The Release of the Dead
The Release of the Dead
THE RELEASE
Edited and adapted for the Gnostic Sanctuary by
Bishop Rosamonde Miller
Feast of All Souls 1998
(Original uncopyrighted version received with gratitude from Bishop Marcia
Henderson of the Community of the Love of Christ in the fall of 1989)
Let us have a moment of silence in which we can release (Name[s] of our dead) and let him/her/them go.
Please repeat after me:
We release you, dear (Name)_________ and let you go.
We release you and ourselves from any expectations, false images, or impressions that you may have had of us or that we may have had of you.
We release you and ourselves from any guilt that you may have had towards us and that we may have had towards you.
We release you and ourselves from all petty disagreements and
unpleasantness that may have passed between us.
We acknowledge the ways in which you touched our lives and the lives of others—the pleasant and the sometimes not so pleasant ways, and the ways in which we have touched yours.
We release you from any earthly obligations and responsibilities, worries and cares, pain and strife, misunderstandings and harmful patterns of this life.
We also release all those whose names we did not mention or that, at this moment, do not come to mind—human or of any other species—as well as ourselves, from any debt, grudge, regret, longing, and expectation. We release them and ourselves in the compassion, healing, and blessing of the divine presence, now and forevermore. Amen.
We acknowledge that you were a natural expression of the divine and that you had what naturally comes from being fully in earthly form and that you tried, always, to walk in beauty.
We acknowledge that you consciously or unconsciously, as is the imperative of every divine spark, sought the divine and tried to act to the best of your ability.
We acknowledge that you always tried to serve the divine to the degree that you were conscious.
We acknowledge all that you did for the sake of love and compassion for others.
We thank you for all the joy that you have brought to us as well as to others and for all the strength and wisdom that we have gained from having known you. We hope that we have, in some way, brought some of the same to you.
May all our sorrows and tears dissolve into healing, serenity, and blessing.
May the truth, wisdom, understanding and compassion of the divine presence, redeemer, and beloved of our hearts shine always upon you.
May the love of the Logos and of the Holy Shekinah surround your soul and guide you all the way on.
Go forth in peace, at one with all existence. Amen.
We celebrate life in communion. Let it be. And so it is. Amen.
