Vigil Service

Richard Sterling Burnett
&

Dennis Mitchell Orbe

"As I see it, the death penalty is in itself a sin of homicide committed by society." Jacques Maritain

"God sees the truth but waits. He waits on us to open our eyes and ears to justice and charity.

Let us be part of His justice, whose property it is always to have mercy and to spare." Dorothy Day

Greensville Correctional Center
Greensville County, Virginia
March 31, 2004

Tonight's execution is the:

2^nd in Virginia in 2004.

80^th here at the Greensville Correctional Center.

91^st in Virginia since 1976.
907^th in the U.S. since reinstatement in 1976.

Tonight we gather to mark the end of the life of Dennis Orbe ,

and to recognize and remember the life of Richard Burnett.

Text Box:
We offer our love and consolation
to the friends and family of Dennis and Richard.

This we know:

"Evil is not corrected or arrested by an equal evil, but doubled. To have recourse to it is to become a link in the chain of evil."

Lanzo del Vasto

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When you love people, you see all the good in them. There can never be enough thinking about it. (Sometimes) there is nothing

that we can do but love ..." Dorothy Day

Now we offer our love to Dennis and to everyone who has participated or is participating in any way in this wrongful event. We are including ourselves, for all humanity is diminished by the act that we stand witness to tonight.

Let us sing: “Peace is Flowing Like a River”

Peace is flowing like a river, Love is flowing like a river ..........
Flowing out of you and me,
Flowing out into the desert, Joy is flowing like a river ..............
Setting all the captives free.

We toll the bell to remember the men and women who have died in the cycle of violence perpetuated by our state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

We mourn for each of them.

We mourn for their families and friends.

For Dennis, as a Christian, we repeat the litany of Christ the Prisoner:
      Christ, a person jailed, have mercy on us.
       Christ, a person condemned by the people, have mercy on us.
       Christ, a person humiliated, have mercy on us.
       Christ, a person regarded as expendable, have mercy on us.
       Christ, a person executed, have mercy on us.
       Christ, a person praying for the executioners, remember us.

"Everlasting Pain"

By Dennis Orbe

My God came when I least expected
and showed me love when I felt unprotected.
My God has removed life's bitter taste
and replaced it with his loving grace.

But even the Lord can't take away the pain
of the guilt and shame running through my veins.
This everlasting pain that beats within my heart

is driving me insane here sitting in the dark.

There's nothing that I wouldn't give
to be able to change the past.
But I have to live with this sorrow
until God comes for me at last.

Let us sing: "Amazing Grace"
1. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound 3. "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

That saved and set me free!                                                     And grace my fears relieved.
I once was lost but now I'm found;                                            How precious did that grace appear
Was blind but now I see.                                                          The hour I first believed!

2. Through many dangers, toils, and snares 4. When we've been there ten thousand years

I have already come. Bright shining as the sun,

And grace will lead me home. We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far Then when we first begun.

In Remembrance

Leader: Six years ago, one irreplaceable person was taken from us.

PEOPLE: We grieve for all victims of violence.

Leader: Tonight, another irreplaceable person will be taken from us.
PEOPLE: We continue to grieve for all victims of violence.

Leader: We pray that tonight's act of violence, which will serve as no deterrent, will neither serve as an example.

PEOPLE: We will continue to grieve for all victims of violence.

Leader: Spirit of Life, help our leaders understand that there are alternatives to matching man at his least.
              PEOPLE: Hear our words, hear our prayer.

Leader: Help the people participating in the killing tonight get through this dehumanizing experience.
              PEOPLE: Hear our words, hear our prayer.

Leader: Help the men on death row with the pain that is in their life, and inspire us to prevent their death by the state.
                PEOPLE: Hear our words, hear our prayer.

Leader: Help the community that produced all of the victims. Let love, justice, and equity be available to all.
PEOPLE: Hear our words, hear our prayer.

Leader: Help all the victim's family members, and help them know that more victims' families are created each time the Commonwealth kills.
PEOPLE: Hear our words, hear our prayer.

Leader: And above all, help the people tonight who love Dennis Orbe. Help them to know that his spirit will continue to live on in their memories, in their hearts.
ALL: Spirit of Life, come unto us.

Let us live in peace, and let us stop violence

from being committed by us, or by others in our names.

For Dennis, who has loved to dance.

We sing these verses of "The Lord of the Dance."

“The Lord of the Dance”

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun.
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem I had my birth.

CHORUS         “Dance, then, wherever you may be,
                           I am Lord of the dance," said he.
                          "And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,

and I'll lead you all in the dance," said he.
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black.
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone,
But I am the dance and I still go on.
CHORUS

They cut me down And I leapt up high.
For I am the life that'll never, never die;
I'll live in you if you'll live in me.
"I am Lord of the Dance," said he.

Now we will listen to a song which has special meaning for Dennis and which he wishes us to hear at this time "I Will Remember You," sung by Sarah McLachlan.

We will wait in silence until Dennis's spirit has left his body.

We will stand by the road until the hearse has departed.

Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

PO Box 4804 * Charlottesville, VA 22905

434- 960-7779 [Office] * 888- 567-VADP [Office]

434-960-4673 [Director] * 434-984-2803 [Fax]

office@vadp.org * www.vadp.org