When it is said
A priest prays it in a short service of prayer for a miscarried or stillborn child, at the time of the loss or at any time after.
Its words speak for everyone who grieves the baby (“us who are grieved by the loss of this baby”), so a mother and father might also pray it together at home.
Where it comes from
No author known
A service for one diocese
In September 2012 Bishop Michael of New York blessed a short service of prayer for a miscarried or stillborn child, for use in his diocese of the Orthodox Church in America. It is meant above all for when a priest is called to a miscarriage or stillbirth.
Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Service of Prayer for a Miscarried or Stillborn Child (2012)
The 2012 words and the 2015 service
In October 2015 the bishops of the whole Orthodox Church in America approved a service after a miscarriage or stillbirth. In that service these words were reworded and joined to the end of a longer prayer, which begins with Isaiah’s promise of new heavens and a new earth. The prayer here is the shorter one, as the diocese printed it in 2012.
Orthodox Church in America, news of 26 October 2015; Orthodox Church in America, Service after a Miscarriage or Stillbirth (2015)
The Scripture in it
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.