NEVER-ENDING LOVE: WORLD PREGNANCY AND INFANT LOSS REMEMBRANCE DAY
October 15 was World Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In honour of lives lost, as well as to offer hope and encouragement to those whose lives were touched by such losses, our Novalis Managing Editor Anne Louise Mahoney offered this reflection. Due to a technical issue in our blog system, the reflection may not have arrived in your inbox yesterday, so we are re-posting it today.
Most of us have been touched by miscarriage or infant loss – either personally or through someone we know. This all-too-common loss (around 1 in 5 pregnancies ends in miscarriage) is often unseen and unmourned by the Catholic community. Perhaps the pregnancy ended very early – before couples have told many people. Or it’s not showing yet. Or the baby died during or just after birth. We may feel uncomfortable mentioning it – as if we’re afraid of reminding people of their sorrow. (As if they’ve forgotten.) That means couples and families are left with not enough spiritual support during a dark time in their lives.
With that in mind, I put out a call to some Catholic writers and subject experts to invite them to submit their stories. They responded by opening their hearts, sharing their experiences and offering their thoughts on how we can all process, respond to and mark these heart-breaking losses. The result is Never-ending Love: Sharing Stories, Prayers and Comfort for Miscarriage and Infant Loss, published just recently by Novalis.
The book includes words of experience and wisdom from several women, a married couple, a medical doctor, a pastor, a theologian, a team of liturgists offering rituals to mark the loss, and guidance for parishes and dioceses. Prayers and resources for those working with grieving couples are also provided.
As people of faith, we bring hope to times of loss – but we can also bring a listening ear, words of comfort from Scripture, prayer rituals, parish or diocesan support, food and a helping hand.
St. Paul tells us that “Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8). As a Christian community, we can help couples express and remember their never-ending love for their beloved child, who will always have a cherished place in their hearts and their lives.
On this World Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (October 15), we pause and remember the little ones whose lives ended far too soon. We light a candle for them; we speak their name; we pray. We bring them into the light, where they shine for all to see.
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you…:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured,
and I love you.
Isaiah 43:1-2, 4a
Anne Louise Mahoney is managing editor of Novalis. She is the editor of Never-ending Love and Looking to the Laity: Reflections on Where the Church Can Go from Here and the author of I Hope, a book for young children.
