NOKESVILLE, Virginia, May 14, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A flower garden has been launched online that dedicates a “memorial flower” to miscarried or stillborn babies, allowing mothers and fathers to have a lasting, public remembrance of their beloved lost ones.
A Mom’s Peace, launched in Nokesville, Virginia, is a ministry devoted to comforting and supporting parents, especially mothers, who have lost their children in the womb. The organization recently launched an online Garden of Remembrance, which has become “a place to honor and appreciate the beautiful children lost in miscarriage or stillbirth regardless of how many days, weeks or months their short lives blessed ours.”
The Garden “offers consolation to parents who need it – whether the loss was at 5 weeks or 35 weeks.” The Garden honors unborn babies with loving remembrance, stating on the website: “Some people say you are too painful to remember. I say you are too precious to forget.”
The Garden is free of charge and helps families who were unable to lay their unborn children to rest by allowing them to remember and commemorate their babies by dedicating virtual flowers to their children. Parents can choose from a variety of flowers to see which best suits their child. They may also name their baby and record the date of loss. The flower is then displayed in the Garden of Remembrance.
The Garden hopes to help parents honor the beauty and joy that their baby brought them, despite only being with them for a short time.
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Colleen Sullivan, the director of communication and development for A Mom’s Peace, said, “women can feel isolated, grief-stricken, and powerless when they lose an unborn child. The Garden helps mothers honor their unborn children and realize they are not alone in their loss.”
Sullivan explained that “parents can carry the grief of losing their unborn baby for decades.”
“Some of the flowers are dedicated to babies who died in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Selecting a name and dedicating a flower can help bring closure and consolation to these parents. Relatives can also find joy in visiting the Garden to see the flowers dedicated to their miscarried or stillborn family,” she said.
Kara Palladino founded A Mom’s Peace after she lost her unborn baby and realized that there was not a plan for the burial for the unborn. She desired to create a ministry to help other families. The outreach, in addition to offering spiritual aid, provides practical assistance by giving advice in burying or cremating miscarried or stillborn children.
The mission of the ministry is “to bring peace…by discretely supporting mothers with burial, bereavement and remembrance programs.” The apostolate serves to “fulfill the corporal and spiritual works of mercy ‘bury the dead’ and ‘comfort the sorrowful.’”
The ministry recognizes the pain of losing unborn children. Palladino recently wrote in a press release, “We know from experience that parents go through grief and sorrow in losing an unborn baby. Those emotions can, at times, be overwhelming and all-consuming.”
“But we also believe in the power of healing on this journey toward peace. For this reason, we invite you to see your child as a gift in the hopes of recapturing the joy you first felt in bringing a new soul into existence – whether you conceived recently or years ago,” she continued.
“May The Garden honor these precious lives and provide consolation and much-needed closure, especially to families who otherwise would not have obtained it. May it serve as a reminder that you are not alone in the complexity of celebrating life while grieving loss. And may all the precious souls who have touched our hearts never be forgotten,” she added.
Many mothers shared their testimonies of the comfort they received from A Mom’s Peace.
One mom said, “A Mom’s Peace helped me through the hardest time of my life and did so with utmost respect and sensitivity to my situation. I will never forget the generosity and love that was shown to me through this program.”
Another mother wrote, “A Mom’s Peace is a special and unique apostolate. It was such a consolation, in the midst of sadness, to memorialize the life of our little one, despite how short it was.”
The Garden offers a positive response for families who lose an unborn child. It brings joy and fulfillment to parents around the world and commemorates their miscarried or stillborn children through a permanent remembrance of their children.
