Pro-Life Calls to Prayer

Every year on 25 March the Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation. We remember the day when the archangel Gabriel appeared to The Blessed Virgin Mary to ask her to become the Theotokis, the Mother of God. (Luke 1:26-38) She said yes & as a result "the Word became Flesh & dwelt among us." (John 1:14) Because it falls on a Sunday during Lent this year it is transfered to the 26th of March this year.

This Feast marks the beginning of the ultimate fulfillment of the promise God made to Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. (Gen 3:15)

2 Pro-Life groups have called for a special period of prayer starting on 25 March, American Life League (ALL), & Human Life International (HLI). Each of them is calling for a prayer novena. ALL's will be a 9 day novena & HLI's is a 9 month novena.

ALL & HLI both believe that any success the Pro-Life movement has had is because of a foundation of prayer on which all their actions are built. They are grateful for the financial donations but it is prayer is what keeps them (& other Pro-Life Groups) going. & that is why they have called for this time of prayer.

As Judie Brown says: "The fight to save these preborn children is not a worldly battle, Our Novena for the Preborn Children reminds us who the real opponants are: It's NOT intellect vs. ignoprance. Its NOT the powwerful vs. the weak. It's NOT rich vs. poor.

It's GOOD vs. EVIL!

Our Lord vs. the devil!!!

The novena is an outgrowth of the recent development to celebrate 25 March as The Day of the Unborn Child. Several countries have officially recognized this day. The 1st was Argentina in 1998. (Check out the website for more on this Day, its history, why this day is so symbolic as a Pro-Life feast & what to do to spread the word.)

The prayer selected to pray for the ALL novena is 1 that was written by Pope John Paul the Great. He wrote the prayer to close his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. The encyclical was released in 1995 of the Feast of the Annunciation.

O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

The Day of the Unborn Child website has 2 other prayers that can be prayed year round. They are:

Prayer to Christ Unborn

Dear Lord Jesus in the womb
of Blessed Virgin Mary,
before your birth You filled
the unborn Baptist
with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Inspire us to see You
in every unborn child.
Grant us the perseverance
to defend vulnerable human life
from abortion, abandonment,
experimentation, and all violations.
Fill us with reverence for the moment
of your Incarnation in Nazareth
when the Word became flesh.

Prayer to Christ
In His Hidden and Public Life

Christ in the womb of Mary,
save the unborn and bless their defenders.
Christ the child, shield the innocent
and uphold those who guide them.
Christ the adolescent, lead our impressionable
youth and sanctify their role models.
Christ the worker, strengthen all who toil for subsistence
and inspire fairness and honesty in the workplace.
Christ the teacher, help us learn charity,
gratitude, and forgiveness in place of
indulgence, ignorance, and arrogance.
Christ the healer, imbue the medical and scientific
community with a full respect for every human life.
Christ crucified, comfort the afflicted
and soften hardened hearts.
Christ resurrected, save us all.
Amen.

They have a page on their website where you can order copies of these prayers in English & Spanish. It also has more about these prayers as well as links to downloadable versions of the prayer.

As Papa Benedetto said: "God sees embryos as "full and complete" humans." As such they are clearly deserving of all the unalienable rights including the right to life. None of us can be involved in every Pro-Life activity, except 1, prayer. Here is an excellent opportunity to help make a powerful difference between LIFE & death.

You can check out my previous post St. Michael the Archangel - Defend Us in Our Battle Against Abortion for more on HLI's novena.

ALL also has some suggestions on how to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation in a Pro-Life way on their Celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation page.

Another site to check out is that of The Association for The Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine of the Holy Innocents. The orginization is working to build a memorial to the untold victims of abortion & has the endorsement of a wide number of Pro-Life & other Catholic leaders. Their advisory board includes Frs. Thomas Euteneuer & Frank Pavone as well as Bernard M. Nathanson, M. D.. The group is The Day of the Unborn Prayer Cards in their fundraising efforts.