The Burial of the Dead — Reception of the Body
Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom we pray. Remember them, Lord, in mercy; nourish them with patience; comfort them with a sense of your goodness; lift up your countenance upon them; and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
A prayer for mourners at the reception of the body, this collect draws its frame from Lamentations 3 and its closing blessing from the Aaronic priestly benediction. It originated in the first American Book of Common Prayer (1789) as a prayer for an individual under affliction, and was brought into the burial service's Reception of the Body rite by the 1979 revision.