At A Wife’s Grave

“Give her of the fruit of her hands; and may her deeds praise her within the gates.”
-Proverbs XXXI

My heart cries unto Thee, Almighty God, out of the depths of my distress. Thou alone knowest the loneliness of my days, bereft of her whom Thou gavest me as my companion and helpmate. Let me not yield to despair. Help me to be loyal to every trust she reposed in me, and stead fast to every duty her passing away has left to me. Fill me with manly courage to live true to the ideals of purity and nobility with which she inspired me.

Grant unto me strength and unto our dear ones the steadfast resolve to cherish faithfully the spirit of love with which she filled our home. May the example of her goodness live on as an impulse to every good endeavor. May the bonds of our common sorrow unite more firmly the ties of our family affections. Teach me, O God, the lesson of resignation. Fill me with the firm trust that death does not end at all, but that in death, as in life, all are in Thy keeping. May I say with more sincere humility; Thy thoughts are not our thoughts; nor are Thy ways our ways. For high as are the heavens above the earth, so high are Thy ways above our ways and Thy thoughts above our thoughts. Amen