Gathering
When it is time to begin the ritual, everyone forms a circle around a table set up in the middle of the room. The table already contains a vase of flowers and candles, which are now lit. Guests are invited to bring a photo of their mothers, or other women who have been life-giving to them. One by one, those with pictures place them on the altar, naming the woman in the picture and briefly stating the gifts that she gave to him/ her.
Minister: We are here to honor [expectant mother’s name], who, like all of the women pictured here, has taken on the task of mothering. As she makes the passage through pregnancy and labor, her life will change forever. This will mean both gain and loss, pleasure and pain. We are here today to listen to [mother’s name]’s grief, to rejoice with her, and to wish her a safe birth, a strong child, and happiness in motherhood.
Litany of Remembrance
L: Sing a new song, O daughters of Sarah!
Give praise, O sons of Abraham!
C: Let us give thanks and rejoice;
for God has done marvelous things! (Psalm 98)
L: Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings,
C: God alone did lead us. (Deuteronomy 32:11-12)
L: In the beginning, God created humankind in the divine image;
C: In the image of God humankind was created;
male and female God created them. (Genesis 1:27)
L: We remember Eve, the mother of all living,
Sarah, mother of all Israel, women shamed because of infertility, who yet remained
faithful, Hebrew midwives who feared God and disobeyed Pharaoh.
C: Blessed be God for our mothers in faith.
L: We remember all those women whose deeds no one remembers,
whose names are unrecorded, whose lives remain unknown.
C: Blessed be God for our mothers in faith.
L: Blessed is Mary, mother of Jesus, who sang a song of God’s justice
and who believed God’s promise would be fulfilled.
C: Blessed be God for our mothers in faith.
L: Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings,
C: God alone did lead us. (Deuteronomy 32:11-12)
L: Let the rivers clap their hands and the mountains ring out their joy! (Psalm 98:8)
C: Sing a new song, O daughters of Zion!
Give praise, O sons of Abraham!
Reading: Isaiah 66: 7-9
Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
Before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.
Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor
she delivered her children.
Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
says Yahweh;
Shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?
says your God.
Lamentation
Unscripted, or prepared earlier but not printed in the bulletin. Here the mother speaks to what she is giving up, to the sacrifices she is making, and to what she fears.
Prayer
It would be appropriate for the minister to know beforehand what issues the mother will address, so that the prayer could be personalized and/or extemporaneous. An impersonal building block is found in the Lutheran Book of Occasional Services:
O God, the creator and sustainer of life, graciously preserve and protect [mother’s name] during childbirth, and safely bring forth in health and wholeness the infant whom you have created; through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Reading
You who have stood at the bedposts and seen a mother on her high harvest day,
The day of the most golden of harvest moons for her. You know being born is important.
You who have seen this love’s payday of wild toiling and sweet agonizing
You who have seen the new wet child dried behind the ears swaddled in soft fresh garments,
You know that nothing was ever so important to you.
(Carl Sandberg)
Statement of commitment by the community
Unscripted, or coordinated earlier between the minister and the guests. This could very well naturally segue into the next section.
Blessings of the community for the mother and baby
Here the blessings earlier written in the special book may be read out loud by those comfortable doing so; others may speak freely; others may choose prayerful silence.
Blessings and thankfulness of the mother for her community
Unscripted, or prepared earlier but not printed out in the bulletin. Expectant mother distributes tea candles in pretty glass holders and concludes with:
As you have been lights for me, so I wish to send you out with these candles. Please light them when you hear that I have begun to labor, and know that my love for you shines with them.
Benediction
May the blessing of the God of Abraham and Sarah,
and of Jesus Christ, born of our sister Mary,
and of the Holy Spirit,
who broods over the world as a mother hen over her chicks,
be upon you and remain with you always.
