By Joe Pisani

NEWTOWN, May 9, 2026 —They came in the pouring rain—mothers, fathers, families, from little children to women in their 90s—to celebrate a Mother’s Day Mass for grieving parents who have lost a child, including through miscarriage and stillbirth.

Watch a short video with highlights from the Mass.

They sat under a tent at the Little Angels Shrine at Resurrection Cemetery and found support in their common grief and assurance their children were watching over them and waiting for them in heaven, as Father Peter Cipriani, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish, celebrated Mass, assisted by Deacon Don Ross.

Kenn Devane, acting executive director of Fairfield County Catholic Cemeteries, told the gathering: “I think you are the bravest people in the world. We are very, very happy you are here to share this with us. All week we hoped that it would be a beautiful day, but maybe this rain is symbolic because all of us have cried, so, Lord, we accept the symbolism.”

Director of Bereavement Carolyn Killian welcomed them and said: “The purpose of this Mass is to let you know that you are not alone in your grief on this Mother’s Day. We want to reach out and support you in your sorrow, whether you lost a beloved child of any age, or whether you lost the dream of a child you were never able to hold.”

Killian said since Bishop Frank J. Caggiano dedicated Little Angels Shrine last September, the remains of 12 babies have been interred and 82 were memorialized on the Wall of Remembrance.

As Father Cipriani delivered his homily about grief, eternal life and the Holy Spirit, the pattering of rain and the voices of little children offered a moving counterpoint. When he was preparing to write it, he was challenged by the sensitivity of the occasion and sought inspiration.

“As I was praying and probing my head and heart for what might be said, while driving in my car, a song erupted from my playlist— ‘Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back),’ and it washed over me like a musical waterfall.

“The lyrics say, in part: ‘Like the rose that blooms in the wintertime as it reaches up through the snow, the more life keeps us apart, the more love will grow. Like the seed that grows in the darkness as it reaches up to the sun, I will always reach out for you ’cause you are the one. I bless the wings that bring you back across the shore. If I could touch you now, my darling, and love you just once more.’

“Memories of your children are not just recalling events that happened in the past,” he assured the parents, “but rather a recalling of that person in the spirit, in the present, alive here, alive now and forever.”

He said the spirits of their children are communicating from heaven, where they are residing, and just as Jesus said, “In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places,” their children will occupy those places and wait for their parents to join them.

“What child is not excited to be given his or her own room?” Father Cipriani said. “With this awareness, how are you preparing those rooms, that home for Jesus and your children? By making every effort to create a home environment for your child’s spirit within yourself, where faith, hope and love reside.”

He told the parents they were inspired to be there.

“Do you not feel the presence of your child with each breath you take in and breathe out?” he asked. “Wherever you go here on earth, your child is with you. Wherever they are in heaven, you are with them. I bless the wings that bring you back across the shore. This is the primary function of the Holy Spirit, recreating and renewing life.”

Father Cipriani also said the grief in their hearts is an intensification of the love they had for their children.

“Has your love for your child in his or her absence lessened or rather increased since the longing for reunion is so magnified, so intensified? And though this registers as a sorrow, it should register as your child’s spirit embracing your own. Why be filled with such love? So that you have more of it to give to others. This is Christ suffering from the cross,” he said.

Amy Barbato and her husband Nick have a plaque on the remembrance wall in honor of their babies who were miscarried.

“The grief surrounding pregnancy loss can be extremely isolating, and for the past five years, I have been searching for peace and closure—trying to find how I fit in,” she said. “We don’t have children on earth and only have ultrasound pictures and a positive pregnancy test to prove their existence. Society might not view me as a mother, but I carried eight unique souls in my womb, though their time was brief. God knows I am a mother, I know I am a mother. Having the outward acknowledgement through the Mother’s Day Mass at Little Angels that we are all mothers has brought me profound peace.”

Bridget Sclafani said she was grateful to have two daughters to celebrate Mass with her, although that was not always the case.

“Mother’s Day can be a day of great joy, but also of unexplainable sadness,” she said. “This Mass was filled with people who experienced deep loss. Although so many of us had never met, we sat together, feeling the same holes in our hearts.”

On many Mother’s Days, she sat in Mass with tears in her eyes as she thought of the four babies she lost.

“I looked at large families and said to myself, ‘We were supposed to have six children here with us. My family should be taking up a whole pew,’” she said. “Only recently can I accept saying I am a mother of six. Then, a moment of peace comes over me, and I picture my four babies in the arms of Jesus and the Blessed Mother. At that moment, I feel the joy other mothers are feeling on this day. I also picture them wrapped in my husband’s arms. I have a family in heaven and one on earth.”

In his comments, Devane acknowledged Adrienne Keogler, longtime advocate for the shrine and said that in several weeks a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe would be erected because of her encouragement. He also thanked the cemetery employees who came on their day off to support the grieving families.

Little Angels Shrine is dedicated to babies who have gone home to God, Devane said. “The consecrated ground honors the memory of all deceased children and offers a reverent place of prayer and healing for parents and others who have experienced the death of a child.”

(For more information about the shrine or bereavement programs, call 203.404.0023 or visit www.littleangelsshrine.org.)