Commontide
Grant, O Lord, to all who are bereaved the spirit of faith and courage, that they may have strength to meet the days to come with steadfastness and patience; not sorrowing as those without hope, but in thankful remembrance of your great goodness, and in the joyful expectation of eternal life with all who love you. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
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A prayer of pastoral courage for the bereaved, composed for the modern Anglican burial rite. It asks God to give the grieving the spirit of faith and courage to face the days ahead with steadfastness and patience, closing with the distinctly Christian note of 1 Thessalonians 4:13: not sorrowing as those without hope. It appears first in the 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and has been carried, with minor revision, into the ACNA BCP 2019.