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desire Thy blessing on their union. Bless them, O Lord; bless their married life. Make them happy and holy as our first parents were in Paradise." The bride and bridegroom are then commanded to kiss one another, and to join hands. The ceremony is ended.^[1]

A Stundist burial is usually a very impressive service. When the body has been placed in the coffin the friends of the dead stand near, and the presbyter reads the magnificent verses from 1 Cor. xv., beginning, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." The coffin is then carried out of the house, and at the door a pause is made while a verse or two of a suitable hymn is sung. On the way to the grave the presbyter walks immediately behind the coffin, carrying an open Testament in his hands. Behind him are the men, and following them the women. The men walk with uncovered heads, no matter what the state of the weather may be. At the grave side the presbyter slowly recites, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." A short address follows, and the body is lowered into the grave. No crosses or tombstones mark the graves of Stundists, and latterly they have not been permitted to bury their dead in consecrated ground.