St. Raphael offers a bereavement group several times a year as needed. The group is open to anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one and meets weekly for a six-week time period.
The Service Ministry & Pastoral Care office also provides the following downloadable list of support groups.
Prayer at an Empty Chair
This year, Lord, there’ll be an empty chair at our table, an ache in our hearts and tears on our cheeks…
We might shield others from our grief but we can’t hide it from you…
We pray for (name your loved ones) whose loving presence we’ll miss at this homecoming time…
Help us remember and tell again the stories that knit us as one with the ones we miss so much…
Open our hearts to joyful memories of the love we shared with those who’ve gone before us…
Let the bonds you forged so deep in our hearts grow stronger yet in remembering those who’ve left our side…
Help us pray and trust that those we miss have a home in your heart and a place at your table forever and that one day we’ll be one with them once again…
Amen.
Contact
Kathy Ford at (630) 615-7613 or kford@st-raphael.com