Prayer For Parents Who Lost A Baby
Our Father
Most Blessed Mary, Virgin and Mother; you understand the pain of losing a child. You experienced that terror when Christ was left alone at the temple. You experienced anguish beyond what we can know when the sword [pierced] your own soul as well. Pray for parents, especially [name], who have lost their beloved child, that through your intercessions, they may share in the joy you experienced at the resurrection.
Intercede on their behalf so that Christ, by whose resurrection we are reconciled to God, might console them and give them a founded hope for the promised resurrection to come. Amen
Our Father
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, you know what it is like to walk in the shadow of death. The dark shadow cast by the death of your husband led you to recognize the light more clearly. Leaving everything, you and your children were confirmed in the Catholic Church. Even as you worked tirelessly for the Kingdom, you were not spared the pain of losing two of your young daughters. We ask that you would pray for parents today who have experienced the loss of a child, especially (name parents), that through your intercessions God may grant them consolation, courage, and hope, that they might bring glory to your name, through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief (Psalm 31:9, NIV). My heart is broken, my mind exhausted. I cry out to you and hardly know what to ask. All I can do is tell you how I feel and ask you to keep track of all my sorrows. . . . [collect] all my tears in your bottle. . . . [and record] each one in your book as I pour them out to you (Psalm 56:8, NLT). Amen.
Praise God that He is close to those who are suffering. He knows the pain we're going through and He keeps us from being consumed by it. I know without a doubt that had it not been for the grace of God. My heart still aches for my baby and it's been seven years since she died the ache has dulled some with time, but I don't believe it will ever go away completely. Amen
"My life is upside down, loving God. The order of the world is out of place and I can't do anything to right it again. Oh, Lord, you know the pain in my heart at all times and you know why: my child has died. How can it be that my beloved child is gone? The child I cared for with such concern in every illness, the one I held close to my heart and promised to take care of for a lifetime, is not here for me to care for anymore. It hurts deeply that I wasn't able to protect this child I love with my whole being from a death that seems so unfair.
"Let me feel calm. Let me breathe deeply. Be with me in this kind of deep and transformative pain. I now carry this darkness with me on my back and in my heart, always. It is my burden and my companion. Amen
Lord, though it is so so hard to say goodbye, we pray that we may release this little new-born into Your faithful keeping. May we release the pain of this untimely death into Your hands and allow our hearts to finally say goodbye. And Lord, although the
loss of this precious one is real and our hearts are shrouded with grief, may we trust this babe into Your safe-keeping, knowing that in Christ we will one day be reunited, and You will wipe away all tears from our eyes.
This we ask in Jesus' name,
Amen.
Father, I'm in a dark place, and I don't know how to get out of it. The loss of my child has left me hopeless and helpless. My spirit is crushed, and I don't know where to go from here. Lord, I am holding onto you, fill my heart with unbreakable joy. Help me to release all the anger that is in my heart and show me how to help my family cope with the loss. In Jesus' loving name, I believe and pray. Amen.
Lord, when life doesn't make sense, it is easy to turn to other things and people instead of you. Help me to focus on you alone as I mourn the loss of my child. I am trusting in you, O Lord. Please keep me in perfect peace during this grieving period. Help me to focus on things that are above where you belong. Deliver me from this pain that is becoming unbearable. You are my redeemer and my rock. Let my words be acceptable in your sight. In Jesus' holy name, I believe and pray. Amen.