Orthodox prayers when a child dies

Prayers for parents whose child has died. They entrust the child to Christ and ask God to comfort the mother and father in their grief.

Picture: Fritz von Uhde, Let the Little Children Come to Me, 1884

3 prayers

The Church’s prayer for your child

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.

A priest prays it at the end of the Orthodox funeral for a child under seven. A parent might also pray it at home with the child’s name, giving the little one into Christ’s hands.

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

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For the parents

St Ephrem’s hymn on the death of children

How bitter is the griefwhen a child dies!How painful is the partingof a mother and her baby!Lord, bring up the little one in Your dwelling!

This day brings griefto parents who lose their children,and death now breaksthe staff of their old age.Lord, may they lean on You!

This day takes awaya mother’s only childand cuts off the armthat would have held her up.Lord, may she trust in You!

This day partsa mother from her little oneand leaves her in a wildernessof suffering and grief.Lord, comfort her!

This day separatesthe nursing baby from the breast,and the mother weeps and grievesbecause she can be with her child no more.May she see her child in the Kingdom!

How blessed is the little onewho has gained Paradise!How sad for the old,who are still left in sorrow!Lord, be their helper!

Traditional wording, 1853

How bitter is the griefFor the death of childhood;How grievous the separationOf the infant from its mother:—Train it up (Lord) in Thy dwelling!

This day afflictsThe fathers through their sons;And death now breaksThe staff of their old age:—Lord! may they lean on Thee!

This day removesThe only child from its mother,And cuts off the armWhich would have been her stay:—In Thee, Lord, may she trust!

This day separatesThe little one from its parent,And leaves her in the wildernessOf suffering and grief:—Do Thou, Lord, comfort her!

This day dividesThe sucking-child from the breast;And (the mother) wails and grievesBecause her intercourse with it hath perished:—May she see it in the Kingdom!

O happy infancyWhich hath gained Paradise!Alas! for old age,Which still remains in sorrow!Lord, be Thou its helper!

This hymn was written for the burial of babies and young children. Its verses name what a mother and father have lost, and most end by asking God to hold them up.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from Henry Burgess’s 1853 English of the Syriac, checked line by line against the Russian translation of St Ephrem’s works. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Henry Burgess, Select Metrical Hymns and Homilies of Ephraem Syrus, 1853.

The plain wording follows the Russian translation in saying “parents” and “children” for Burgess’s “the fathers through their sons”, and “mother” for his “its parent”.

Where it comes from, and the original

For a child of any age

With the saints give rest

With the saints give rest, O Christ,to the soul of Your servant,where there is no pain, no sorrow,no sighing,but life without end.

Then its ikos, the stanza that follows itYou alone are immortal.You created and fashioned man.We mortals were made from the earth,and to the same earth we shall go,as You commanded,when You made me and said to me:“You are earth, and to earth you shall return.”To the earth all of us shall go,making our weeping at the grave a song:Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Traditional wording, 1906

With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Thy servant,where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing,but life everlasting.

Thou only art immortal, Who hast created and fashioned man.For out of the earth were we mortals made,and unto the earth shall we return again,as Thou didst command when Thou madest me, saying unto me:For earth thou art, and unto the earth shalt thou return.Whither, also, all we mortals wend our way,making of our funeral dirge the song: Alleluia.

The Church sings this hymn at every Orthodox funeral, for a baby or a grown son or daughter alike. Russian prayer books also print it in a short service for the departed that anyone may pray at home or at the grave.

Hapgood’s ikos ends with one “Alleluia”; the Slavonic sings it three times.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Scripture for this

But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Mark 10:14 The prayer at a child’s funeral gives these words back to Christ and asks Him to take the child to Himself in peace.

He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.

Isaiah 40:11 A grieving parent may picture their child carried close to the Lord’s heart, and themselves led gently on.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” ¹⁶This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy. ¹⁷So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.”

Jeremiah 31:15-17 Rachel will not be comforted, and the Lord does not scold her for it. He answers her tears with a reason to hope.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

Psalm 34:18 It is short enough to hold onto in the first days, when a parent cannot find the words for a longer prayer.

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

John 16:22 The night before He died, Jesus promised His grieving friends that He would see them again and no one would take away their joy.

“‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 This is the end Christians hope for, a world where no parent will ever bury a child again.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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