Mother’s Day Litany

(At our house, Mother’s Day is a happy time, a time to celebrate the mothers who raised us and a chance for my kids and I to pay homage to the wonderful wife and mother that Sarah is. Yet for many, Mother’s Day is a time of pain as they struggle through grief, infertility, the loss of a child. I offer this litany as a prayer for those who are hurting this day).

In peace let us pray to the Lord.
                                        Lord have mercy
For all the women of God’s church across the face of the earth, who have loved and nurtured others into the faith.
                                         Lord have mercy
For those who are single mothers and struggle to provide for their family.
                                        Lord have mercy
For the poor and widowed whose child has been taken from them because they couldn’t care for them.
                                       Lord have mercy
For those held captive by abuse who fear for their children and their life.
                                        Lord have mercy

For those who are estranged from their chlidren.
Lord have mercy

For those have suffered the loss of a child either through miscarriage, abortion or the premature death of a child.
                                       Lord have mercy
For those who have lost their own mothers and feel the dull ache of their loss.
                                      Lord have mercy

For those who have never, and may never, have the opportunity to have a child.
Lord have mercy

For strength in joy and hope for all women and confidence in God’s care for them.
                                     Lord have mercy
For . . .(names of women you feel led to pray for)
                                    Lord have mercy
For all those who call on you from their hearts. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy

Amen.