An Unexpected Treasure: A Christian Poem for Child Loss

When my firstborn was about 10 months old, I ventured out with my baby to an estate sale just 7 minutes from our home. I had seen photos online, and while the home was magnificent, what drew me in the most was that the family appeared to have been Catholic! We pulled into the small neighborhood and saw the streets lined with cars all the way down to the cul-de-sac. I found a place to park near the end, strapped my baby in the carrier, and walked into the home. There were shelves upon shelves of books. An old, worn brown book caught my eye. It was simply titled “Religious Poems.” I scooped it up and continued on my way. While I was there, I also ended up getting a beautiful dresser for my baby, since I actually didn’t have one yet.

Later that night, I sifted through the book, and I was struck by one poem in particular, A Child’s Welcome into Heaven. It was so beautiful that it brought me to tears. It had no author listed, so I immediately googled it to see if I could find it anywhere else. It was nowhere online. I knew this poem needed to reach parents who had gone through the tragedy of losing a child. I texted my friend and co-founder, Morgan, and she agreed. It wasn't long before we turned this poem into a print and shared a reading of the poem on social media. It went semi-viral in the Catholic Instagram world, touching the hearts of so many.

However, we want this poem to continue to reach whoever needs it. We’ve shared the poem at the bottom of this post, and we hope it brings even a small consolation to a grieving family.

The poem reads:

A Child's Welcome into Heaven

The golden gates were open,

And heavenly seraphs smiled

And with their tuneful harpstrings

Welcomed the little child.

They shouted “high and holy,

A child hath entered in,

And safe from all temptation

A soul is sealed from sin."

They led him through the golden street

On to the King of kings,

And a glory fell upon him

From the rustling of their wings.

The Saviour smiled upon him

As none on earth had smiled,

And Heaven's great glory shone around

The little earth-born child.

On earth they missed the little one,

They sighed and wept and sighed,

And wondered if another such

As theirs, had ever died.

Oh! had they seen through those high gates,

The welcome to him given,

They never would have wished their child

Back from his home in Heaven.

- Unidentified Author -