Thinking about a dear Friend

What do you do when you find out something about someone else that you didn't know? Something that is so overpoweringly sad you just have to say something... but what?  Accidentally stumbling across an announcement that someone you know has had someone close to them die is always a  shock. But when it's your roommate what do you do? You feel bad because you don't know what to say but then again you want to say something to help her feel better. But then you don't fully know if your going to make her feel better or simply bring up something she doesn't want to talk about... the everlasting question of what to do just simply never goes away. All you can do until an idea hits you, i suppose, is pray.