All Saints Day Liturgy Amongst the Tombs
From this World to the Next
All Saints Service at the Tombs in Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans, November 1st, 2024. Feel free to modify however you’d like.
First Stop: Homage to our Ancestors & Those who are in Spirit (Tomb stop 1)
Leader:
Holy God,
We look at death as an enemy, instead of as a messenger of peace.
We see death as the claimer of those whom we loved.
Tossing our deepest soul-ties into the black abyss,
Unknown.
This morning, we pray you take our memories
of mothers, fathers, children and friends who have crossed over
and use these memories of laughter
and joy
of meals made together, to bind our spirits to the foot of cross.
Our love, like Christ’s love for us,
Lives on.
Love lives on.
Now, in silence together we remember that love that made us who we are today.
Silent reflection
Together:
In homage to lives well lived,
We lift up the saints who have marched before us
To your House, God.
We remember the following Saints this morning..
Allow for those in attendance to say the names of those who have passed on…
Leader:
God, wrap us this day in this energy of protection and divine love.
Remind us that we are yours, no matter where our feet might carry us,
We are our ancestors’ beloved.
We are claimed as yours.
We are loved, and so, we must love. Amen.
Second Stop: In Recognition of our Mortality - Tomb Stop 2
Leader:
Holy God, Transform our fears into Sacred Soul Medicine.
We are made complete by the Alpha and Omega.
The creator of all things new, even though our death.
Together, we pray for our past, present and future.
Together:
So let us heal our wounds from this lifetime,
And live out the remainder of our days with peace.
Let our Spirits release anything from the past, holding us back from being fully present in your love.
Heal us our Spirt, Balm of Gilead.
Leader:
Let us be open to your Spirit, moving through new possibilities of joy.
Open our hearts to allow life to breath new energy into us, lift us up.
Help us hope again, for best outcomes, for all that is good and holy.
Let us breathe in deeply,
Grounded in this holy Earth this day.
This moment is all we have guaranteed.
Transcendent Spirit, help us be here, now.
Together:
And Holy God, may our attitudes be purified
In knowing that no tomorrow is promised.
Bless our uncertain futures,
Guide us with wisdom as we age, if we are so lucky
Pour your spirit into our physical beings, so that we may live in hope once more.
Help us be like children again,
Ushering in the seasons of life ahead
With glee, for each lesson we learn in these lives
Is one more we can teach,
such is the way of Sacred Soul Medicine.
Amen.