Orthodox prayers after a miscarriage

Prayers after a miscarriage or stillbirth, for a mother and father to pray in their grief and for their baby.

Picture: James Tissot, Jesus Wept, 1886–94

3 prayers

For a mother and father

Prayer for parents after a miscarriage

O merciful Lord,we fall down before Your great and unsearchable providence,which is both merciful and just.We confess our weakness and frailty.We do not know what to ask of You.

You alone know what we truly need.You love us more than we ourselves know how to love.Help us to see our true needs,which are hidden from us.

We do not dare to ask for a cross or for comfort.We can only wait for You.Our hearts are open to You.Visit us and help us.Bring us low and lift us up.

In silence we ponder Your holy willand Your unsearchable ways.We offer ourselves to You as a sacrifice,and we place all our trust in You.We want nothing but to do Your holy will.

We believe, O Lord; help our unbelief!Do not let our faith fail,or our hope grow weak,or our love grow cold.Wipe away our tears of sorrow,and give us tears of joy instead.Heal our weakness and frailty.Forgive our sins, done willingly or unwillingly.

Receive the baby (name) into Your kingdom,and have mercy on us,through the mercy, the compassion and the love for mankindof Your only-begotten Son,with Whom You are blessed,together with Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 2015

O merciful Lord, falling down before Thy great and inscrutable providence, which is both merciful and just: We confess our weakness and infirmity, not knowing what to ask of Thee.

For Thou alone knowest our true needs. Thou lovest us more than we ourselves know how to love. Help us to discern our true needs, which are concealed from us.

We dare not ask either a cross or consolation. We can only wait on Thee. Our hearts are open to Thee. Visit us and help us. Cast us down and raise us up.

In silence we contemplate Thy holy will and inscrutable ways. We offer ourselves to Thee in sacrifice, and we place all our trust in Thee. We have no desire but to fulfill Thy holy will.

We believe, O Lord; help our unbelief! Let not our faith fail, nor our hope weaken, nor our love grow cold. Wipe away our tears of sorrow, granting us instead tears of joy. Heal our weakness and infirmity. Forgive our transgressions, voluntary and involuntary.

Receive the infant [N.] into Thy kingdom and have mercy on us, through the mercy and compassion and love for mankind of Thine only-begotten Son, with Whom Thou are blessed, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Orthodox Church in America approved it in 2015, in a short service for this loss. It asks God to wipe away the parents’ tears and to receive their baby into His kingdom.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the English of the Orthodox Church in America’s 2015 service. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The Orthodox Church in America, Service after a Miscarriage or Stillbirth, 2015.

Where it comes from, and the original

For your baby

Prayer for a departed child

O Lord, You guard little children in this life,and in the age to come You have prepared for thema spacious place, Abraham’s bosom,and, for their purity, the bright places of the angels,where the spirits of the righteous dwell.

Master Christ, take to Yourself in peacethe soul of Your servant,the little child (name).For You said:“Let the children come to Me,for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

For all glory, honour and worship are Yours,with the Father and the Holy Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1906

O Lord, Who guardest little children in this present life,and hast prepared for them in the life which is to come a spacious place,even Abraham's bosom,and angelic abodes brightly radiant which befit their purity,wherein the souls of the righteous dwell:

Do Thou, the same Christ, receive the soul of Thy servant, the child, N., with peace.For Thou hast said: Suffer the little children to come unto Me,for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

For unto Thee are due all glory, honour and worship,with the Father and the Holy Spirit,now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The 2015 service after a miscarriage ends with a form of this prayer from a child’s funeral. It asks Christ to take the child’s soul to Himself in peace.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic, with Hapgood’s 1906 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

For peace in your sorrow

Prayer for the loss of a baby

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

O Lord, You have spoken through the prophet Jeremiah,saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”Blessed are You, God of compassion and consolation.You know the name and age of each person,even from their mother’s womb.Accept the sorrow of us who are grieved by the loss of this baby.You know the desires of our hearts.Help us to have confidence in Your sustaining presence,at this moment and in future days.

Through the prayers of all the saints and of the Mother of God,grant us Your peace, O Lord, and have mercy on us,for You alone are compassionate,and to You we give glory,to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

It comes from an earlier service for this loss, blessed in 2012 by an Orthodox bishop in New York. It asks God, Who knows each of us from the womb, to accept the parents’ sorrow and give them His peace.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the 2012 English of the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of New York and New Jersey, with only small changes: capitals for God, “Mother of God” for “Theotokos” and today’s words in the closing lines. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the original

Scripture for this

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!”

Isaiah 49:15 God asks whether a mother can forget the child of her womb, and answers for Himself: “I will not forget you!”

Jesus wept.

John 11:35 Jesus wept over His friend Lazarus, sharing the sorrow of the people who mourned him.

“As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 66:13 God promises to comfort His people the way a mother comforts her child.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.

Romans 8:26 When we do not know how to pray, the Spirit helps us in our weakness and prays for us Himself.

¹⁷For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. ¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. ¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.

Isaiah 65:17-19 God promises new heavens and a new earth, where the sound of weeping will be heard no more.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13

God formed David and knit him together in his mother’s womb. He knows every child He has made, however small.

Psalm 139 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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