Yizkor after My Child’s Suicide

suicide pic copyThe loss of a child to suicide is a difficult and painful journey. This is another yizkor prayer focused on the circumstances surrounding the death of a loved one. Optional language appears in [brackets]. Here’s a link to a prayer to be said by parents after a child survives a suicide attempt, called “My Child’s Suicide Attempt.” May all who struggle with thoughts of suicide find relief, speedily, and comfort in their hours of need.

Yizkor after My Child’s Suicide
Oh grief,
How deep was her/his pain,
That my child
Could take his/her own life?
God of old,
Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace
To ______________________ (name),
My son/daughter,
Whose life was cut off by sorrow,
By hopelessness, depression and despair,
Even in this darkness,
In this moment of inconceivable horror,
In this grief and void that seems beyond repair,
Help us to remember his/her wisdom, talents and skills,
Our times together,
Our joy, laughter and tears.
[Give me respite from this profound sense of guilt.]
In this hour of desolation,
Bring our family comfort and consolation
As we pray for him/her to find a new peace
In the world to come,
A peace he/she did not enjoy in this world.
May his / her soul be bound up in the bond of life,
A living blessing in our midst.

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day

Postscript: For those of you who don’t know me well and might worry, I write many prayers on difficult subjects that are not directly from my own experience. This is one that I have not personally experienced. My other focused yizkor prayers include: “In Memory of an Organ Donor,” “At the Hand of Violence,” “For Those Who Die Young” and “After an Accidental Death.” Here’s a link to an annotated list of memorial and yizkor prayers.

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Photo Source: Ulrica Törning, as seen on Caring for Our Children Foundation

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