The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents

Of all the pains that life can hand us, arguably the most searing is the loss of a child. A parent’s world irrevocably and horrifically changes forever, no matter what the circumstances or the age of the child.

In what seems to be a manner contrary to the natural order, parents not only have a physical and emotional part of themselves ripped away, but also have the loss of all of the hopes, dreams and aspirations they had so completely invested in their child.

With this loss, a parent’s world radically and dramatically changes forever. Friends, relatives, and acquaintances do not know how to approach or console for fear of offending or upsetting the parent. Many feel that they are treated as if they have a contagious disease. In an attempt to seem normal, or “over it,” emotions are suppressed and the parent begins to withdraw or become distant. This reaction, however, compounds the feeling of being totally alone in this experience.

Many well-intentioned attempts have been made to assist parents in recovering emotionally from their loss, including psychotherapy and support groups. However, in an attempt to be all inclusive and “politically correct”, the spiritual need or even existence of God is absent from many of these methods of treatment. We believe there is no healing without God. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

It was in recognition of this fact and to address these needs that in 2009 we began what has now become The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents, originally starting as The Pieta Ministry at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, MA.