Commontide
Commendation at the Time of Death · Ministry to the Dying
Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world; In the Name of God the Father Almighty who created you; In the Name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you; In the Name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you. May your rest be this day in peace, and your dwelling place in the Paradise of God.
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Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
This brief commendation, spoken at a deathbed, is the opening sentence of one of the oldest prayers in the Western church: the Latin "Proficiscere," attested in prayer books going back to the eighth century. English reformers left it out of the Prayer Book for nearly four hundred years; it returned in the 1928 Prayer Books and has been prayed at Anglican deathbeds since.