Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child
The Visitation (Detail), Master Heinrich of Constance, c. 1310-1320
Please consider spiritually adopting an unborn child
In the face of the horrific murder of unborn babies around the world, please consider spiritually adopting an unborn child at risk of abortion and making a very short prayer for this child each day for nine months. The prayer only takes about 15 seconds.
The Spiritual Adoption Prayer is said for nine months. At the beginning of this period the commencement prayer may be said.
Commencement Prayer
I glorify you Father Almighty, Lord of Heaven and earth, that You have hidden things from the mighty and wise but have revealed them to little ones.
Calling on the most Holy Virgin, Mother of God and all the angels and saints - and led by the desire of bringing help to a child threatened in the womb - I undertake to spiritually adopt one child whose name is known only to You Lord.
I undertake to pray for nine months every day for this child to save this child's life and to obtain through Your intercession the graces for this child to live a just and true life in You. Amen.
Spiritual Adoption Prayer
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.
Mary, our Mother in Heaven, pray for us, and especially for your little ones in danger of abortion. Amen.
A pdf of a brochure about the Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child from the Life and Family Institute may be downloaded from this website here.
History of Spiritual Adoption Prayer
In 1973 when the United States Supreme Court decision of Roe v Wade opened up the floodgates of abortion, the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) wrote a "Spiritual Adoption" for families to pray in their own homes, in private, to call for God’s protection of unborn babies – the most powerful protector of all. This was the 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph' prayer above. Ven. Fulton Sheen wanted the faithful to know that we are not powerless against anti-life forces, and it is something we can do against the growing tide of the culture of death. Since 1973 the spiritual adoption prayer has been prayed by thousands of the faithful and families, and in parish programs.
The prayer is often prayed from 25 March (the Feast of the Annunciation) to 25 December (Christmas Day) but it can be prayed over any nine month period. Spiritual Adoption is an opportunity for us to intercede on behalf of a child in danger of abortion who may not have anyone else to pray for them. While this child will remain unknown to his or her “spiritual parent”, God knows each of them.
While the decision of Roe v Wade was overturned in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), abortion remains widespread in the United States and throughout the world. In the United States there were 1,026,690 abortions in 2023, and at least 44 million abortions worldwide in 2023, possibly 56 million worldwide. In Ireland, after abortion was legalised, since 2019 there have been 28,802 abortions. In Australia there were 75,135 abortions in 2023, and in New Zealand 14,164 abortions in 2022. This terrible slaughter of innocent babies continues every day.
In relation to the passage in Saint Mathew's Gospel - "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me" (Matthew 25.40), Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) said: “Who is the least? Is it the poor and the marginalized right here in this archdiocese? Do we have to go to a third world country to really find the least? Or is it true that no one is “more” least than the unborn child, a child who depends on someone else 100% of the time for 100% of their needs?"
An Alternative Spiritual Adoption Prayer
Jesus my Lord, through the intercession of Mary Your Mother, who bore You so lovingly, and of St Joseph, strong man of faith who protected You both, I pray to You for the life of the unborn child who is in danger of abortion, the one I have spiritually adopted. Please give to the parents of this particular child the grace and courage to bring it to the life You have destined for him or her. Amen.
A Spiritual Adoption Prayer Testimony
- The following article by Father John Rizzo was published in the Oriens Journal on 22 August 2025.
The Best $20 I ever spent!
It was 1995. I was travelling from Atlanta in Georgia to the state of Alabama. I was going to visit Mother Angelica who has the same surname that I have – Rizzo. She wanted us to meet for that reason! It was quite a long distance to travel, and on the way there I stopped at a little roadside diner for a meal. The waitress was hustling about the café clearing the tables and, after a little while, she came over and took my order. I noticed that she was pregnant. After I had finished my meal, I went up to pay for it, and then I went over to the waitress and gave her a tip. As I gave it to her, I said “Here – this is for you.” I then pulled out a twenty dollar note from my wallet, and as I gave it her I said “And this is for the beautiful child that you have inside of you.” She looked at me, took the twenty dollars, and got tears in her eyes. She then ran away into a room at the back of the café. I wondered why she was so upset.
I left the café, and went to my car which was parked out the back. As I was about to get in, I was surprised to see the waitress approaching me, crying. She said to me “Father, I just want you to know that when I finished work today, I was going to go and have an abortion. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to take care of this child. But after what you said to me, and giving me this tip, I have decided to keep my child.”I was gobsmacked. I must say that tears came to my eyes as well.
Owing to the grace of God and Divine providence, the waitress and I crossed paths, and a life was saved. It was without doubt the best $20 I have ever spent!
People have asked me what inspired me to give the waitress the $20? I can give no explanation for it – all I can say is that I felt inspired to do it.
Whose prayers were responsible for such an outpouring of God’s grace at that particular moment? We will not know for certain in this life, but perhaps it was thanks to the prayers of the nuns I was on my way to visit, or thanks to the prayers of one of the many people who say the ‘Spiritual Adoption’ prayer every day. It is a prayer I would like to encourage you to pray:
Jesus my Lord, through the intercession of Mary Your Mother, who bore You so lovingly, and of St Joseph, strong man of faith who protected You both, I pray to You for the life of the unborn child who is in danger of abortion, the one I have spiritually adopted. Please give to the parents of this particular child the grace and courage to bring it to the life You have destined for him or her. Amen.
Baby
Leo David Hargreaves (sonogram 13 May 2014, born 30 June 2014)
Other Prayers for Life - Prayers for the ending of the murderous evils of abortion and euthanasia here.
Other Prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe for life, and the Litany to Jesus Christ Living in the Womb of Mary here.
Mother Teresa's Defence of Life, Speaking Truth to Power 3 February 1994 - Article and Transcript here.
The Feast of the Holy Innocents
The Feast of the Holy Innocents (Childermas) is celebrated on 28 December, the fourth day in the Octave of Christmas. In this feast the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Innocents, the male children of Bethlehem who were brutally murdered by King Herod in his attempt to eliminate the Christ Child (Matthew 2. 1-18 ). Saint Joseph, having being warned of the impending massacre, led the Holy Family to safety in Egypt:
Mathew 2.13:
"... behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him".
... ecce angelus Domini apparuit in somnis Joseph, dicens : Surge, et accipe puerum, et matrem ejus, et fuge in Aegyptum, et esto ibi usque dum dicam tibi. Futurum est enim ut Herodes quaerat puerum ad perdendum eum.
The Church venerates the Holy Innocents as martyrs. They are the first buds of the Church killed by persecution, and they died not only for Christ, but in his stead. Saint Augustine (354-430) described the Holy Innocents as "infant martyr flowers" because they were the first martyrs for the faith. This Feast reminds us to pray for and to protect all children, especially the unborn and the vulnerable, and the Holy Innocents are recognized as pro-life patron saints.
A Prayer to the Holy Innocents
May be prayed over nine days as a novena
Heavenly Father,
By their wordless profession of faith in your Son, the Holy Innocents were crowned with life at His birth. Knowing how precious they are to you and how similar they are to the millions of innocent lives lost through abortion, we call on them to join in our prayer:
That all our elected leaders, legislators, and judges may come to acknowledge the humanity of every child in the womb and enact laws and policies to defend them, we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
That everyone throughout the world may be given the light to see beyond all doubt the uniqueness and full humanity of every child who has ever been conceived, we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
For these intentions and in union with the Holy Innocents, we pray as the Lord Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Collect Prayer on the Feast of the Holy Innocents
O God, whose praise the martyred Innocents on this day confessed, not by speaking, but by dying: destroy in us all the evils of sin, that our life also may proclaim in deeds Thy faith which our tongues profess. Through our Lord.
Deus, cujus hodiérna die præcónium Innocentes Mártyres non loquéndo, sed moriéndo conféssi sum: ómnia in nobis vitiórum mala mortífica; ut fidem tuam, quam lingua nostra lóquitur, étiam móribus vita fateátur. Per Dominum.
Scene of the Massacre of the Innocents, Leon Cogniet, 1824
These Holy Innocents Prayers first posted on
The Feast of the Holy Innocents, 28 December 2024.
Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.
