Memorial to the Unborn 
The Memorial to the Unborn at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a sacred place of prayer, healing, and hope. Families have entrusted to Our Lady and her Divine Son the names of their beloved children who died before birth, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.
Memorial Services for Unborn Children
- Entombment of the remains of the unborn child (prior to twenty weeks gestation) in the columbarium, accompanied by the Rite of Final Commendation by an ordained bishop, priest, or deacon in good standing with the Catholic Church and an engraving in the granite covering the niche.
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Commemoration of an unborn child whose remains are laid to rest elsewhere or could not be retained in the form of a limestone engraving, accompanied by the Commemoration of an Unborn Child prayer service by an ordained bishop, priest, or deacon in good standing with the Catholic Church.
For additional information on memorializing a loved one at the Memorial to the Unborn, please:
- Call (877) 799-4059 Ext 227
- Email Entombment Coordinator
- Download the brochure
Digital Wall
If you, a loved one or a friend, have had a baby die before birth, you are invited to enter the name of the baby below. The baby’s name will be added to the prayer intentions entrusted to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Dignity of Human Life
Also located in the Memorial to the Unborn arcade are four bronze educational plaques which state the teaching of the Catholic Church on the topics of contraception, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and the dignity of human life, all excerpted from the writings of Pope St. John Paul II.
“The Memorial to the Unborn eloquently expresses the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe: God’s all-merciful love toward all of His children from the moment of their conception. Even as God Himself chose to be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, as the first moment of His greatest act of love of us, so He has taught us the inviolable dignity of all human life. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America and Star of the New Evangelization, is, in a particular way, the Mother of the Unborn.”
– Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 December 2008
