Prayers

We hold you close within our hearts,
And there you shall remain,
To walk with us throughout our lives
Until we meet again.
So rest in peace dear loved one
And thanks for all you’ve done,
We pray that God has given you,
The crown you’ve truly won.

O Lord, support us all day long,
until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes,
and the busy world lies hushed,
and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.
Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last.

A precious one from us has gone
A voice we loved is stilled
A place is vacant in our home
Which never can be filled.
God in His wisdom has recalled
The boon his love had given
And though the body slumbers here
The soul is safe in Heaven.

A light is from our household gone,
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home,
That never can be filled.
Lonely is the home without you,
Life to us is not the same;
All the world would be like heaven,
If we could have you back again.
May the God of love and mercy,
Care for our loved one who is gone,
And bless with consolation,
Those left to carry on.

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
Hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then most gracious Advocate thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may
be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

It was a sudden parting,
Too bitter to forget,
Those who loved you dearly,
Are the ones who can’t forget.
We often sit and think of you,
And think of how you died;
To think you could not say goodbye,
Before you closed your eyes.
Your life was one of kindly deeds,
A helping hand for others’ needs,
Sincere and true in heart and mind
Beautiful memories left behind.
We did not know that morning,
What sorrow the day would bring,
When a heart of gold stopped beating,
And we couldn’t do a thing.
Two tired eyes are sleeping,
Two willing hands are still,
The one who worked so hard for us,
Is resting at God’s will.
We never fail to think of you,
We never cease to care,
We only wish we could go home,
And find you waiting there.

I thought of you with love today
but that is nothing new
I thought about you yesterday
and days before that too,
I think of you in silence,
I often speak your name,
all I have are memories
and your picture in a frame.
Your memory is my keepsake
with which I’ll never part
God has you in His keeping,
I have you in my heart.

I am home in Heaven, dear ones,
Oh, so happy and so bright,
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this Everlasting Light.
All the pain and grief are over,
Every restless yearning past;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in Heaven at last.
Dear one, do not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,
Pray to trust our Father’s will.
When your work is completed,
He will gently call you home;
Oh! the rapture of that meeting!
Oh, the joy to see you come.

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little but not for long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love we once shared
Miss me – but let me go.
For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone
It’s all part of the Master’s plan
A step on the road to home.

Each night we shed a silent tear,
As we speak to you in prayer,
To let you know we love you,
And just how much we care.
We take a million tear-drops,
And wrap them up in love,
Then ask the wind to carry them
To you in Heaven above.

God called your name so softly,
That only you could hear;
And no one heard the footsteps,
Of angels drawing near.
The golden gates stood open,
God saw you needed rest;
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He only takes the best.

Lonely is the home without you,
Life to us is not the same.
All the world would be like heaven
If we could have you back again.
May the God of love and mercy
Care for our loved one who is gone
And bless with consolation
Those left to carry on.

God has not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God has not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God has promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned;
Only remember me, you understand
It will be too late to counsel then or pray,
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve;
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Do not stand by my grave and weep
I am not dead, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am a diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunset on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awake in the autumn hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circling flight; I am the soft star that shines at night, Do not stand by my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die.

Occasionally, we are graced
with the presence of an earth-bound angel.
They are unable to stay with us for long,
but while they do, they bring
unprecedented joy and happiness to all they touch.

An angel in the book of life
Wrote down our baby’s birth
She whispered as she closed the book
“Too beautiful for earth.”

God needed one more angel child amidst his shining band
And so he bent with loving smile
and clasped our darling’s hand.

It’s so strange that those we need,
And those we love the best,
Are just the ones God called away,
And took them home to rest.
But every time I think of Dad,
I seem to hear God say,
“Have faith and trust in my promise,
You’ll meet again some day”.

What he suffered he told but few,
He did not deserve what he went through,
Tired and weary he made no fuss,
But tried so hard to stay with us.
Two tired eyes are sleeping,
Two willing hands are still;
The one who worked so hard for us,
Is resting at God’s will.
Our lips cannot speak how we loved him,
Our hearts cannot tell what to say;
But God only knows how we miss him,
In our home that is lonely today.

Mother in gladness, mother in sorrow,
Mother today, and mother tomorrow,
With arms ever open to fold and caress you
O mother of mine, may God keep you and bless you.

What she suffered she told but few,
She did not deserve what she went through,
Tired and weary she made no fuss,
But tried so hard to stay with us.
Two tired eyes are sleeping,
Two willing hands are still;
The one who worked so hard for us,
Is resting at God’s will.
Our lips cannot speak how we loved her,
Our hearts cannot tell what to say;
But God only knows how we miss her,
In our home that is lonely today.

Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,
Hundreds of shells on the shore together,
Hundreds of birds that go singing by,
Hundreds of birds in the sunny weather.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.