"At my end may it be said I helped turn darkness into Light."
If you are on this page because you have lost a loved one, I am so sorry. I pray you will feel some love here that helps you endure your loss. ~ Clyo
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Prayers for Grief
Prayer for the Loss of my Son
Dear God,
Out of the depths I cry unto You, O Lord.
Hear my voice.
Can I bring my son back again?
Though I might weep at his grave until the end of my days,
He shall not return to me here.
What thought, what words have meaning for me now?
For this is unbearable and I feel broken.
Dear God, is there any sense to this death?
For I cannot believe my son was taken from me by accident.
I do not want to believe You are so cruel to take him from me
On a whim.
If there is a purpose and a meaning to my grief,
please help me understand it.
If there is a higher purpose,
if my son's work here was truly done
if I can, somehow, become more loving because of this
if I can, somehow, turn this terrible grief to good,
then I can go on, for him,
so his sacrifice of his life
and his leaving me
and my losing him
is not in vain.
Please lift me to that place of understanding.
Help me, O Lord.
My heart is in Your Hands.
I will love my son forever and through eternity.
Let him take the memory of my love with him wherever he must go
And may it bring him unending joy.
Amen.
Prayer for the Loss of my Daughter
Dear God,
My sheets are wet with weeping.
My chest is empty.
My heart is gone.
Others look on and nod in sympathy, but I feel nothing.
I am brittle, numb, yet in agony.
I see signs that others are "moving on."
They are "getting over" the shock, the loss, the sadness.
But how can I?
Why couldn't I save her?
Why couldn't I heal her, defend her, protect her
Against what has ripped her away from me?
She was my treasure, my baby, and always, always my little girl.
This is so unfair, to ask this sacrifice of me.
I want to be angry with You
I want to blame.
I want to scream.
How can any good come of this for anyone?
She was my Light.
She lifted me up beyond all expectations.
She brightened the day for anyone she touched.
She gave me such a gift
Filling me with love and joy
I had not known before.
What am I to do without her?
How can I honor what she was to me?
How can I honor her beautiful spirit?
How can I use what I learned from her, what I received from her
To make this world better?
Show me.
If she must be gone...
If I must be in pain...
If it is too early to heal this pain...
Even if my wound will never completely heal...
Let me not wait.
Show me how to spread her love despite this pain.
Show me how I can make the world better as a testament to her.
Guide me in increasing the love in the world, as she did.
Make of my life a blessing, a demonstration of my love for her.
My pain is deep, O God.
Let her love that lives with me be deeper.
Let it heal the world through me.
And tell my little girl this:
I will love you forever and through eternity.
Take the memory of my love with you wherever you must go
And may it bring you unending joy.
Amen.
Prayer for the Loss of My Wife
Dear God,
How I miss her.
I loved my darling more than life itself.
Secretly, I hoped one day You might take me before her.
Yet here I am, alone, and without her.
How can I go on?
Yet she would want me to.
She was so full of love for me
If I close my eyes I can feel her arms around me,
And her hand upon my cheek.
I can still feel that love that made my life.
Help me go on.
Help me carry the love she gave me
Into my every-day moments
And give it, generously, to others.
Let me honor her by bringing more Light into the world
As she brought Light into my life.
I am here for a purpose, Lord.
Let me embrace that purpose.
Let it be the transmission of Light
In gratitude for the great love I have known.
Help me be that love.
Amen.
Prayer for the Loss of My Husband
Dear God,
My soul breaks in longing for the one I have lost.
He was my rock and my foundation
I feel so desolate, so alone.
Half of me is missing.
How can I go on?
Help me, Lord.
If it is Your Will, help me survive this.
Let me not fall in love with sorrow.
Help me be strong.
Help me endure.
Help me honor him by bringing more Light into the world
As he brought Light into my life.
I am here for a purpose, Lord.
Let me embrace that purpose.
Let it be the transmission of Light
In gratitude for the great love I have known.
Help me be that brave and that strong.
Amen.
Prayer for the Loss of My Mother
Dear God,
My mother is gone, yet how can this be?
The child in me cannot be consoled.
I was once part of her
And she will, forever, be part of me.
It seems impossible yet I must go on without her.
Help me accept what I cannot change.
Help me find comfort in all we shared.
Remind me that I carry her goodness in my very cells.
Help me understand that death does not separate us
Help me remember she has not gone very far
And that she is with You.
Help me honor her, her strength and her love.
Help me share the best of her legacy with others.
Bless my mother, Lord.
Take care of her.
Bring her happiness and peace.
And, please take care of me.
Amen.
Prayer for the Loss of My Father
Dear God,
My father is gone.
My heart aches.
I miss him so much.
I thought we had more time left.
Hold my father in Your arms for me, Lord.
Give him the sweetest embrace.
Tell him I am so proud he was my daddy.
Thank him for everything he did,
And tell him I will always, always love him.
Even though this sorrow fills me,
Help me remember he has not gone very far,
And that the love he gave me still lives in my heart.
Let his love radiate and shine within me.
Let who I am touch everyone I meet in a beautiful way.
Let his love work through me
In who I am
And in how I treat others
So he can rest easy.
I am so grateful that he helped me become who I am.
Bless my daddy,
Comfort all those who grieve his passing,
And please bless and comfort me.
Thank You,
Amen.
~ * ~
Other Prayers
My heart is stricken and withered like grass
So that I forget to eat.
You have gone the way of all the earth.
Where you have gone I cannot follow.
Though neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God
I am not able to bear this alone
For it is too heavy for me.
I am as a sparrow alone upon a housetop.
O help me, God!
Help me in this terrible hour.
In You I live and breathe and have my being.
Please fill me with Your warmth
And bathe me in Your tender mercies.
Comfort me
And, in memory of the one I so love,
Help me do Your will from my heart
Amen.
Thank You.
~ * ~
O Lord
Mourn with me and comfort me.
This is my time of deepest need.
I will serve You with gladness;
I will come before Your presence with singing.
I shall love You, Lord
With all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my might.
I fear not that which kills the body, for the soul lives forever.
Amen.
~ * ~
Aztec Indian Prayer
Oh, only for so short a while you
have loaned us to each other,
because we take form in your act of drawing us,
and we take life in your painting us,
and we breathe in your singing us.
But only for so short a while
have you loaned us to each other.
Because even a drawing cut in obsidian fades,
and the green feathers, the crown feathers,
of the Quetzal bird lose their color,
and even the sounds of the waterfall
die out in the dry season.
So, we too, because only for a short while
have you loaned us to each other.
~ * ~
Roman Catholic Prayer For The Dead
Saints of God, come to their aid;
Come to meet them, angels of the Lord.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Amen.
~ * ~
Mother of waters,
Father of rain,
You have taken back your own.
As a stream flows into a river,
as a river flows into the sea, may (this) spirit flow
to the waters of healing,
to the waters of rebirth.
Prayer for the Catholic wake (requiem):
https://www.catholicireland.net/prayer-for-the-wake/
How to help those who are grieving:
http://www.annieshomepage.com/cope3.html
Roshi Halifax, Upaya House [ www.upaya.org ].
May sorrow show me the way to compassion.
May I come to recognize the gift of my loved one's death
by opening my ear of compassion.
May I realize grace in the midst of suffering.
May this experience in some way be a blessing for me.
May loving-kindness sustain me.
May love fill and heal my body and mind.
May I be peaceful and let go of expectations.
May I find peace and strength that I may use my resources
to help others.
May I receive the love and compassion of others.
May all those who are grieving be released from their suffering.
May I offer love, knowing that I cannot control the course
of life, suffering, or death.
Forgiveness:
May I let go of guilt and resentment.
May I forgive myself for mistakes made and things left undone.
May I forgive and be forgiven.
May I forgive myself for not meeting my loved ones' needs.
May I accept my human limitations with compassion.
Coming home:
May I be open to the true nature of life.
May I open to the unknown as I let go of the known.
May I offer gratitude to those around me.
May I be grateful for this life.
May I and all beings live and die peacefully.
Explanation of The 5 Stages of Grief.
Prayerforce: 365 daily prayers
Available as an ebook or hard cover volume.
El Greco's Pietà courtesy of Wikipedia.
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Pandia Publishing "Be The Light"
Prayerforce.Org ©2003 Clyo Beck
Background Image Courtesy Nicole Campbell