Praying the Rosary to end abortion
I wanted to share with you an experience I had two weeks ago with the Annapolis Knights and our Supreme Chaplin the Archbishop of Baltimore William Lori, who is also the chair for right to life with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). As you may or may not know Sept 22 to Oct 31 has been designated a 40 Days for life vigil and is being celebrated in every major city in the U.S and all over the world. Here in Annapolis St Mary's Church sponsors a prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood from 7:00AM to 7:00PM every day. We say the Rosary peacefully in front of the clinic especially on Tuesday and Saturday, as on those two days they perform the procedures. We don't always fill every slot, but we try and many other Churches around the area join us - not just the Catholics.
The Archbishops visit and promise
Two weeks ago Archbishop Lori and the Knights sponsored a prayer vigil in Annapolis. He came down from Baltimore with a whole entourage and he celebrated Mass at St Mary’s with us in the morning. After mass the Knights sponsored a bus ride for everyone to go to the Planned Parenthood clinic together (the Knights also sponsor a bus ride to Washington every year for the right to life demonstrations). The Archbishop brought with him a Monstrance with the Holy Eucharist exposed. I have never seen this outside of Church but there was an even bigger surprise. We all walked from St Mary's cemetery with the Archbishop carrying the Monstrance, right up to the front door of the clinic. Everyone passed slowly in front of the Eucharist and either knelt or bowed. The knights slowed down the traffic on West street so no one would get hurt and they had such a strong presence that not even the police interfered. Normally, when we pray in front of the clinic it can be noisy with people sometimes honking horns and yelling out the windows. But not this time. It was very quiet like at a funeral, as if even the pro-abortion people recognized the significance and holiness of the event. The Archbishop and his entourage were dressed in sacramental robes and the students from St Mary’s and the Chestertown Academy all dressed in coat and tie, walked with him supporting an elaborate booth over his head. It was quite impressive. The Archbishop gave a wonderful talk encouraging us to continue praying the Rosary. He told us that a few years ago he had a private audience with the Pope on how to deal with the culture of death. The Pope told him that prayer was our most important weapon and that we would prevail. Archbishop Lori told us that he will not stop until Row vs Wade is overturned and there is a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to life from the moment of conception. He told us that he has heard many stories of women changing their mind when they saw people praying in front of a clinic. Imagine the effect when they saw Jesus himself with us.
Gov Hochul
I wanted to let you know if you have not heard that NY Gov Hochul in a response to anti-abortion laws in Texas is taking aggressive action to cement New York as a safe harbor for those seeking abortion. It was embarrassing when Catholic Governor Cuomo lit up landmarks in Pink to celebrate his legislation to permit abortion right up until the moment of birth, but Catholic Governor Hochul, who went to Catholic University, is inviting women from Texas to come to NY where "the rights of those seeking abortion will always be protected".
No time to be quite
Pope St John Paul II told us that this is no time to be quite - we need to stand on the corners and let our voices be heard - “Now your work is useful, your tears acceptable, your sighs heard, now your sorrow is satisfactory and purges away your sins.”(Imitations of Christ). Pray the Rosary especially for our president Joe Biden and all of our leaders that this insanity will end.