Thursday, March 16, 2017

The Little Known Blessing of Parents After a Miscarriage or Stillbirth

The Little Known Blessing of Parents After a Miscarriage or Stillbirth

By Father B. Jerabek, J.C.L., Father Jerabek’s Blog:
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for all mothers!
I recently had the opportunity – for the first time in my 8.5 years as a priest – to do a “Blessing after Miscarriage”. I wanted to post about it, because I suspect that it is simply not widely known that it is even a possibility.
Nowadays, I ordinarily use the 1962 Roman Ritual for blessings, as I generally find the prayers contained therein to be more meaningful and efficacious. However, in this case, there is no such blessing found in the older rites! It is the newer Book of Blessings that has this ritual/blessing, in both a longer and a shorter form.
You can see a somewhat simplified form HERE. (In the actual Book of Blessings, there are some additional options given, as well as a short form – so I recommend to any priest who may want to offer this blessing to use the deadtree version and not the online edition.)
If you know anyone who has recently suffered a miscarriage, you might suggest that she approach her priest to receive this blessing.

More Resources:

Where is the Church in Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Birth?

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