Mixed Chorus, 2 Flutes (Flute 1 doubling Alto Flute, Flute 2 doubling Piccolo), 2 Violas, Violoncello, and Contrabass
Text: Burial Anthems from The Book of Common Prayer; Psalm 103:13-16
Publisher: C. F. Peters Corporation, Edition Peters 67948
In the midst of life we are in death;
of whom may we seek for succor,
but of thee, O Lord,
who for our sins art justly displeased?
Yet, O Lord God most holy,
O Lord most mighty,
O holy and most merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the better pains of eternal death.
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;
shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer;
but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty,
O holy and merciful Savior,
thou most worthy judge eternal.
Suffer us not, at our last hour,
through any pains of death, to fall from thee.
As a father cares for his children,
so does the Lord care for those who fear him.
For he himself knows whereof we are made;
he remembers that we are but dust.
Our days are like the grass;
we flourish like a flower of the field;
When the wind goes over it, it is gone,
and its place shall know it no more.