And after the Exclamation, the last kiss is given, and the following Stanzas, in Tone 2, are sung:
Come, brethren, let us give the last kiss unto the dead, rendering thanks unto God. For he (she) hath vanished from among his (her) kin, and presseth onward to the grave, and vexeth himself (herself) no longer concerning vanities, and concerning the flesh, which suffereth sore distress. Where are now his (her) kinsfolk and his (her) friends? Lo, we are parted. Let us beseech the Lord that be will give him (her) rest.
What is this parting, O brethren? What is this wailing, what this weeping at the present hour? Come ye, therefore, let us kiss him (her) who was but lately with us; for be (she) is committed to the grave; he (she) is covered with a stone; he (she) taketh up his (her) abode in the gloom; he (she) is interred among the dead, and now is parted from all his (her) kinsfolk and his (her) friends. Let us beseech the Lord that he will give unto him (her) eternal rest.
Now is life's artful triumph of vanities destroyed. For the spirit hath vanished from its tabernacle; its clay groweth black. The vessel is shattered, voiceless, bereft of feeling, motionless, dead: Committing which unto the grave, let us beseech the Lord that he will give him (her) eternal rest.
What is our life like unto? Unto a flower, a vapour, and the dew of the morning, in very truth. Come ye, therefore, let us gaze keenly at the grave. Where is the beauty of the body, and where its youth? Where are the eyes and the fleshly form? Like the grass all have perished, all have been destroyed. Come ye, therefore, let us prostrate ourselves at the feet of Christ with tears.
A great weeping and wailing, a great sighing and agony, and Hell and destruction is the departure of the soul. This transitory life is a shadow unreal and an illusive dream; the trouble of the life of earth is a phantasm importunate. Let us, then, flee afar from every earthly sin, that we may inherit heavenly things.
As we gaze on the dead who lieth before us, let us all accept this example of our own last hour. For he (she) vanisheth from earth like the smoke; like a flower he (she) is faded; like the grass he (she) is cut down. Swathed in a coarse garment he (she) is concealed in the earth. As we leave him (her) hidden from sight, let us beseech Christ that he will give unto him (her) eternal rest.
Draw nigh, ye descendants of Adam, let us gaze upon him (her) who is laid low in the earth, made after our own image, all comeliness stripped off, dissolved in the grave by decay, by worms in darkness consumed, and hidden by the earth. As we leave him (her) hid from sight, let us beseech Christ that he will give unto him (her) eternal rest.
When the soul from the body is about to be rent with violence by Angels dread, it forgetteth all its kinsfolk and acquaintance, and is troubled concerning its appearance before the judgment which shall come upon the things of vanity and much-toiling flesh. Come ye, then, importuning the judge let us implore that the Lord will pardon him (her) all his (her) deeds which he (she) hath done.
Come, O brethren, let us gaze into the grave upon the dust and ashes from which we are made. Whither go we now? What are we become? Who is poor, who rich? Who is the master? Who a freeman? Are not we all ashes? The beauty of the countenance is mouldered, and Death hath withered up all the flower of youth.
Vanity and corruption, of a truth, are all the illusions, the inglorious things of life. For all we shall pass away: all we shall die, kings and princes, judges and rulers, rich and poor, and every mortal creature. For now they who were erst alive are cast down into the grave. Wherefore, let us beseech the Lord that he will give rest.
Now are all the bodily organs seen to be idle, which so little while ago were filled with motion; all useless, dead, unconscious. For the eyes have withdrawn inward, the feet are bound, the hands lie helpless, and the ears withal; the tongue is imprisoned in silence, committed to the tomb. Of a verity, all mortal things are vanity.
