As used at St John’s, Devizes, in 2020. This text is also available in MS Word for you to amend as you might need – download it here.
Preparation
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
All Amen.
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
All and also with you.
Welcome to this special commemoration on the feast of All Souls, when we commend to God the souls of those whom we have been asked to remember by name at St John’s this year. In these unusual circumstances this year’s commemoration will take the form of a Service of the Word designed for live streaming. The responses are mainly familiar to churchgoers, and you are encouraged to join in at home.
Prayers of Penitence
God has shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of his glory
in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels
to show that the transcendent power belongs to God
and not to us.
As we acknowledge our human frailty,
we call to mind our sins of word, deed and omission,
and confess them before God our Father.
We now keep a short period of silence as we call to mind our sins.
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit:
Lord, have mercy.
All Lord, have mercy.
You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart:
Christ, have mercy.
All Christ, have mercy.
You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided:
Lord, have mercy.
All Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God grant to us pardon and peace,
and bring us and all the departed to everlasting life.
All Amen.
The Collect
Let us pray for the peace and well-being of the whole Church.
Silence is kept.
Everlasting God, our maker and redeemer,
grant us, with all the faithful departed,
the sure benefits of your Son’s saving passion and glorious resurrection,
that, in the last day,
when you gather up all things in Christ,
we may with them enjoy the fullness of your promises;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
All Amen.
The Liturgy of the Word
Old Testament Reading
A reading from the Wisdom of Solomon (Wis 3:1-9)
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.
Here ends the first reading.
Psalm
The Psalm is Psalm 130. The response is “My soul waits for the Lord”. Please join in at home whenever “My soul waits for the Lord” is said.
1 Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice; ♦
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
2 If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss, ♦
O Lord, who could stand?
3 But there is forgiveness with you, ♦
so that you shall be feared.
All My soul waits for the Lord
4 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; ♦
in his word is my hope.
5 My soul waits for the Lord,
more than the night watch for the morning, ♦
more than the night watch for the morning.
All My soul waits for the Lord
6 O Israel, wait for the Lord, ♦
for with the Lord there is mercy;
7 With him is plenteous redemption ♦
and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.
All My soul waits for the Lord
New Testament Reading
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John (Jn 6:37-40)
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’
Here ends the second reading.
Creed
We affirm together our faith, a faith anchored in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as first-fruits of those who have died, in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Prayers
Prayers of Intercession
The response to our prayers of intercession is “our resurrection and our life”. Please join in at home whenever “our resurrection and our life” is said.
Let us pray to the Lord, who has conquered death.
Jesus, bread from heaven,
you satisfy the hungry with good things:
grant us a share with all the faithful departed
in the banquet of your kingdom.
Hear us, risen Lord,
All our resurrection and our life.
Jesus, the light of the world,
you gave the man born blind the gift of sight:
open the eye of faith
and bring us from darkness
to your eternal light and glory.
Hear us, risen Lord,
All our resurrection and our life.
Jesus, Son of the living God,
you summoned your friend Lazarus from death to life:
raise us at the last to full and eternal life with you.
Hear us, risen Lord,
All our resurrection and our life.
Jesus, crucified Saviour,
in your dying you entrusted each to the other,
Mary your mother and John your beloved disciple:
sustain and comfort all who mourn.
Hear us, risen Lord,
All our resurrection and our life.
Jesus, our way and truth and life,
you drew your disciple Thomas from doubt to faith:
reveal the resurrection faith to the doubting and the lost.
Hear us, risen Lord,
All our resurrection and our life.
May God in his infinite love and mercy
bring the whole Church,
living and departed in the Lord Jesus,
to a joyful resurrection
and the fulfilment of his eternal kingdom.
All Amen.
The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed
We now begin the commemoration by name of the departed whom we have been asked to remember this All Soulse at St John’s.
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power.
All For you have created all things,
and by your will they have their being.
You are worthy, O Lamb, for you were slain,
and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and nation.
All You have made them to be a kingdom and priests
serving our God,
and they will reign with you on earth.
The names of those to be remembered are read aloud. After this is concluded a period of silence is kept, then the kontakion for the dead is said.
All Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with the saints:
where sorrow and pain are no more,
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
You only are immortal, the creator and maker of all:
and we are mortal, formed from the dust of the earth,
and unto earth shall we return.
For so you ordained when you created me, saying:
‘Dust you are and to dust you shall return.’
All of us go down to the dust,
yet weeping at the grave, we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
All Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with the saints:
where sorrow and pain are no more,
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Hear us, O merciful Father,
as we remember in love
those whom we have placed in your hands.
Acknowledge, we pray, the sheep of your own fold,
lambs of your own flock,
sinners of your own redeeming.
Enfold them in the arms of your mercy,
in the blessed rest of everlasting peace,
and in the glorious company of the saints in light.
All Amen.
Neither death nor life
can separate us from the love of God
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
All Thanks be to God.
Conclusion
Dismissal
May God give to you and to all those whom you love
his comfort and his peace, his light and his joy,
in this world and the next;
and may the blessing of God almighty
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Rest with us all this night and remain with us evermore.
All Amen.
Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches in the USA. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.
