Anyone who has experienced the loss of a baby at pregnancy, birth or in infancy will be warmly welcomed at the fourth annual Saying Goodbye service in Belfast Cathedral on Sunday June 3, 2018 at 3.30pm.
This is part of a series of national remembrance services. Nearly 20 will be held around the UK. These services allow bereaved parents, families and friends to join together in acknowledging and remembering babies that have gone too soon.
Sunday’s service will include the reading of poems including ‘What makes a mother’ by Jennifer Wasik; ‘I could have’ by Zoe Clark-Coates; ‘I will never’ by Clarke-Coates / Fosberry; and ‘Take a deep breath’ by L Behrndt.
There will be the opportunity to light a candle in memory of your baby and also to ring a hand bell as a way of remembering. This is unique to the Saying Goodbye services and allows parents to ring the bell once for each child they have lost.
The service will include a reading from Psalm 139 verses 13-16, and a Litany of Remembrance. The address will be given by the Dean of Belfast, the Very Rev Stephen Forde.
The services are organised by the Mariposa Trust, which held its first service in 2012. They celebrated their 100th service at the end of 2017 in Westminster, London. The charity now provides support that reaches more than 50,000 people each week through its six divisions offering support through baby loss, pregnancy after baby loss, fertility, adoption and more.
If you have experienced the loss of a baby you will be very welcome at this Saying Goodbye service on Sunday 3rd June at 3:30pm in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.
Baby loss affects around one in four pregnancies each year in the UK, with nearly 700 babies lost each day. The charity says the Saying Goodbye services allow people to stand with others who have experienced the similar trauma of baby loss, and collectively acknowledge and remember each life lost.
The services are open to people of faith or no faith, whether people have lost recently or decades ago, and welcome not only parents, but also extended family and friends.
More information can be found on the Mariposa Trust website and also the Saying Goodbye website.
