Chapter XIII. Of the Office for the Burial of the Dead

Q. What is the manner and order of burying the dead in the Catholic Church?

A. The pastor or parish-priest, accompanied by his clerics, goes to the house of the deceased, and having sprinkled the body or coffin with holy water, recites the Anthem, 'If thou observe iniquities, O Lord! O Lord! who shall sustain it;' with the 120th Psalm, ' De prof unci is,'' 'From the depth, I have cried,' &c. in the end of which he says, 'Eternal rest give to him, O Lord!' E, 'And let perpetual shine upon him.' Then he repeats the Anthem, 'If thou shalt observe iniquities,' &c.

After this, the body is carried to the Church, the clergy going before, two and two, after the manner of a procession and singing the 50th Psalm, * Miserere^ ' Have mercy on me, O God! according to thy great mercy,' &c. and the people following the corpse, and praying in silence for the deceased. When they are come to the Church, the corpse is set down in the middle of the Church, with the feet towards the altar (except the deceased was a priest, in which case the head is to be towards the altar) and wax tapers are lighted and set up round the coffin. Then, if time and opportunity permit, is recited the Dirge, that is, the office of the matins and lauds for the dead, followed by a solemn Mass for the soul of the deceased, according to the most ancient custom of the universal Church.

The Dirge and Mass being finished, the priest, standing at the head of the deceased, begins the office of the burial, as follows:

Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord! for no one' shall be justified in thy sight, except thou vouchsafe to grant him the remission of all his sins. Let not therefore, we beseech thee, the sentence of thy judgment fall upon him, whom the true supplication of Christian faith recommendeth to thee: but by the assistance of thy grace let him escape the judgment of thy vengeance, who, whilst he was living, was marked with the sign of the holy Trinity: who iivest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

Then the Choir sings the following Responsary.

Deliver me, O Lord! from eternal death, at that dreadful day, when the heavens and earth shall be moved, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. V. I am struck with tremblings and I fear, against the day of account, and of the wrath to come; when the heavens and earth shall be moved. V, That day, a day of wrath, of calamity and misery, a great and most bitter day, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. F. Eternal rest give to him, 0 Lord! and let perpetual light shine upon him. Deliver me, O Lord! &c. as before, till the Verse, ' I am struck,' &;c.

Lord! have mercy on us. Christ! have mercy on us. Lord! have mercy on us. Our Father, &c. (Here the priest puts incense into the thurible, and then going round the coffin, sprinkles with holy water, and afterwards incenses the body, and then concludes the Lord's Prayer.) F. Lead us not into temptation. R, But deliver us from evil. F. From the gate of hell. R, Deliver his soul, O Lord! F. Let him rest in peace. R, Amen. F, O Lord! hear my prayer. R, And let my cry come to thee. F. The Lord be with you. R, And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

O God! to whom it belongs always to show mercy, and to spare, we humbly beseech thee for the soul of thy servant N. which thou hast this day commanded to depart out of this world, that thou wouldst not deliver it up into the hands of the enemy, nor put it out of thy memory for ever, but that thou wouldst order it to be received by the holy angels, and conducted to Paradise, its truo country: that since it has believed and hoped in thee, it may not suffer the pains of hell, but take possession of everlasting joys, through Christ oui Lord. Amen.

After this, whilst the body is carried towards the place of its interment, is sung or said the following Anthem.

»May the angels conduct thee into Paradise, may the martyrs receive thee at thy coming, and bring thee to the holy city of Jerusalem; may the choir of angels receive thee, and mayest thou have eternal rest with Lazarus, who was formerly poor.

When they are come to the grave, if it has not been blessed before, the priest blesses it by the following prayer, which is the same that we make use of in this kingdom, in blessing the mould or earth, which we put in the coffin with the corpse, in the private burial office.

O God! by whose tender mercy the souls of the faithful find rest, vouchsafe to bless this tomb, and depute thy holy angel to guard it, and absolve from all the bonds of sin the souls of those whose bodies are here interred, that with thy saints they may ever rejoice without end in thee. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Then the priest sprinkles with holy water, and afterwards incenses both the corpse of the deceased and the grave. Then, whilst the body is put in the earth, is sung or said the following Anthem, with the Canticle Benedictus, or the song of Zacharias, St: Luke, i. 65, &c.

,1 am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live; and every one that liveth, and belie veth in me, shall not die for ever. St. John xi. 25.

Or else (as it is the custom in many places) when the body is put in the earth, the priest, with the assistants, recites the penitential Psalm, Miserere,

Then the priest says, Lord! have mercy on us. Christ! have mercy on us. Lord! have mercy on us. Our Father, &c. (Here he sprinkles the body with holy water.) V, And lead us not into temptation. E. But deliver us from evil. V, From the gate of hell. E, Deliver his soul, O Lord! F. Let him rest in peace. R. Amen. V, O Lord! hear my prayer. R, And let my cry come unto thee. F. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Grant, O Lordl this mercy to thy servant deceased, that he, (or she) may not receive a return of punishment for his (or her) deeds, who in his (or her) wishes was held fast by thy will; that as here true faith has joined him (or her) to the company of thy faithful, so thy mercy there may associate him (or her) to the choirs of angels. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. Eternal rest give to him, O Lord! R, And let perpetual light shine upon him. F. Let him rest in peace. R, Amen. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Then the priest, returning from the grave, recites the Psalm, ' Be profundis,'^ with the Anthem, 'If thou shalt observe iniquities, O Lord! O Lord^ who shall sustain it?'