Sick

old_sarum_cathedral_reconstruction May the Father,
who created all things in the beginning, bless you.
May the + Son of God heal you.
May the Holy Spirit enlighten you,
guard your body, save your soul,
direct your thoughts,
and bring you safe to the heavenly country,
where he lives and reigns,
God, in a perfect Trinity,
forever and ever.

Source: Sarum Rite

Source of this version: Modified from Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 193 #2

Graphic: Model of Old Sarum (Salisbury) Cathedral, Wikipedia.com

Prayer before Communion

Lord Jesus Christ,
may your holy body be my food.
May your holy blood be my drink.
May your sufferings and death strengthen me.

Lord Jesus Christ, hear me.
Hide me in your holy wounds
and let me never be separated from you.
Lord Jesus Christ,
keep me from the evil one,
be merciful to me in the hour of my death,
that with all the elect I may praise you,
forever and ever.
Amen.

Source: Modified from Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States, Luth. Book concern, 1891, p. 544 #1

As a block paragraph:

Lord Jesus Christ, may your holy body be my food. May your holy blood be my drink. May your sufferings and death strengthen me. Lord Jesus Christ, hear me. Hide me in your holy wounds and let me never be separated from you. Lord Jesus Christ, keep me from the evil one, be merciful to me in the hour of my death, that with all the elect I may praise you, forever and ever.

Reworded for public worship:

Lord Jesus Christ, may your holy body be our food. May your holy blood be our drink. May your sufferings and death strengthen us. Hear us. Hide us in your holy wounds and let us never be separated from you. Lord Jesus Christ, keep us from the evil one and be merciful to us to the end, that with all the elect we may praise you; you live and reign, now and forever.

Deliver Us, that We May Praise

old_sarum_cathedral_reconstruction Most merciful God,
our foundation of hope
and our refuge in trouble,
deliver us from the snares of death
so that even with the many troubles that surround us
we may sing praises to your holy name
in purity and innocence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Sarum Rite

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers Ancient and Modern
by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 230 #2

Graphic: Model of Old Sarum (Salisbury) Cathedral, Wikipedia.com

“It Is Finished”

6069369723_ee697728eb_z_d O blessed Jesus,
most mighty lion,
King immortal and most victorious,
remember the sorrow that you suffered
when all your powers of heart and body
failed you utterly,
and when you bowed your head and said,
“It is finished.”
Remembering your anguish and sorrow,
blessed Jesus, have mercy on me in my last hour.

Source: Sarum Primer, 1538

Source of this version: http://www.oursanctuary.net/sarum.html

Traditional English:

O blessed Jesu, most mighty lion, King immortal and most victorious, have mind of the sorrow that Thou sufferedst when all the powers of Thine heart and body for feebleness failed Thee utterly. And then Thou saidst, inclining Thine head thus: “It is all done.” For mind of thine anguish and sorrow, blessed Jesus, have mercy on me in my last end.

Graphic: Page from an English Psalter, from Flickr, Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

A Final Commendation of the Dying

6069369723_ee697728eb_z_d Depart, Christian soul, out of this world,
in the name of God the Father almighty who created you,
in the name of Jesus + Christ his Son, who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit, who has been poured out into you.

May you depart this day in peace,
and your home be in the heavenly Jerusalem.

Source: Sarum

Source of this version: Modified from Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, Ed. by W. Bright: J.H. & Jas. Parker, London, 1902, p. 120 #1

“May you depart this day…” original has “May thy place be this day in peace,”

A longer version reads thus:

Depart in peace, ransomed soul,
in the name of God the Father almighty who created you,
in the name of Jesus + Christ, the Son of the living God, who redeemed you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit, who sanctified you.

Come now to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:8) Amen.

Source of this version: The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 119

Graphic: Page from an English Psalter, from Flickr, Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

“Enter now Mount Zion…” is a reference to Hebrews 12:22-23

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead