Month of the Holy Souls (Nov 5)
November 05, 2025
Day 5
A reading from the Book of Job (14:10-14)
Mortals die, and are laid low;
humans expire, and where are they?
As waters fail from a lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
or be roused out of their sleep.
O that you would hide me in Sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If mortals die, will they live again?
From a poem by St. Ephrem of Syria
Our generation is like a leaf whose time, once it falls, is over,
but though the limit of our life is short, praise can lengthen it,
for, corresponding to the extent of our love,
we shall acquire, through praise, life that has no measure.
For it is in our Lord that the root of our faith is grafted;
though far off, he is still close to us in the fusion of love.
Let the roots of our love be bound up in him,
let the full extent of his compassion be fused in us.
O Lord, may the body be a temple for him who built it,
may the soul be a palace full of praise for its architect!
Let not our body become a hollow cavity,
let our souls not be a harbour of loss.
And when the light of this temporal breath flickers out
do you relight in the morning the lantern that was extinguished in the night.
The sun arrives and with the warmth of its rising
it revives the frozen and relights what has been extinguished.
It is right that we should acknowledge that Light which illumines all,
for in the morning, when the sun has gone up, lanterns are extinguished,
but this new Sun has performed a new deed,
relighting in Sheol the lanterns that had been extinguished.
In place of death who has breathed the smell of mortality over all,
he who gives life to all exhales a life-giving scent in Sheol;
from his life the dead breathe in new life,
and death dies within them.
Musical Selection (Fernando Ortega)
Man is born of woman
His days are few, And full of trouble;
He springs up like a flower and withers
And disappears like a fleeing shadow
If only You would hide me in the grave
Conceal me till Your anger has passed;
Then I will answer You when You call my name
When You long for the one Your hands have made
All the days of my struggle
I will wait for my change
I will wait for my change to come
Only do not hide Your face from me
Don't take Your hand away
Don't take Your hand away
I will wait for my change to come
From the dust You have made me
And to the dust I will return
Surely You will count all my steps
But will not keep watch for my sin
The falling mountains crumble away
The water wears away the stones
It's torrents wash away the dust of the earth
Only in You will I hope
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I will wait for my change to come…
Prayer
O God,
to whom mercy and forgiveness belong,
hear our prayers on behalf of your servants
whom you have called out of this world;
and because they put their hope and trust in you,
command that they be carried safely home to heaven
and come to enjoy your eternal reward.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.