L
lilflower82
Guest
I had a miscarriage about 2 weeks ago. I actually “delivered” the baby. I was about 8 weeks pregnant. When I went to the bathroom and wiped the baby came out onto the tissue. I couldn’t bring myself to let it go down the toilet so my husband and I put it in our freezer until we figured out what to do. We thought of getting a plant blessed and placing the body in there. We are currently living in an apartment and don’t plan on living here for more than 2 years. Our intention is to plant the plant in a more permanent place after we move. A family member suggested we talk to our priest to make sure this is OK.
When we told our priest our situation he said that we would have to treat the body the same as a post-birth child and bury it in a permanent and blessed place. We’re finding that many places do not accommodate this situation. The cemeteries (Catholic and non) do not have special places for stillborn or miscarried babies. They have told us we will have to buy a plot or a place in a mausoleum which cost at the least $1000. The parish won’t let us bury it on the church grounds. Our priest did find an Episcopal church that will let us place the baby in their cremain garden. However, he said they were “weirded out” by the idea and don’t want us to mark the place of burial and can’t have the body in any casing or linens so that it will be absorbed into the ground more quickly.
Also, our priest is unable come with us to bless the ground until 3 weeks from now. Because it is so hard to bring closure to this unique situation, my question is, is there any specific teaching on this matter? Or, is it OK to bury the baby in a blessed potted plant that we will care for respectfully and eventually place in a permanent place?
Thank you in advance. A clear answer will really help us to start to bring closure to our grief.
.
When we told our priest our situation he said that we would have to treat the body the same as a post-birth child and bury it in a permanent and blessed place. We’re finding that many places do not accommodate this situation. The cemeteries (Catholic and non) do not have special places for stillborn or miscarried babies. They have told us we will have to buy a plot or a place in a mausoleum which cost at the least $1000. The parish won’t let us bury it on the church grounds. Our priest did find an Episcopal church that will let us place the baby in their cremain garden. However, he said they were “weirded out” by the idea and don’t want us to mark the place of burial and can’t have the body in any casing or linens so that it will be absorbed into the ground more quickly.
Also, our priest is unable come with us to bless the ground until 3 weeks from now. Because it is so hard to bring closure to this unique situation, my question is, is there any specific teaching on this matter? Or, is it OK to bury the baby in a blessed potted plant that we will care for respectfully and eventually place in a permanent place?
Thank you in advance. A clear answer will really help us to start to bring closure to our grief.
.