Eternal God and Father, who has instituted the sacrament of marriage, and blessed us with the precious gift of family and fertility, I thank you with all my heart for the mysterious gift of this child within me, whose soul is already eternal and complete, even as the little body grows and forms.
Everything I am and everything I have comes from you and depends on you. In your love, sustain this fragile life within me, even as you have sustained me through the years. Make my body a safe and nurturing environment for your new child, until I welcome this new life into the world.
Jesus, savior of my soul, during your own life, you yourself were once so utterly dependent on your mother’s womb for the protection it offered. When you were grown, you showed us your special love for children, taking them into your arms and calling us to turn and become like they are. Take my own child into your arms. I consecrate this child to you with great confidence, entrusting what is closest to my own heart to your own most sacred heart.
Be kind to me, Lord, at the moment of this child’s birth, and guard both of us from harm. Mother Mary, conceived without sin, be with me, guiding me, as I begin the great work of caring for and raising this child, who belongs in the end, not to me, but to your Son. Teach me to love this child with your own perfect motherly love, and keep us both in your care until we reach our final home.
O strong and holy St. Joseph, and you, our Guardian Angels, guard my family and lead us together home to Christ, where we may eternally praise and thank him for the gift of our lives.
Amen.
And today we celebrate...