In the German E&R church calendar, this prayer would probably come today, the Last Sunday of Pentecost, the day of the observance of the Tötenfest. All Saints is for the saints of God; all souls is for all those who died in God. Tötenfest was sort of the Teutonic version of Los Dios De Los Muertos, just without the sugar skulls and the celebrations and the colors. It was a day to remember, one last time, those who had died in the year since the preceding Tötenfest, and to recall silently all those who had died years ago. Gone, but never forgotten. Time truly wounds all heals.
Tötenfest is a good way to end the liturgical year before the new one starts with Advent. It marks an ending and a look backward (hardly the final look, but a distinctly communal one).
The oldest members of my last church remembered something about the service, involving lighting candles and reciting the names of those who had died in the past year. Below I talk about that in a bit more detail. Every year, the ritual was to light candles, read names, and pray:
Almighty and everlasting God, before whom stand the spirits of the living and the dead; Light of lights, Fountain of wisdom and goodness, who livest in all pure and humble and gracious souls.
For all who witnessed a good confession for thy glory and the welfare of the world; for patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; for the wise of every land and nation, and all teachers of mankind,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For the martyrs of our holy faith, the faithful witnesses of Christ of whome the world was not worthy, and for all who have resisted falsehood and wrong unto suffering or death,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For all who have labored and suffered for freedom, good government, just laws, and they sanctity of the home; and for all who have given their lives for their country,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For all who have sought to bless men by their service and life, and to lighten the dark places of the earth,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For those who have been tender and true and brave in all times and places, and for all who have been one with thee in the communion of Christ's spirit and in the strength of his love,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For the dear friends and kindred, ministering in the spiritual world, whose faces we see no more, but whose love is with us for ever,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For the teachers and companions of our childhood and youth, and for the members of our household of faith who worship thee in heaven,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
For the grace which was given to all these, and for the trust and hope in which they lived and died,
WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, AND BLESS THY NAME.
And that we may hold them in continual remembrance, that the sanctity of their wisdom and goodness may rest upon our earthly days, and that we may prepare ourselves to follow them in their upward way,
WE BESEECH THEE TO HEAR US, O GOD.
That we may ever think of them as with thee, and be sure that where they are, there we may be also,
WE BESEECH THEE TO HEAR US, O GOD.
That we may have a hope beyond this world for all the children, even for wanderers who must be sought and brought home; that we may be comforted and sustained by the promise of a time when none shall be a stranger and an exile from thy kingdom and household;
WE BESEECH THEE TO HEAR US, O GOD.
In the communion of the Holy Spirit, with the faithful and the saints in heaven, with the redeemed in all ages, with our beloved who dwell in thy presence and peace, we, who still serve and suffer on earth, unite in ascribing:
THANKSGIVING, GLORY, HONOR, AND POWER UNTO THEE, O LORD OUR GOD.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING, IS NOW, AND EVER SHALL BE, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN.
We celebrated the Tötenfest at both of my German E&R heritage churches, even though no one remembered how. There was an old E&R Book of Worship, in German, in one of those churches, so old it still had Fraktur type (Hitler, I understand, modernized that. And Mussolini made the trains run on time, they say. I'm pretty sure that one started as sarcasm.) Anyway, I couldn't read it, couldn't even find the word "Tötenfest" anywhere in it. So I did what some people remembered about it: lit a candle for the dead of the past year, rang the church bell (in my first church they had two bells: one for church, one for funerals. The latter was muffled and painfully appropriate. I still miss that.), and said a prayer. Probably not the prayer above, but certainly the service should include that prayer, too.
This year I am well aware I am the last of the people I grew up with; that is, had known all my life. My parents died as recently as six years ago; my brother died just last year. I have too many memories now that I don't share with anyone living, which is a kind of death-in-life itself. It would be good to celebrate the Tötenfest among a faithful congregation, or at least a faithful remnant. You can't always get what you want, though.
For your friends and families, too, that we all may have a hope beyond this world for all the children, adults and parents and siblings and friends, even for wanderers who must be sought and brought home; that we may be comforted and sustained by the promise of a time when none shall be a stranger and an exile from God's kingdom and household. Those are keener words than they have been in a long, long time. Indeed, the heart of the gospel is not to evangelize and leave people "saved" by the message, but to bring them into the blessed community, and to build community with them. The Tötenfest is where we remember those who are still with us, will always be with us, no matter where they are now.
Light a candle, if only in your mind. Call the names, if only to yourself. Say a prayer, or just hold them closer to you in your heart. Call your thoughts together, to concentrate on this, and remember God is the God of the living, so they are still alive with you, in God.
“We would not have you ignorant, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep.”
I said those words so many times at so many gravesides I have them practically memorized. I have these words memorized, too; and said them as part of my eulogy for my brother at his memorial service in his backyard over a year ago.
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of Christ Jesus, our risen Savior.
And the blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, be among you, and remain with you, always.
Amen.
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