The Episcopal Church is founded on scripture, tradition and reason. Tradition is older than scripture and includes symbols. The oldest symbol of Christ, older than the cross, is the candle. The light that shines in the darkness, that the darkness cannot overcome. Reason compels us to value the questions over the answers. It is questions that offer the opportunity for learning. We have a moral responsibility to learn and to pursue knowledge.
O God of grace and glory
we remember before you this day
our brothers and sisters.
we remember before you this day
our brothers and sisters.
We thank you for giving them to us,
their family and friends
to know and to love
as companions on our earthly pilgrimage.
In your boundless compassion,
console us who mourn.
Give us faith to see in death
the gate of eternal life,
so that in quiet confidence
we may continue our course on earth,
until by your call
we are reunited with those
who have gone before us.
Book of Common Prayer.
