Can Catholics Adopt and Baptise an Aborted Child?

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In the “Handbook of Devotion to Divine Mercy” on page 77 there is a prayer (Prayer of Divine Mercy Apostolate, Dublin) called Divine Mercy for the Unborn. This prayer allows a person to beg Jesus that they may be allowed to spiritually baptise a little soul born dead. This is the prayer:
For all the helpless little children who die in the womb of their mother, I pray that all of these little souls will be given eternal life by Our Lord Jesus Christ, through His Divine Mercy and I beg Jesus that I be allowed to spiritually baptise a little soul born dead and I do so by saying: I baptise you (give a name, preferably a saint’s name) in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit… “I have called you by your name, you are mine” (Is. 43:1)
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The first thing that entered my mind after reading this prayer was that if I can pray to spiritually baptise babies who are born dead, then it makes sense that I should be able to pray for and spiritually baptise babies that died from abortions as well by saying this modified version of the prayer:
For all the helpless little children who die, and are murdered (due to abortions and contraception), in the womb of their mother, I pray that all of these little souls will be given eternal life by Our Lord Jesus Christ, through His Divine Mercy and I beg Jesus that I be allowed to spiritually baptise a little soul born dead or murdered and I do so by saying: I baptise you (give a name, preferably a saint’s name) in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit… “I have called you by your name, you are mine” (Is. 43:1)
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This prayer is not only a beautiful gesture and a Spiritual Work of Mercy, but has other benefits because you are in a sense adopting a child that has been rejected and murdered by his parent(s). Because the baby will become an instant martyr and saint, you can pray to them and ask them to pray for you as well. Surely one who faithfully says this prayer will have many adopted and baptized children that will be waiting to greet them at the gates of heaven!

I am planning on adding this to my daily prayer’s and wanted to ask others to do the same. If you think this a good idea, please pass it on to your friends.

Thanks.

Steve

P.S., If anyone has any suggestions on the wording let me know.
 
stove said:
In the “Handbook of Devotion to Divine Mercy” on page 77 there is a prayer (Prayer of Divine Mercy Apostolate, Dublin) called Divine Mercy for the Unborn. This prayer allows a person to beg Jesus that they may be allowed to spiritually baptise a little soul born dead. This is the prayer:

The first thing that entered my mind after reading this prayer was that if I can pray to spiritually baptise babies who are born dead, then it makes sense that I should be able to pray for and spiritually baptise babies that died from abortions as well by saying this modified version of the prayer:

This prayer is not only a beautiful gesture and a Spiritual Work of Mercy, but has other benefits because you are in a sense adopting a child that has been rejected and murdered by his parent(s). Because the baby will become an instant martyr and saint, you can pray to them and ask them to pray for you as well. Surely one who faithfully says this prayer will have many adopted and baptized children that will be waiting to greet them at the gates of heaven!

I am planning on adding this to my daily prayer’s and wanted to ask others to do the same. If you think this a good idea, please pass it on to your friends.

Thanks.

Steve

P.S., If anyone has any suggestions on the wording let me know.
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Unfortunately it’s misleading and does not properly reflect Catholic teaching.
 
May God’s peace, love and mercy be with you!

Thank you for sharing this devotion which is very helpful for the souls of the unborn. Such a great Spiritual work of Mercy. I think of it as a gift that keeps on giving and it is only in heaven when it is finally revealed to us the magnitude and impact of this very simple prayer.

I have not read that Divine Mercy prayer for the unborn before but I have been praying a prayer somewhat similar to that. In my daily morning offering, I ask Our Good Lord Jesus to baptize, with His most Precious Blood, the unborn and unbaptized 'till the end of times. So, any soul ('till the end of times) that did not or will not get the opportunity to be baptized before dying will have the opportunity to be spiritually baptized by Our Good Lord Himself.

It will be an awesome moment to finally meet all these souls that we have all prayed for. And the good part is they are also praying for us and helping us too! God bless!

Blessed be Jesus and Mary!
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Unfortunately it’s misleading and does not properly reflect Catholic teaching.
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Br. Rich,
Thank you for your response. Can you please explain which part is misleading and doesnt reflect Catholic teaching? Are you saying that this prayer from the book “Handbook of Devotion to Divine Mercy” is misleading and don’t reflect Catholic teaching? Or just my modified version of it.

I bought the “Handbook” at a Jesuit Catholic Retreat House. It is distributed by divine mercy publications at divinemercy.org . Here is a list of the prayers in that book:
circleofprayer.com/divine-mercy-prayer-book.html

Could you please explain the reason for you statement please?

Thanks
 
Because baptism is for the living. Bro. Rich will give you canon law and CCC references, but the short answer is that the Church teaches babies who die without baptism are to be trusted to God’s Mercy.

If it were true that babies could be baptized after death, then the Church would have a lot in common with the LDS (Mormons) who practice bapitsm and marriage for the dead by proxy.
 
stove said:
Br. Rich,
Thank you for your response. Can you please explain which part is misleading and doesnt reflect Catholic teaching? Are you saying that this prayer from the book “Handbook of Devotion to Divine Mercy” is misleading and don’t reflect Catholic teaching? Or just my modified version of it.

I bought the “Handbook” at a Jesuit Catholic Retreat House. It is distributed by divine mercy publications at divinemercy.org . Here is a list of the prayers in that book:
circleofprayer.com/divine-mercy-prayer-book.html

Could you please explain the reason for you statement please?

Thanks
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“For all the helpless little children who die in the womb of their mother, I pray that all of these little souls will be given eternal life by Our Lord Jesus Christ, through His Divine Mercy”

This is good, and we all should pray this every day.

“and I beg Jesus that I be allowed to spiritually baptise a little soul born dead and I do so by saying: I baptise you (give a name, preferably a saint’s name) in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit… “I have called you by your name, you are mine” (Is. 43:1)”

This seems to be more in line with Mormon theology.
As Catholics we do not believe that it is possible to Baptize a little soul born dead. Those murdered in abortion are not martyrs.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Those murdered in abortion are not martyrs.
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Now that we’re on the topic, I’ve been wondering about this. Why couldn’t it be that they are martyrs? Has the Church said anything which might suggest this could not be?
 
Cradle said:
Now that we’re on the topic, I’ve been wondering about this. Why couldn’t it be that they are martyrs? Has the Church said anything which might suggest this could not be?
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A martyr by definition is someone who suffers or dies because of their own faith - thus St Peter or Paul, both of whom were killed because they were Christian. Or even Our Lady, who stood by Jesus because of her faith in him.

An aborted baby is a victim of murder, sure, but not a martyr because they are not killed because of their faith.
 
Cradle said:
Now that we’re on the topic, I’ve been wondering about this. Why couldn’t it be that they are martyrs? Has the Church said anything which might suggest this could not be?
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It’s possible an individual child could be. I’m speaking of a blanket statement to that effect.
 
Hmm. Ok. So the babies are not martyrs and the prayer is not in line with Catholic teaching I guess. This I found in another thread:
Church_Militant said:
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s Prayer for the Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child.

The following prayer is said every day for one whole year.
**
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much;
I beg you to spare the life of the unborn child that I have spiritually adopted, and who is in danger of being aborted.**

During your earthly life, this child which you have adopted will be known only to God, but in the hereafter, you will enjoy each other’s company for all eternity.

This could be a very powerful weapon against the culture of death.
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forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=81701
 
The Good Bishop’s prayer is accurate, since it does not request anything out of line with Church teaching.

Adopt all the little souls you want- and may their lives be spared through your intercession!
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Unfortunately it’s misleading and does not properly reflect Catholic teaching.
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CCC
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1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God’s mercy and to pray for their salvation.
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Br. Rich, would you agree that the prayer may be less misleading if the prayer simply had the words,
For all the helpless little children who die, and are murdered (due to abortions and contraception), in the womb of their mother, I pray that all of these little souls will be given eternal life by Our Lord Jesus Christ, through His Divine Mercy.
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LilyM said:
An aborted baby is a victim of murder, sure, but not a martyr because they are not killed because of their faith.
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What about the holy innocents? What about John the Baptist who lept in his mother’s womb when the pregnant Mary approached? That is, that the unborn can recognize Jesus?

I say…

… the aborted unborn are already Baptised; by the Baptism of Blood.

I don’t really care if the Mormons want to claim this way of thinking. All the more power to them. I care that we Christians claim this way of thinking.

When does human life begin? Does the Catholic Church or at least JP2 not persistently refer to life as from conception to natural death?

Do parents not grieve the death of their unborn? If the unborn were not a baby then why define human life from the time of conception? And why grieve if the loss were only a fragment of tissue and not a human baby?

So if it is a human baby, then baptise him/her!

I think it is wrong to turn our backs on the innocent unborn lost to abortion. Wrong! And heartless!
 
Ani_Ibi said:
What about the holy innocents? What about John the Baptist who lept in his mother’s womb when the pregnant Mary approached? That is, that the unborn can recognize Jesus?

I say…

… the aborted unborn are already Baptised; by the Baptism of Blood.

I don’t really care if the Mormons want to claim this way of thinking. All the more power to them. I care that we Christians claim this way of thinking.

When does human life begin? Does the Catholic Church or at least JP2 not persistently refer to life as from conception to natural death?

Do parents not grieve the death of their unborn? If the unborn were not a baby then why define human life from the time of conception? And why grieve if the loss were only a fragment of tissue and not a human baby?

So if it is a human baby, then baptise him/her!

I think it is wrong to turn our backs on the innocent unborn lost to abortion. Wrong! And heartless!
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The Holy Innocents died because of hatred for Christ. John the Baptist was sanctified in his mother’s womb, before Christ instituted Baptism as a Sacrament and the ordinary means of Sanctification. Is this extraordinary means still possible? Yes it could be. Christians claim a Spiritual Baptism after death, If you say so, but Catholic’s don’t.
 
Ani_Ibi said:
I say…

… the aborted unborn are already Baptised; by the Baptism of Blood.

I don’t really care if the Mormons want to claim this way of thinking. All the more power to them. I care that we Christians claim this way of thinking.
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If they are already bapitzed, as you say by blood, they do not need baptism for the dead. But that is up to God.

The Mormons do not believe in baptism by blood, or by desire. They believe everybody has to be baptized their way, and if it hasn’t happened in this life, they will baptize the dead by proxy (a Mormon who goes through baptism for the unbaptized party).

That is not line with Catholic teaching. We must trust God’s mercy for those who have died withut baptism. Baptism is clearly taught by the Church to be for the living.

As you have read, there are better prayers than the one the OP posted.
 
Br. Rich SFO:
The Holy Innocents died because of hatred for Christ.
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As did any other Christian martyr.
Br. Rich SFO:
John the Baptist was sanctified in his mother’s womb, before Christ instituted Baptism as a Sacrament and the ordinary means of Sanctification.
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The point is that the unborn can:

a) recognize the Divine in Christ; and
b) die for His Sake.

The following two statements are contradictory. Truth cannot contradict truth.
Br. Rich SFO:
Is this extraordinary means still possible? Yes it could be.
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Br. Rich SFO:
Christians claim a Spiritual Baptism after death, If you say so, but Catholic’s don’t.
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And the second statement is begging the question. The recognition of the Divinity of Christ does not happen after abortion; it happens before abortion while the baby is still alive in the womb.
 
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OutinChgoburbs:
If they are already bapitzed, as you say by blood, they do not need baptism for the dead.
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Yes, they are already baptised in blood. Naming them and even adopting them does much for our own souls to say nothing of reassuring the souls of the aborted that they are the apple of someone’s eye down here on Earth and of course in Heaven.
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OutinChgoburbs:
But that is up to God.
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Doing something about the glut of blood due to abortion is up to us.
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OutinChgoburbs:
The Mormons do not believe in baptism by blood, or by desire.
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That’s their decision. I’m not Mormon.
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OutinChgoburbs:
That is not line with Catholic teaching. We must trust God’s mercy for those who have died withut baptism. Baptism is clearly taught by the Church to be for the living.
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How many babies are alive at present who will be aborted tomorrow?
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OutinChgoburbs:
As you have read, there are better prayers than the one the OP posted.
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For me it is not a question of ‘better.’ It is a question of ‘whether.’ It all sounds like counting how many angels on a pin. While babies are sucked out of their mother’s wombs and lives are wrecked on the shoals of moral relativism and political expedience.
 
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