Prayer of Hannah for Those Hoping for a Child

In the First Book of Samuel, Hannah longed for a child for many years and suffered the ridicule of others. At the sanctuary at Shiloh she poured out her heart to God so intensely that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. God heard her prayer, and she gave birth to Samuel, who became a great prophet. After his birth she sang a hymn of praise that echoes later in Mary's Magnificat.

Hannah's words are a gift to couples struggling with infertility or waiting to adopt, and to anyone who carries a deep, unanswered longing. Pray her petition honestly, and her song of thanksgiving in hope. St. Anne and St. Gerard Majella are also traditional patrons of those hoping for children.

The Prayer

O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look down on the affliction of thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a man child: I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God.

Sources: 1 Samuel (1 Kings) 1:11 and 2:1-2, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.